Signing in the Streets: Interview with Deaf Actress Linda Bove 

Linda Bove, from New Jersey and born in 1945, quickly became affectionately known in the hearts of young Americans as “Linda the Librarian.” Linda made her Sesame Street debut in Season 2 in 1971. Suddenly ASL was in the living room of thousands of homes across the country thanks to the work of Linda Bove.  

Linda not only made an impact by teaching basic American Sign Language on the show, but also challenged common misconceptions about Deaf individuals and their abilities, all while powerfully expanding the representation of Deaf culture. Linda used her role to portray the normalcy of the day-to-day lives of Deaf individuals and how little differences there truly are between hearing and Deaf individuals. She taught young characters how to sign from everyday readings such as road signs. Check out an example of this from one episode below. 

Bove’s advocacy for entire representation beyond her deafness encouraged show writers to show life beyond her signing and even display friendships, romantic relationships, and work for her character. Most importantly, Linda’s role displayed opportunity for meaningful cooperation and cohabitation between Linda and her hearing neighbors, coworkers, and friends, regardless of any ability or inability to hear. The following scene displays this representation of a love interest singing Linda a song with the help of a friend interpreting.  

Linda capitalized on this profound notoriety with a series of children’s books authored in partnership with Sesame Street including “Sign Me a Story,” “Sign Language Fun,” and “Sign Language ABC” featured below. Bove’s vast professional impact displayed that all forms of entertainment should reflect the diversity of its audience.  

After leaving the show in 2004, Bove earned the record of holding the longest running television role of a Deaf character in history. Her impact only continued to grow with new opportunities for advocacy and Deaf empowerment. DSU founder Diana Kautzky had the opportunity to sit down with Linda to dive deeper into her start in acting and her advocacy and work beyond the big screen. Watch the full interview below! 

Sources:  

https://www.healthyhearing.com/report/52631-Linda-bove-one-woman-s-impact-on-public-awareness

https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/380496.Linda_Bove

https://www.history.com/news/8-stereotype-shattering-sesame-street-characters

https://www.signingsavvy.com/blog/371/Living+Loud%3A+Linda+Bove+-+Actress+and+Activist