Marlee Matlin
Marlee Matlin
Marlee Beth Matlinis an American actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Children of a Lesser God, 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, she is also a prominent member of the National Association of the Deaf. Her longtime interpreter is Jack...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth24 August 1965
CityMorton Grove, IL
CountryUnited States of America
Hollywood embraced me in the late '80s because there was a good project I was in and it was different. Nowadays, it's about corporate mentality, box office, youth.
When I was young I knew I was deaf. I couldn't accept it.
What parent has it easy? I just never make the difficulty of it an obstacle. I just do it.
Watch me when people say deaf and dumb, or deaf mute, and I give them a look like you might get if you called Denzel Washington the wrong name.
I was 21 years and 218 days old when I received the Academy Award for Best Actress. I had just stepped into an imaginary world that I'd seen at a distance for years.
The handicap of deafness is not in the ear; it is in the mind.
It was my father who instilled the 'never say no' attitude I carry around with me today, and who instilled in me a sense of wonder, always taking us on adventures in the car, never telling us the destination.
We had a dog, Apples. He was 13 years old, toothless, blind and had the worst breath this side of Jabba the Hut. But he was the sweetest dog, and I cried and cried when he died.
I learned to speak first, and then to sign. I have never really known what it was like to hear, so I cant compare hearing aids to normal hearing.
I'm not broke. Like everybody else, I owe money.
I have always resisted putting limitations on myself, both professionally and personally.
If I were offered a cochlear implant today, I would prefer not to have one. But that's not a statement about hearing aids or cochlear implants. It's about who you are.
When I was 13, I told Henry Winkler I wanted to act. He said, Do it and don't let anyone stand in your way. His validation just made it all the more true. I haven't stopped thanking him since.
I'm different, and my manner invites questions. I'm never afraid to answer.