Marlee Matlin

This is about the actress. For the political professional, see Mary Matalin.

Marlee Matlin
Matlin receiving a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame in May 2009
Born	Marlee Beth Matlin August 24, 1965 (1965-08-24) (age 45) Morton Grove, Illinois, United States
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1986–present
Spouse	Kevin Grandalski (1993–present)
Partner	William Hurt (1985–1986)

Marlee Beth Matlin (born August 24, 1965) is an American actress. Deaf since she was 18 months old, she is the youngest woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, which she won at the age of 21 for Children of a Lesser God.

Early life

Matlin was born in Morton Grove, Illinois, to Libby and Donald Matlin, an automobile dealer.^[1][2] She has two older brothers, Eric and Marc. She is of Russian Jewish descent.^[3][4] She lost all hearing in her right ear and 80% of the hearing in her left ear at the age of eighteen months. Matlin graduated from John Hersey High School in nearby Arlington Heights and attended Harper College.^[5] In her autobiography, I'll Scream Later, she suggests that her hearing loss may have been due to a genetically malformed cochlea.^[6] She also indicated that she is the only member of her family who is deaf, as her parents, siblings, and children are not deaf at all.

Career

Matlin made her stage debut at the age of eight, as Dorothy in a children's theatre (ICODA) version of The Wizard of Oz,^[7] and continued to appear with the ICODA children's theatre group throughout her childhood. Her discovery by Henry Winkler during one of her ICODA theater performances ultimately led to her film debut in Children of a Lesser God (1986).

That film brought her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama and an Academy Award for Best Actress. She is one of the few actors to win an Oscar for their debut performance, and as of 2010, still holds the record for youngest winner in the Best Actress Oscar category. Matlin was nominated for a Golden Globe award for her work as the lead female role in the television series Reasonable Doubts (1991–1993) and was nominated for an Emmy Award for a guest appearance in Picket Fences. She became a regular on the series during its final season.

She portrayed Carrie Buck in the television drama Against Her Will: The Carrie Buck Story (1994) based on the United States Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell 274 U.S. 200 (1927). In the movie, Matlin played a hearing woman for the first time and earned a CableACE Nomination as Best Actress.

Marlee appeared during the 20th season of Sesame Street with Billy Joel, as she signed as Joel played his song Just the Way You Are to Oscar the Grouch.

Matlin later had recurring roles in The West Wing, and Blue's Clues. Other television appearances include Seinfeld ("The Lip Reader"), The Outer Limits ("The Message"), ER, Desperate Housewives, CSI: NY and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She was nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards for her guest appearances in Seinfield, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and The Practice.

In 2002, Matlin published her first novel, Deaf Child Crossing, which was loosely based on her own childhood.

In 2004, she starred in the movie What the Bleep Do We Know? as Amanda. She also hosted the 3rd annual Festival for Cinema of the Deaf in Chicago, 15–18 October 2004.

In 2006, Matlin was honored at AOL's Second Annual Chief Everything Officer Awards. She joined the cast of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on Sunday, 17 September 2006. In the episode featuring a deaf boy with a blind father, grandmother and sisters, she was the guest host. She wrote and published a sequel to Deaf Child Crossing, titled Nobody's Perfect, which was produced on stage at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in partnership with VSA arts in October 2007.

Matlin at the 2007 Texas Book Festival promoting one of her children's books

Also in 2006, she played a deaf parent in Desperate Housewives. She also had a recurring role as Joy Turner's (who made many jokes of Marlee's deafness at her expense) public defender in My Name Is Earl and played the mother of one of the victims in an episode of CSI: NY. She starred in the Baby Einstein videos Baby's Favorite Places: First Words-Around Town and Baby Wordsworth: First Words Around the House, both of which were designed to introduce sign language as a form of non-verbal communication.

In 2006 Matlin was cast in season 4 of The L Word as Jodi Lerner, a gay Deaf sculptor. She appeared in season 4 (2007), season 5 (2008) and season 6 (2009) as the girlfriend of one of the show's protagonists Bette Porter (played by Jennifer Beals).

On February 4, 2007, Matlin performed the "Star Spangled Banner" in American Sign Language at Super Bowl XLI in Miami, Florida. She again starred in Baby Einstein in March 2007 with "My First Signs", which introduced sign language using common words such as "mommy" and "milk." She also appeared on Hollywood Squares with Tom Bergeron as emcee.

In January 2008, she appeared on Nip/Tuck as a television executive.

On February 18, 2008, it was announced that Matlin would participate as a competitor in the sixth season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. Her dance partner was newcomer Fabian Sanchez. Matlin and Sanchez were eliminated from the competition.

On July 13, 2008, Matlin participated in the Taco Bell All Star Legends and Celebrity Softball game as part of All-Star Weekend activities at Yankee Stadium. Matlin scored a run and had 2 RBI for the National League team.

On November 8, 2009, Matlin appeared on Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show, hosted by Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein. After Borstein imitated Matlin calling MovieFone and singing "Poker Face", Matlin herself appeared and launched into a comical tirade against Borstein, over how she was not invited to appear on the special.

In 2010 Matlin produced a pilot for a reality show entitled "My Deaf Family" which she presented to various national network executives. Although they expressed interest, no network purchased rights to the show for ongoing production. On March 29, 2010, Matlin uploaded the pilot to YouTube and launched a viral marketing campaign.^[8]

Dancing with the Stars Performances

Personal life

Matlin is actively involved with a number of charitable organizations, including Easter Seals (where she was appointed an Honorary Board Member), the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, VSA arts, and the Red Cross Celebrity Cabinet.^[9] She was appointed by President Clinton in 1994 to the Corporation for National Service and served as chair of National Volunteer Week.

Matlin received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree from Gallaudet University in 1987.^[10][11][12] In October 2007, she was appointed to the Gallaudet University Board of Trustees.^[12]

Matlin has been close friends with actress Jennifer Beals since they met in an airport in the 1980s.^[13]

Matlin married Burbank police officer Kevin Grandalski on August 29, 1993 in Henry Winkler's back yard. They met while she was filming a scene from Reasonable Doubts outside the studio grounds, the police department having assigned Grandalski to provide security and control traffic. They have four children: Sara Rose, born January 19, 1996; Brandon Joseph, born September 12, 2000; Tyler Daniel, born July 18, 2002; and Isabelle Jane, born December 26, 2003. The family lives outside Los Angeles.

On April 14, 2009, Matlin released an autobiography, I'll Scream Later. In it, she speaks about her rocky, two-year relationship with actor William Hurt, who was physically abusive to her and abused drugs during that time. She also addresses the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of a babysitter.^[14][15]

On April 10, 2010 Matlin spoke to a large room full of elementary school principals at the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) national convention in Houston, Texas. She told the story of her life and emphasized the importance of treating people with disabilities with respect.

Filmography and awards

References

External links

• Official website
• Marlee Matlin at the Internet Movie Database
• Marlee Matlin at TV.com
• Celebrity Café Interview
• Marlee Matlin's early day at International Center on Deafness & the Arts (ICODA)
• Marlee Matlin on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos