Linda Bove
Encyclopedia
Linda Bove is a deaf
American
actress who played the part of Linda the Librarian on the children's television program Sesame Street
from 1971 to 2003.
and issues surrounding the deaf community. Her role as Linda on Sesame Street is currently the longest recurring role in television history for a deaf person. The character owns a very playful dog, Barkley. Her role on Sesame Street lasted from 1971 to 2003, making it the longest running role for a deaf person in television history. Also, in her role in Sesame Street, she increased the knowledge of deaf culture and made it known that being deaf was not shameful.
as Allison, a deaf girlfriend of The Fonz. She also performed on the soap opera
Search for Tomorrow
and some productions of the play, Children of a Lesser God
.
With her role on Search for Tomorrow, she became one of the first deaf actresses to become a regular on a soap opera
series. Today, Linda continues her work in the deaf community.
She performed as a member of the National Theater of the Deaf, founded in 1967. She also received an award in 1974 from AMITA, an Italian-American women's organization, in recognition for her work on television.
, New Jersey
. Both of her parents were deaf. As a child, she attended St. Joseph School for the Deaf in the Bronx
, New York
, and then Marie Katzenbach School for the Deaf in Trenton
, New Jersey from which she graduated in 1963. Bove attended Gallaudet University
for college where she studied library science. From there, she became interested in theatre. She participated in several theatrical productions at Gallaudet including The Three Penny Opera and poetic characterizations of the Spoon River Anthology. In her senior year at Gallaudet University, Bove studied in a Summer School Program at the National Theater for the Deaf. In 1970 she married Ed Waterstreet
, another deaf actor. The two of them met while working together with the National Theatre for the Deaf.
In the 1970s, Bove and some of her colleagues started a company called Little Theatre of the Deaf to attract more deaf people, as well as children. This company gained national and international attention. The company dealt with communication among deaf people and the importance of teaching sign language to deaf children.
In 1979, Bove and the NTD traveled on a 30,000 mile world tour. Their biggest success was in Japan where they were well received. There, they were invited to come on a television show and later, their show was attended by the royal family.
Bove was, with her husband, one of the founders of the Deaf West Theater Company in Los Angeles in 1991, which was the first of its kind based on deaf actors and actresses. In this company, she starred in a play produced by George Bernard Shaw called Saint Joan based on Joan of Arc. The plays performed by this company were translated into American Sign Language and adjusted accordingly in order to make sense. This company uses speech along with signs in order to help bridge the gap between the deaf and hearing worlds.
Not only did Bove help found the Deaf West Theater Company, she was also involved in a number of projects pertaining to the deaf community. Several of her involvements were related to children as well as the deaf. She had a brief “role” in the Land Before Time IV. When the characters, which were dinosaurs, would talk in the movie, she would have a pop-up box in the corner of the video and interpret what they were saying using American Sign Language. She also made videos such as "Sign Me a Story."
Deaf American
A Deaf American is defined as a member of the American Sign Language linguistic minority. Though they are typically medically deaf, they can also include the children of Deaf people and a few hearing people who learn ASL and become adopted into the community...
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress who played the part of Linda the Librarian on the children's television program Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
from 1971 to 2003.
Sesame Street
On Sesame Street, Bove has introduced thousands of children to sign languageSign language
A sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...
and issues surrounding the deaf community. Her role as Linda on Sesame Street is currently the longest recurring role in television history for a deaf person. The character owns a very playful dog, Barkley. Her role on Sesame Street lasted from 1971 to 2003, making it the longest running role for a deaf person in television history. Also, in her role in Sesame Street, she increased the knowledge of deaf culture and made it known that being deaf was not shameful.
Other works
Bove appeared in an episode of Happy DaysHappy Days
Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
as Allison, a deaf girlfriend of The Fonz. She also performed on the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Search for Tomorrow
Search for Tomorrow
Search for Tomorrow is an American soap opera which premiered on September 3, 1951 on CBS. The show was moved from CBS to NBC on March 29, 1982. It continued on NBC until the final episode aired on December 26, 1986, a run of thirty-five years. At the time of its final broadcast it was the...
and some productions of the play, Children of a Lesser God
Children of a Lesser God
Children of a Lesser God is a 1986 American romantic drama film directed by Randa Haines and written by Hesper Anderson and Mark Medoff. An adaptation of Medoff's Tony Award-winning stage play of the same name, the film stars William Hurt and Marlee Matlin as two employees at a school for the deaf:...
.
With her role on Search for Tomorrow, she became one of the first deaf actresses to become a regular on a soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
series. Today, Linda continues her work in the deaf community.
She performed as a member of the National Theater of the Deaf, founded in 1967. She also received an award in 1974 from AMITA, an Italian-American women's organization, in recognition for her work on television.
