Tarah Lynne Schaeffer (born July 4, 1984) is a former American child actress. She is known for her role as herself on ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

''.

Acting career

In 1993, ''Sesame Street'' was casting for a child actor to play a character with disabilities for at least five episodes. Schaeffer's wheelchair sports coach recommended that she audition. Schaeffer had been on the Newington Children's Hospital's award-winning Cruisers wheelchair athletic team, and she impressed the show's producers with her wheelchair racing skills and other modified track and field talents."Life After 'Sesame Street'"
Bruce R. Posten, ''The Reading Eagle'', February 25, 2007. Schaeffer was cast as the first ''Sesame Street'' cast member with disabilities. ''Sesame Street'' writer Emily Perl Kingsley was a strong supporter of Schaeffer's inclusion in the cast. Kingsley's episode "Tarah's Ballet", which features a wheelchair dance, gained her a Grand EDI. Kingsley also drafted many guests with disabilities, such as

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman (; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the First ina ...

and the Little Theater of the Deaf. The integration of Schaeffer exemplified Kingsley's views: Schaeffer appeared on ''Sesame Street'' for eight seasons. She became featured in the scripts more and more, and at times would travel two or three times a week from Connecticut to the studio in New York City. When her family moved to

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; ) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fourth-most populous ...

in the late 1990s, the trip to New York became more difficult, and both Tarah and her family felt it was time to move on. A 2000

Sesame Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization and Television station, television company that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's ...

newsletter mentioned Tarah's inclusion in the cast as one of the top ten significant ways ''Sesame Street'' has encouraged diversity:

Personal life

Schaeffer was raised in

Plainville, Connecticut Plainville is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. The population was 17,525 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Plainv ...

. She was born with

osteogenesis imperfecta Osteogenesis imperfecta (; OI), colloquially known as brittle bone disease, is a group of genetic disorders that all result in bones that bone fracture, break easily. The range of symptoms—on the skeleton as well as on the body's other Or ...

.Boughton, Kathryn (January 25, 1994).
'Sesame Street' Introduces Kids to Disabilities
. ''New York Times News Service''. The Modesto Bee (Modesto, California). p. D4.

Filmography

*'' Sesame Street Stays Up Late!'' (1993) (uncredited) *''Sesame Street: Elmocize'' (1996) *''Kids' Guide to Life: Learning to Share'' (1996) *''

'' (1993–2001)

References

External links

* People with osteogenesis imperfecta Living people American television actresses 20th-century American actresses American child actresses 1984 births 21st-century American women {{US-tv-actor-1980s-stub