Linda Bove is a Deaf American actress, her most notable role being a fictionalized version of herself in the PBS children's series Sesame Street from 1971 to 2002.
She participated in several theatrical productions at Gallaudet including The Threepenny Opera and poetic characterizations of the Spoon River Anthology.
In her senior year, she studied in a Summer School Program at the National Theatre of the Deaf (NTD).
Bove appeared in an episode of Happy Days as Allison, Arthur Fonzarelli's deaf love interest.
Many cast members, crew, and technicians of the shows on which Bove has performed have learned sign language from her.
[citation needed] In 2019, Linda returned to the franchise in the television special Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration, 17 years after her last appearance.
Signed dialog is interpreted into spoken language in order to bridge the gap between the deaf and hearing communities.
She had a brief role in The Land Before Time IV: when the dinosaur characters would speak, Bove would appear in a picture-in-picture box in the lower corner of the screen signing the dialog.
[10] In 1970, Bove married Ed Waterstreet, whom she met when they both worked at the National Theatre of the Deaf.
[11] In 1980, Sesame Street and the National Theatre of the Deaf collaborated on publishing a book, Sign Language Fun With Linda Bove[2]