Personal life
Linda Bove was born in GarfieldGarfield, New Jersey
Garfield is a city in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 30,487.When the area that is now Garfield was first developed in 1873, it was known as East Passaic. In 1881, the community's name was changed to Garfield in honor of...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. Both of her parents were deaf. As a child, she attended St. Joseph School for the Deaf in the Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and then Marie Katzenbach School for the Deaf in Trenton
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
, New Jersey from which she graduated in 1963. Bove attended Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University is a federally-chartered university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing, located in the District of Columbia, U.S...
for college where she studied library science. From there, she became interested in theatre. She participated in several theatrical productions at Gallaudet including The Three Penny Opera and poetic characterizations of the Spoon River Anthology. In her senior year at Gallaudet University, Bove studied in a Summer School Program at the National Theater for the Deaf. In 1970 she married Ed Waterstreet
Ed Waterstreet
Ed Waterstreet is the founder and artistic director of Deaf West Theatre, which was established in 1991, and was the first resident theatre company in America operating under the direction of a deaf artistic director....
, another deaf actor. The two of them met while working together with the National Theatre for the Deaf.
In the 1970s, Bove and some of her colleagues started a company called Little Theatre of the Deaf to attract more deaf people, as well as children. This company gained national and international attention. The company dealt with communication among deaf people and the importance of teaching sign language to deaf children.
In 1979, Bove and the NTD traveled on a 30,000 mile world tour. Their biggest success was in Japan where they were well received. There, they were invited to come on a television show and later, their show was attended by the royal family.
Bove was, with her husband, one of the founders of the Deaf West Theater Company in Los Angeles in 1991, which was the first of its kind based on deaf actors and actresses. In this company, she starred in a play produced by George Bernard Shaw called Saint Joan based on Joan of Arc. The plays performed by this company were translated into American Sign Language and adjusted accordingly in order to make sense. This company uses speech along with signs in order to help bridge the gap between the deaf and hearing worlds.
Not only did Bove help found the Deaf West Theater Company, she was also involved in a number of projects pertaining to the deaf community. Several of her involvements were related to children as well as the deaf. She had a brief “role” in the Land Before Time IV. When the characters, which were dinosaurs, would talk in the movie, she would have a pop-up box in the corner of the video and interpret what they were saying using American Sign Language. She also made videos such as "Sign Me a Story."
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Sesame Street Sesame Street Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The... |
Linda the Librarian | TV series, 1971-2003 |
| 1973 | Search for Tomorrow Search for Tomorrow Search for Tomorrow is an American soap opera which premiered on September 3, 1951 on CBS. The show was moved from CBS to NBC on March 29, 1982. It continued on NBC until the final episode aired on December 26, 1986, a run of thirty-five years. At the time of its final broadcast it was the... |
Melissa Hayley Weldon | TV Series, unknown episodes |
| 1978 | Christmas Eve on Sesame Street Christmas Eve on Sesame Street Christmas Eve on Sesame Street is a Sesame Street Christmas special first broadcast on PBS on December 3, 1978.-Plot:The opening features the inhabitants of Sesame Street enjoying an ice skating party. Big Bird has trouble skating, but a child gives him a hand, and he ends up skating very well... |
Linda the Librarian | TV Movie |
| 1979 | A Walking Tour of Sesame Street | Linda the Librarian | TV Movie |
| 1980 | Happy Days Happy Days Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America.... |
Allison | TV Series, one episode "Allison" |
| 1983 | Don't Eat the Pictures | Linda the Librarian | TV Movie |
| 1985 | Follow that Bird | Linda the Librarian | TV Movie |
| 1986 | Children of a Lesser God Children of a Lesser God Children of a Lesser God is a 1986 American romantic drama film directed by Randa Haines and written by Hesper Anderson and Mark Medoff. An adaptation of Medoff's Tony Award-winning stage play of the same name, the film stars William Hurt and Marlee Matlin as two employees at a school for the deaf:... |
Marian Loesser | |
| 1987 | Sign me a Story | Herself, Various Characters | Educational video featuring signed versions of fairy tales. |
| 1989 | Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting | Herself | TV Special |
| 1996 | Somebody to Love | Computer | Voice only |
| 2005 | Friends to the Rescue | Linda the Librarian | Direct to video |
| 2010 | Weeds Weeds (TV series) Weeds is an American television comedy created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Tilted Productions in association with Lionsgate Television. The central character is Nancy Botwin , a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family after her husband dies suddenly of a... |
Child Protective Services Officer | 3 Episodes |
External links
- http://deafness.about.com/cs/celebfeatures/a/frelichbove.htm
- http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2005/1/4/23912/63095
- http://www.ntcp.org/compendium/artists/LINDA.html