Deaf Culture:  Marlee Matlin
Also See "Marlee Matlin (2)"

Melissa Highsmith
Nov. 11, 2001

Marlee Matlin

In 1964 Marlee Matlin was born in Morton Grove, Illinois. She was the daughter of two proud parents, Don and Libby Matlin. When Marlee was eighteen months old she came down with a high fever that caused her to become deaf. At seven Marlee struck a slight interest in the performing arts. Throughout her teenage years she gave acting up. A year into college Marlee picked acting back up. Since her award winning movie she had accomplished numerous movies and television productions. In the process of performing she met her other half; together they had two children. Besides Marlee's acting career she had other accomplishments, for example, a book.
Marlee Matlin was born and raised in Morton Grove, Illinois, a suburb outside of Chicago, and was the third child born to parents Don and Libby Matlin (www.lifetimetv.com./shows/intimate/port9926.html). Since Don and Liby had suffered a loss of a child, a year before Marlee was born, they felt they were blessed with a healthy daughter (www.lifetimetv.com...). However, Marlee's health had descended at eighteen months from a fever associated with rosela, a form of german measles (www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/may2001/nf20010523_563. htm ). Even though Marlee had formed roseola, the illness did not seem to be serious; therefore, the fever had caused Marlee to be permanently deaf in one ear and eighty percent in the other ear (www.lifetimetv.com....). Marlee's parents and her older brother had learned sign language to be apart of her hearing impaired world (www.lifetimetv.com.....). Don and Liby had also made the decision to sign and speak to her at the same time; Marlee credits her proficiency in lip reading and her speaking ability (www.lifetimetv.com.....). Marlee was also put in a public school so she could be "mainstreamed" with other children that were not deaf (www.lifetimetv.com......). At the age of seven Marlee had struck an interest in acting.
"I began acting on stage when I was seven years old. My first role was as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at Chicago's Center on Deafness in Northbrook, Ill.," Marlee Matlin stated (www.buisnessweek.com......). Henry Winker discovered Marlee's magnificent acting skills, at the age of thirteen, in 1977 when Henry attended the Centre for a play (www.lifetimetv.com....). Since Henry fell in love with her performance he went backstage to talk to Malree about pursuing a career in performing arts (www.lifetimetv.com.....). Even though Malree had taken Henry's advice to heart she was to busy being a teenager, dating, being with friends, and learning to drive a car, to become involved with acting (www.lifetimetv.com....). After Marlee graduated from Hersey High School in Chicago, Marlee attended William Rainey Harper College for a year (www.princetoninfo.com/19902/90210p05.html), where she took up acting again and appeared in her first adult stage appearance, in the supporting role of Lydia a stage version of Children of a Lesser God, at the Goodman Theater in Chicago in 1985 (www.buisnessweek.com.....). In 1987 Marlee had received the highest honor award for the film, For Children of a Lesser God, which put her acting career at the top (www.princetoenifo.com.....). At the age of twenty-one, Marlee became the youngest recipient of the best actress Oscar; only four actresses to receive that honor for a debut film performance (www.marleeonline.com/mylife/bio.html). Since then Marlee had appeared in about fifteen movies that included Walker (1987), Bridge to Silence (1989) which appeared on the CBS network, The Man in the Golden Mask (1990) which was only released in France, The Linguini Incident (1991), The Player (1992), Hear No Evil (1993), Against Her Will: The Carrie Buck Story (1994) a Lifetime original, It's My Party (1996), Dead Silence (1997) which was shown on HBO, When Justice Fails (1998), In Her Defense (1998), Freak City (1999) appeared on Showtime, Where the Truth Lies (1999), she was also the executive producer for this show, a Lifetime movie, and Kiss My Act (2001) which showed on ABC (www.marleeonline.com/mylife/film.html). Marlee had also appeared in seventeen television programs which included, Reasonable