Linda Bove didn’t just act on Sesame Street—she shifted the cultural weather. For more than three decades, the Deaf librarian with the warm smile and quick hands introduced millions of American children to sign language, and in doing so, made Deaf culture part of the country’s shared vocabulary.
Born in Garfield, New Jersey, Bove arrived into a Deaf household—her parents, both Deaf, were her first languages and teachers. Her childhood moved along the paths taken by many Deaf children of her era: St. Joseph School for the Deaf in the Bronx, then the Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf in New Jersey, where she graduated in 1963. She went off to Gallaudet College planning to study library science, but theatre caught her by the wrist and didn’t let go. She performed in The Threepenny Opera, dove into the pages of Spoon River Anthology, and spent a transformative summer with the newly formed National Theatre of the Deaf. That, as the saying goes, was that.
Television and Theatre
By the 1970s, Bove was already breaking ground. She became one of the first Deaf actors to appear in soap operas when she joined Search for Tomorrow. She popped up in shows like Happy Days—playing Allison, a Deaf love interest for the Fonz—and continued performing with the National Theatre of the Deaf, teaching half the crews she worked with how to sign simply by being in the room.
She co-founded the Little Theatre of the Deaf, aiming to bring more Deaf children into the world of performance. In 1979, she toured the globe with NTD, earning praise in Japan so enthusiastic it reached the royal family. Later, with her husband Ed Waterstreet, she created Deaf West Theatre in Los Angeles—the first Deaf-run theatre company in the city, a groundbreaking home for signed performance that rewrote the rules for how Deaf and hearing audiences could experience plays together.
Sesame Street
And then came Sesame Street.
In April 1971, Bove made her debut as “Linda”—a fictionalized version of herself—marking the first time a Deaf performer had been part of a recurring cast on children’s television. By 1975, she was a household presence, and she would stay on the Street until 2002.
Her character wasn’t a symbol, a teaching tool, or a walking explanation of Deafness—at least, not once she got through with it. Early scripts treated her like an instructional device. Bove pushed back. She insisted Linda be funny, frustrated, romantic, mischievous, human. “I have a sense of humor,” she told the writers. “Why don’t you show that?”
Eventually, the show did. Linda had a job, a dog named Barkley, and a relationship with Bob. She communicated entirely in ASL. Millions of children—hearing and Deaf—learned their first signs from her hands. She became the longest-running Deaf character on American television and one of the most quietly influential educators of her generation. When she returned for Sesame Street’s 50th Anniversary Celebration in 2019, it felt like a chapter closing and a legacy glowing.
Community Work and Interpreting
Bove also carved out space for Deaf representation behind the scenes. She created children’s programming in ASL, appeared in educational videos, and participated in productions like Children of a Lesser God. Her work extended beyond performance: in 2004, she became a Certified Deaf Interpreter, lending her expertise everywhere from courtrooms to White House briefings.
Personal Life
She married actor Ed Waterstreet in 1970, after meeting him at the National Theatre of the Deaf. Together, they became something like ASL royalty—partners in work, advocacy, and the shaping of Deaf theatrical culture.
