Marlee Matlin
| Marlee Matlin | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Marlee Beth Matlin August 24, 1965 Morton Grove, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress, producer |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Known for | Children of a Lesser God, Switched at Birth and "The West Wing" |
| Spouse(s) | Kevin Grandalski (m. 1993) |
| Children | 4 |
| Website | www |
Marlee Beth Matlin (born August 24, 1965) is an American actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Children of a Lesser God (1986) and is the only deaf performer to win the award. Her work in film and television has resulted in a Golden Globe award, with two additional nominations, and four Emmy nominations. Deaf since she was 18 months old, due to illness and high fevers, she is also a prominent member of the National Association of the Deaf. Her longtime interpreter is Jack Jason.
Matlin was born in Morton Grove, Illinois, to Libby (née Hammer) and Donald Matlin (1930–2013), an automobile dealer. She has two older brothers, Eric and Marc. She lost all hearing in her right ear and 80% of the hearing in her left ear at the age of 18 months. In her autobiography I'll Scream Later, she suggests that her hearing loss may have been due to a genetically malformed cochlea. She also stated she is the only member of her family who is deaf. She grew up in a Reform Jewish household; her family is from Poland and Russia. Matlin attended a synagogue for the deaf (Congregation Bene Shalom), and after studying Hebrew phonetically, was able to learn her Torah portion for her Bat Mitzvah. She was later interviewed for the book Mazel Tov: Celebrities' Bar and Bat Mitzvah Memories. Matlin graduated from John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights and attended Harper College.
In her autobiography I'll Scream Later, she described two instances when she was molested by her babysitter at age 11 and by her teacher in high school.
Matlin made her stage debut at the age of seven, as Dorothy in an International Center on Deafness and the Arts (ICODA) children's theatre of The Wizard of Oz, 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. Two years later, she made a guest appearance on Sesame Street with Billy Joel performing a revised version of "Just the Way You Are" with lyrics by Tony Geiss. Matlin used sign language during the song and hugged Oscar the Grouch during the song's conclusion. One year after that, Billy Joel invited her to perform in his video for "We Didn't Start the Fire" where she played the prom-queen-turned-hippie in the mid portion of that video.
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