Marlee Matlin facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Marlee Matlin
Matlin at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival
Born	(1965-08-24) August 24, 1965 (age 59) Morton Grove, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Actress activist author
Years active	1986–present
Spouse(s)	Kevin Grandalski (m. 1993)
Children	4
Awards	Full list

Marlee Matlin (born August 24, 1965) is a famous American actress, activist, and author. She has been deaf since she was 18 months old. Matlin is well-known for playing deaf characters and for working hard to support deaf people in Hollywood and other industries. She has won many awards, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which she received in 2009.

Marlee Matlin first started acting in the movie Children of a Lesser God (1986). For this role, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe Award. She was the first deaf performer to win an Academy Award. She was also the youngest winner in the Best Actress category. Matlin has mostly worked in television because there are more roles for deaf actors there. She played Joey Lucas in the show The West Wing (2000–2006) and appeared in The L Word (2007–2009) and Switched at Birth (2011–2017). She also voiced Stella in the cartoon Family Guy (2012–2021). In 2015, she performed on Broadway in Spring Awakening. For her role in the movie CODA (2021), she won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Outside of acting, Matlin is an important member of the National Association of the Deaf. Her interpreter is Jack Jason. She has written four books and has been recognized for her advocacy work. A documentary about her life, Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, was released in 2025.

Early Life and Education
Career Highlights
Advocacy and Awards
Personal Life
Works and Accolades
Images for kids
See also

Early Life and Education

Marlee Matlin was born in Morton Grove, Illinois, on August 24, 1965. Her parents were Libby and Donald Matlin. When she was 18 months old, she lost all hearing in her right ear and most of the hearing in her left ear due to an illness. Marlee is the only deaf person in her family. She has a good sense of humor about her deafness. She once joked that people forget she has an interpreter, so she tells them she can "hear on Wednesdays."

Marlee and her two older brothers, Eric and Marc, grew up in a Reform Jewish family. Her family came from Poland and Russia. Matlin went to a synagogue for deaf people. She learned Hebrew sounds and was able to read her Torah portion for her Bat Mitzvah. She later graduated from John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights. She also attended Harper College in Palatine, Illinois. She had planned to work in criminal justice.

Career Highlights

1980s: First Steps to Stardom

Matlin in 1989

Marlee Matlin started acting on stage when she was seven years old. Her first role was Dorothy in a children's play of The Wizard of Oz. She continued to act with the International Center on Deafness and the Arts (ICODA) children's theater group. When she was thirteen, she won an award for an essay she wrote.

She was discovered by actor Henry Winkler during one of her theater performances. This led to her first movie role in Children of a Lesser God (1986). In the film, Matlin played Sarah Norman, a deaf woman who falls in love with a hearing man. Critics praised her performance. Richard Schickel of Time magazine said she had a special talent for showing emotions through her signing. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times was also impressed, noting her passion and fear of rejection.

Children of a Lesser God earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama and an Academy Award for Best Actress. At 21 years old, Matlin became the youngest actress to win the Oscar for Best Actress. She was the only deaf person to win an Academy Award for 36 years. In 2022, deaf actor Troy Kotsur won for Best Supporting Actor for his role in CODA, where Matlin also acted.

In 1988, Matlin appeared on Sesame Street with Billy Joel. They performed a song using sign language. Billy Joel later invited her to be in his music video for "We Didn't Start the Fire". In 1989, Matlin played a deaf widow in the TV movie Bridge to Silence. She used both sign language and spoken words in this role. People magazine praised her acting in the film. In 1988, Matlin presented the Academy Award for Best Actor. She signed her introduction in ASL and then spoke the names of the nominees and the winner.

1990s and 2000s: TV Success

Matlin in 1999

Matlin was nominated for a Golden Globe for her lead role in the TV series Reasonable Doubts (1991–1993). She also received an Emmy Award nomination for a guest appearance in Picket Fences (1992). She later became a regular on that show. In 1994, she played a hearing woman for the first time in the TV drama Against Her Will: The Carrie Buck Story. This role earned her a CableACE nomination.

She had important roles in movies like It's My Party (1996). Matlin also had recurring roles in popular TV shows like The West Wing and Blue's Clues. Other TV appearances include Seinfeld ("The Lip Reader"), The Outer Limits, ER, The Practice, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her guest roles in Seinfeld, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and The Practice.

In 2004, Matlin hosted the 3rd Annual Festival for Cinema of the Deaf in Chicago. She also starred in the movie What the Bleep Do We Know!?. In 2006, she played a deaf parent in Desperate Housewives. She had a recurring role in My Name Is Earl and appeared in an episode of CSI: NY. That same year, Matlin joined the cast of The L Word as Jodi Lerner, a sculptor and girlfriend of one of the main characters.

Matlin has interpreted the "Star Spangled Banner" in American Sign Language at the Super Bowl twice, in 2007 and 2016. In 2008, she appeared on Nip/Tuck and competed in the sixth season of Dancing with the Stars. She and her dance partner, Fabian Sanchez, were the sixth couple to be eliminated.

On May 6, 2009, Marlee Matlin received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Later that year, she appeared on Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show. She later voiced Stella, a coworker of Peter Griffin, in the cartoon Family Guy. Stella became a recurring character.

2010s and 2020s: Broadway and New Roles

Matlin presenting at the 2014 AHA Hero Dog Awards

In 2010, Matlin created a pilot for a reality show called My Deaf Family. She uploaded it to YouTube to share it widely. Matlin played the recurring character of Melody Bledsoe on Switched at Birth. In 2013, she played herself in No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie. In September 2015, she made her Broadway debut in the musical Spring Awakening.

Starting in 2017, Matlin played Harriet on the TV series The Magicians. In July 2017, it was announced that Matlin joined the third season of the thriller Quantico as a regular cast member. She played Jocelyn Turner, an ex-FBI agent. In 2019, Matlin was mentioned as someone who could bring more #DeafTalent to "Life and Deaf," a new comedy show about a child with deaf parents. Marlee Matlin was set to be an executive producer for this show.

In 2021, Matlin appeared in CODA, a comedy-drama film about a hearing teenage girl who is a child of deaf adults (CODA). The film starred Emilia Jones as the hearing girl, with Matlin and Troy Kotsur as her deaf parents. Daniel Durant played her deaf brother. Matlin's role helped the cast win the SAG Award for Best Ensemble. In 2025, Matlin was featured in Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, a documentary about her life and career. The film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Advocacy and Awards

Matlin speaking at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2017

Marlee Matlin is very involved with many charity organizations. These include Easter Seals, the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, and the Red Cross. She has strongly supported the rights of deaf people. She often accepts TV roles only if producers agree to provide captions for the films. She also promotes telephone equipment designed for deaf people. She has spoken to the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources to support the creation of the National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders. Matlin has also worked to fight AIDS and supports other important causes. She is a lifelong member of Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America. Matlin is also a frequent guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World.

In 1987, Matlin received an honorary degree from Gallaudet University, a university for deaf and hard of hearing students. In 1988, she won the Samuel S. Beard Award for her public service. In 1991, she received the Bernard Bragg Young Artists Achievement Award. In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed Matlin to the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service. She also served as chair of National Volunteer Week. Matlin participated in a national TV campaign to encourage donations to Jewish federations.

In October 2007, she was appointed to the Gallaudet University Board of Trustees. On July 26, 2010, Matlin signed a speech at an event celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In 2011, Matlin was a finalist on the NBC show The Celebrity Apprentice. She competed to win money for her charity, The Starkey Hearing Foundation. She finished in second place. In one episode, she raised $986,000, which was a record for charity fundraising on the show. Donald Trump, who hosted the show, donated an extra $14,000 to make it a total of one million dollars.

As of January 2015, Matlin is the ACLU's celebrity ambassador for disability rights. In this role, she talks about how deaf people can face communication problems when stopped by the police. In recognition of her charity work and her support for including people with disabilities, Matlin received the 2016 Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion. She also won the Henry Viscardi Achievement Awards for disability advocacy in 2014.

Personal Life

Marlee Matlin married Burbank police officer Kevin Grandalski on August 29, 1993. Their wedding was at the home of her friend and fellow actor Henry Winkler. They first met when Grandalski was providing security for a scene Matlin was filming. They have four children: Sarah (born 1996), Brandon (born 2000), Tyler (born 2002), and Isabelle (born 2003).

In 2002, Matlin published her first novel, Deaf Child Crossing. This book was inspired by her own childhood. She later wrote a sequel called Nobody's Perfect, which was performed on stage in 2007. In 2009, Matlin's autobiography, I'll Scream Later, was published.

Works and Accolades

After her big role in Children of a Lesser God, Matlin has appeared in films occasionally. She has mostly focused on television roles because there are more opportunities for deaf actors there. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for Children of a Lesser God. She was the only deaf performer to win an Academy Award until 2022, when Troy Kotsur received the award for best supporting actor. Matlin received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2009.