Timothy Near



Timothy Near (b. 1945) is an actress who played Timi in a recurring role on Sesame Street.

The daughter of Anne and Russell Near, and sister to Holly and Laurel, Timothy Near was born in Ukiah, California where she began performing in talent shows at a young age. She received a BA in Drama from San Francisco State University and attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in the foreign exchange program.

Before she was cast on Sesame Street, Near had appeared on Captain Kangaroo with deaf actor and producer Julianna Fjeld, demonstrating communication through sign language. Her career as a professional theatre director began in the early 1980s in Webster Groves, Missouri where she helmed several productions at the Loretto-Hilton Repertory Company and the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. From 1987 to 2008, she served as the Artistic Director of San Jose Repertory Theatre where she also directed several productions.

As a performer, Near has appeared on stage with her sisters, and turned Holly's autobiography, Fire in the Rain...Singer in the Storm, into a one-person musical which was performed at The Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, California, and at the off-Broadway Union Street Theater in New York City.