Marlee Beth Matlin was born on August 24,1965 and is an American actress, author, and activist.
54 Facts About Marlee Matlin
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Marlee Matlin is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for a BAFTA Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards.
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Deaf since she was 18 months old, Matlin made her acting debut playing Sarah Norman in the romantic drama film Children of a Lesser God, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress.
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Marlee Matlin is the first deaf performer to win an Academy Award, as well as the youngest winner in the Best Actress category.
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Marlee Matlin is a prominent member of the National Association of the Deaf, and her interpreter is Jack Jason.
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Marlee Matlin was born in Morton Grove, Illinois, to Libby and Donald Marlee Matlin, who was an automobile dealer.
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Marlee Matlin is the only member of her family who is deaf.
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Marlee Matlin attended a synagogue for the Deaf, and after studying Hebrew phonetically, was able to learn her Torah portion for her Bat Mitzvah.
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Marlee Matlin was later interviewed for the book Mazel Tov: Celebrities' Bar and Bat Mitzvah Memories.
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Marlee Matlin graduated from John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights and attended Harper College in Palatine, Illinois.
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Marlee Matlin made her stage debut at the age of seven, as Dorothy in an International Center on Deafness and the Arts children's theatre of The Wizard of Oz, and has appeared with the ICODA children's theatre group throughout her childhood.
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Marlee Matlin was discovered by Henry Winkler during one of her ICODA theater performances, which ultimately led to her film debut in Children of a Lesser God.
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Only 21 years old at the time, Marlee Matlin remains the youngest actress to receive the Oscar in the Best Actress category.
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Marlee Matlin was the only Deaf nominee and recipient in any category for 36 years until 2022, when deaf actor and filmmaker Troy Kotsur won for Best Supporting Actor for his role in CODA, in which Matlin played a supporting role.
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Marlee Matlin used sign language during the song and hugged Oscar the Grouch during the song's conclusion.
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In 1989, Marlee Matlin portrayed a deaf widow in the television movie Bridge to Silence.
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Marlee Matlin was nominated for a Golden Globe for her work as the lead female role in the television series Reasonable Doubts.
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Marlee Matlin was nominated for an Emmy Award for a guest appearance in Picket Fences and became a regular on that series during its final season.
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Marlee Matlin played Carrie Buck in the 1994 television drama Against Her Will: The Carrie Buck Story, based on the 1927 United States Supreme Court case Buck v Bell 274 US 200.
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In that role, Marlee Matlin portrayed a hearing woman for the first time in her career, which earned her a CableACE nomination for Best Actress.
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Marlee Matlin had a prominent supporting role in the drama It's My Party.
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Marlee Matlin later had recurring roles in The West Wing, and Blue's Clues.
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Marlee Matlin had a recurring role in My Name Is Earl as public defender for Joy Turner, and played the mother of one of the victims in an episode of CSI: NY.
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That same year, Marlee Matlin was cast in season 4 of The L Word as Jodi Lerner, a lesbian sculptor and girlfriend of one of the show's protagonists, Bette Porter, played by Jennifer Beals.
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On February 4,2007, and February 7,2016, Marlee Matlin interpreted the "Star Spangled Banner" in American Sign Language at Super Bowl XLI in Miami, Florida, and at Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, California, respectively.
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In 2008, Marlee Matlin participated as a competitor in the sixth season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars.
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On May 6,2009, Marlee Matlin received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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Marlee Matlin went on to voice Stella, Peter Griffin's coworker, in the Season 10 episode "The Blind Side;" Stella later became a recurring character.
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In 2010, Marlee Matlin produced a pilot for a reality show she titled My Deaf Family, which she presented to various national network executives.
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On March 29,2010, Marlee Matlin uploaded the pilot to YouTube and launched a viral marketing campaign.
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Marlee Matlin played the recurring character of Melody Bledsoe on Switched at Birth.
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In 2013, Marlee Matlin played herself in No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie.
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On July 31,2017, it was announced by Deadline that Marlee Matlin joined as a series regular in the third season of the ABC thriller Quantico.
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Marlee Matlin starred in the role of ex-FBI agent Jocelyn Turner.
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In 2021, Marlee Matlin appeared in CODA, an American comedy-drama film that follows a hearing teenage girl who is a child of deaf adults.
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Marlee Matlin is actively involved with charitable organizations such as Easter Seals, the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, VSA arts, and the Red Cross Celebrity Cabinet.
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Marlee Matlin has been a strong advocate for the rights of deaf people, accepting television roles only if producers commit to caption the films, remaining openminded and respectful of both signed and spoken communication preferences, and promoting telephone equipment specifically designed for deaf persons.
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Marlee Matlin has testified before the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources in support of the establishment of the National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders.
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Marlee Matlin has been active in the fight against AIDS, the "Victory Awards" for the National Rehabilitation Hospital, and other causes.
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Marlee Matlin was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994 to the Corporation for National Service and served as chair of National Volunteer Week.
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Marlee Matlin was a participant in the first-ever national television advertising campaign supporting donations to Jewish federations.
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Marlee Matlin is a lifetime member of Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America.
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On July 26,2010, Marlee Matlin signed a speech at an event commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
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Marlee Matlin married Burbank police officer Kevin Grandalski on August 29,1993, at the home of actor Henry Winkler.
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In 2002, Marlee Matlin published her first novel, titled Deaf Child Crossing, which was loosely based on her own childhood.
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Marlee Matlin later wrote and published a sequel titled Nobody's Perfect, produced on stage at the John F Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in partnership with VSA Arts in October 2007.
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Marlee Matlin has competed on the game shows Dancing with the Stars and The Celebrity Apprentice.
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In recognition of her philanthropic work and her advocacy for the inclusion of people with disabilities, Matlin received the 2016 Morton E Ruderman Award in Inclusion, a $120,000 prize given annually by Jay Ruderman of the Ruderman Family Foundation to one individual whose work excels at promoting disability inclusion.
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Marlee Matlin won the Henry Viscardi Achievement Awards for disability advocacy in 2014.
50.
Marlee Matlin won an Academy Award for Best Actress for Children of a Lesser God.
51.
Marlee Matlin was the only deaf performer to have won an Academy Award until 2022 when Troy Kotsur received the award for best supporting actor.
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In 1991, Marlee Matlin received the Bernard Bragg Young Artists Achievement Award at the Annual International Creative Arts Festival sponsored by the Center on Deafness in Chicago.
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Marlee Matlin received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree from Gallaudet University in 1987.
54.
In 1988, Matlin received the Samuel S Beard Award for Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.