From Performing in plays around the world with the National Theatre of the Deaf to sharing a screen with characters such as Oscar the Grouch, Bert, Ernie, and Cookie Monster, Linda Bove has become an inspiration to many Deaf actors and actresses.
Born into a Deaf family November 30, 1945, Bove began her education at St. Joseph’s School for the Deaf in the Bronx, New York. From there she continued her education at the Marie Katzenbach School for the Deaf in Trenton, New Jersey graduating later in 1963. She went on to study Library Science at Gallaudet College. In college, her interest in theatre was fueled. She participated in many feature roles for the university theater until the summer of her senior year at Gallaudet when she participated …show more content…
As one of the first Deaf actors to play a regular role in a series, Bove joined a CBS soap opera called, Search for Tomorrow. She then went on to make more appearances on prime time television, even starring in a Christmas special that was first broadcast in 1973 and went on to be repeated throughout the years. Then in 1976, Linda joined the Sesame Street program as a regular as “Linda the Librarian.” Because of Linda’s background and degree in Library Sciences, this role seemed to come naturally to her. In 1979, she went back to NTD to play a major role in their 30,000-mile world tour. NTD traveled to Japan where their performance was attended by the royal family. Within 2 years after their performance in Japan, the Deaf people of Japan developed their own professional theater. In 1980, Bove appeared on the ABC television series, Happy Days. She went on to be the understudy of the leading role in the Tony award-winning play, Children of a Lesser God. (Lang & Meath-Lang, …show more content…
According to Land & Meath-Lang, Bove created, “…access for deaf children to children’s educational television…” (Lang & Meath-Lang, 1995). Bove’s roles also helped to spread awareness for Deaf talent. In an interview with Barbara Harrington (1991), Bove talks about how the writers of Sesame Street made her character, “one-dimensional, and kind of boring.” Bove says in her interview, “When I joined the cast I found the writers would write about ‘How does a deaf person do this?’ ‘How does a deaf person do that?’ And it was just related to deafness and it didn 't feel like they were treating me as a person” (Harrington & Bove, 1991). “I have a sense of humor; why don 't you show that? I can be angry over something. Show that I can have a relationship with another person” (Harrington & Bove, 1991). Bove also states in her interview that she would work with the writers and try to encourage them not the think of her deafness because she felt it would only act as a barrier to their creative
Born into a Deaf family November 30, 1945, Bove began her education at St. Joseph’s School for the Deaf in the Bronx, New York. From there she continued her education at the Marie Katzenbach School for the Deaf in Trenton, New Jersey graduating later in 1963. She went on to study Library Science at Gallaudet College. In college, her interest in theatre was fueled. She participated in many feature roles for the university theater until the summer of her senior year at Gallaudet when she participated …show more content…
As one of the first Deaf actors to play a regular role in a series, Bove joined a CBS soap opera called, Search for Tomorrow. She then went on to make more appearances on prime time television, even starring in a Christmas special that was first broadcast in 1973 and went on to be repeated throughout the years. Then in 1976, Linda joined the Sesame Street program as a regular as “Linda the Librarian.” Because of Linda’s background and degree in Library Sciences, this role seemed to come naturally to her. In 1979, she went back to NTD to play a major role in their 30,000-mile world tour. NTD traveled to Japan where their performance was attended by the royal family. Within 2 years after their performance in Japan, the Deaf people of Japan developed their own professional theater. In 1980, Bove appeared on the ABC television series, Happy Days. She went on to be the understudy of the leading role in the Tony award-winning play, Children of a Lesser God. (Lang & Meath-Lang, …show more content…
According to Land & Meath-Lang, Bove created, “…access for deaf children to children’s educational television…” (Lang & Meath-Lang, 1995). Bove’s roles also helped to spread awareness for Deaf talent. In an interview with Barbara Harrington (1991), Bove talks about how the writers of Sesame Street made her character, “one-dimensional, and kind of boring.” Bove says in her interview, “When I joined the cast I found the writers would write about ‘How does a deaf person do this?’ ‘How does a deaf person do that?’ And it was just related to deafness and it didn 't feel like they were treating me as a person” (Harrington & Bove, 1991). “I have a sense of humor; why don 't you show that? I can be angry over something. Show that I can have a relationship with another person” (Harrington & Bove, 1991). Bove also states in her interview that she would work with the writers and try to encourage them not the think of her deafness because she felt it would only act as a barrier to their creative