Doubts (1991-1993)on NBC, Seinfeld (1993) also on NBC, Adventures in Wonderland (1993) on the Disney channel, Picket Fences (1993,1994-1996) on CBS, Outer Limits (1995) on Showtime, Sweet Justice (1995) on the NBC network, People in Motion (1996) appeared on PBS, The Larry Sanders Show (1997) on HBO, Spin City (1997) on ABC, Puzzle Place (1998) which was also on PBS, ER (1998) on NBC, Chicken Soup for the Soul (1999) on PAX, Judging Amy (1999) that is showed on CBS, Blues Clues (2000-2001) on Nickelodeon, The Practice (2000) on the ABC station, Gideon's Crossing (2001) appearing on ABC and, The West Wing (2000-2001) showing on NBC (www.marleeonline.com/mylife/film.html). In the process of performing she had met the guy she was going to spend the rest of her life with.
In 1991 Marlee was performing for NBC's Reasonable Doubts, were she had met a Los Angeles police officer, who was assigned to the NBC's television program (www.lifetimetv.com....). Since Kevin Grandalski had training in sign language, he was able to ask Marlee out on a date (www.lifetimetv.com....). After a year and a half of dating Kevin proposed to Marlee; in 1993 Kevin and Marlee got married (www.lifetimetv.com....). In 1995 Marlee had served as the national spokesperson for VITAC, the largest provider of television closed captioning for the hearing impaired, and was instrumental in getting federal legislation passed to require all televisions be equipped with close captioning technology (www.marleeonline.com/mylife/bio.html). She also served on the boards of a number of charitable organizations including VSA Arts, the Starlight Foundation, and Victory Over Violence (www.marleeonline.com/mylife/bio.html). In 1996 Marlee and Kevin were blessed with a baby girl Sarah Rose (www.geocities.com/hollywood/3555/matlin.htm), and in 2000 they were blessed with another child, a baby boy, Brandon Joseph (www.marleeonline.com/mylife/bio.html). In addition, she has just completed a children's novel, Caution: Deaf Child Crossing, which will be published by Simon and Schuster in 2002 (www.marleeonline.com/mylife/bio.html). All it takes to realize that a deaf person can rise to any task is a little awareness and interaction (www.businessweek.com....). Marlee stated "I like to say that the greatest handicap of deafness does not lie in the ear, it lies in the mind." 
In closing, in 1961, Marlee Martin was brought into the world by Don and Libby Matlin were she was born and raised in Morton Grove, Illinois. When Marlee was a toddler, eighteen months old, she came down with an illness that left her deaf. When Marlee reached the age of seven she started to have an interest in acting. As Marlee got into her teens she became less interested in acting and more interested in boys, friends, and cars. When Marlee became a student at William Rainey Harper she began to get the interest of acting again. Marlee received the highest honor for her performance in, For Children of a Lesser God. Since then Marlee has appeared in thirty-two movies and television programs. In the process of performing she met her significant other, Kevin Grandalski. Marlee and Kevin had two children, Sarah and Brandon. Marlee was not only an actress she also was a spokesperson, she served on charity boards, and she even wrote a book. Even though Marlee was deaf, her hearing impairment did not stop her from achieving her goals. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baker, Kathy. Lifetime online. Intimate Portrait: Marlee Matlin. Retrieved 11, Nov. 2001: <www.lifetimetv.com/shows/intimate/port9926.html>

Matlin, Marlee. Marlee online. Biography. Marlee Matlin's Biography. Retrieved 11, Nov. 2001: <www.marleeonline.com/mylife/bio.html>

Matlin, Marlee. Marlee online. Film. Marlee Matlin's Film. Retrieved 11, Nov. 2001: <www.marleeonline.com/mylife/film.html>

Strauss, Elaine.(1999, Feb. 10). Princetoninfo.com. Marlee Matlin's Signs of Success. Retrieved 11, Nov. 2001: <www.princetoninfo.com/199902/90210p05.html>

Williams, John. (2001, May 23). Buisnessweek Online. Marlee Matlin's World of Possibilities. Associative Technology. Retrieved 11, Nov. 2001:
<www.buisnessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/may2001/nf20010523_563.htm>

Marlee Matlin. Retrieved 11, Nov. 2001: <www.geocities.com/hollywood/3555/matlin.htm>