Linda Bove is known for breaking the shell that television had on deaf people and sharing American Sign Language and deaf culture with the world. She accomplished many things in her life, and still is an active member in all of it. Linda was born to two deaf parents on November 30, 1945. She is from Garfield, New Jersey. She grew up learning American Sign Language. When she was young, she went to St. Joseph School for the Deaf in the Bronx, New York. In Trenton, New Jersey, she attended Marie Katzenbach School for the Deaf for High School. Bove graduated from Marie Katzenbach School for the Deaf in 1963. For higher education Linda went to Gallaudet University to major in library sciences. There she found her love for theatre and began to act. In her senior year she attended the Summer School Program at the National Theatre for the Deaf. There she participated in many shows like, The Threepenny Opera and Spoon River Anthology. Bove met a man named Ed Waterstreet at the National Theatre for the Deaf. Waterstreet is also a deaf actor. They got married…show more content… Linda Bove changed television for the whole deaf community and the world. Her first televised job was a one episode character called “Allison” on Happy Days in 1980. She played Arthur Fonzarelli’s deaf girlfriend. After that Linda got a job working for the CBS broadcasting station with the soap opera called Search for Tomorrow. Her character was “Melissa Hayley Weldon” and she was a deaf girl. This was the first time a deaf actor became a steady part of a soap opera. After these jobs, Linda became an important part of Sesame Street from 1971 to 2002. For 31 years, Linda played “Linda the Librarian”. This is the longest running role for a deaf person on a television show. Sesame Street was where Linda Bove introduced millions of children to American Sign Language, deaf and hearing. She also taught children about issues surrounding the deaf
