Marlee Matlin
Details
- Date of Birth:
- August 24, 1965
- Height:
- 5' 4"
- Hometown:
- Morton Grove
Bio:
Marlee Matlin (born August 24, 1965 in Morton Grove, Illinois) is an American actress. She was an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Children of a Lesser God and is the only deaf person to have ever won the award. She was also nominated for three Golden Globes and four Emmys. She has also made appearances in The West Wing, ER, Seinfeld and Law & Order. She published her first novel in 2002, Deaf Child Crossing, which was loosely based on her childhood. It was followed by the sequel, Nobody’s Perfect, which was also produced on stage at the JFK Center for Performing Arts. Marlee was a competitor in the sixth season of Dancing With Stars and partnered with Fabian Sanchez. The couple was eliminated sixth. In 2011, Marlee was on The Celebrity Apprentice, competing to win money for her charity, The Starkey Hearing Foundation. She finished in second place, but  raised more funds in one episode than had ever been raised in a single event on any television show — $986,000. Donald Trump donated $14,000 more to make it an even million. Marlee most recently was in Freeform’s show, Switched At Birth, as Melody Bledsoe. In 2015, she made her Broadway debut in Spring Awakening. Marlee has been in the news recently after staffers claimed that GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump called her “retarded” on the Apprentice.
Best Known For:
Marlee is best known for being the first and only deaf person to win an Academy Award for Best Actress and for being a spokesperson for the deaf.
Personal Life:
Marlee Matlin is very active in a number of charities, including Easter Seals, Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, VSA Arts, and the Red Cross. She has also been active in charities involving the Jewish communities. In 2009, Marlee released an autobiography called I’ll Scream Later, which describes her history of drug abuse, relationship with actor William Hurt and revealed that she was molested by her babysitter as a child. Marlee married Burbank police officer Kevin Brandalski on Aug. 29, 1993 at Henry Winkler’s home. They met when she was filming Reasonable Doubts. They have four children – Sarah, Brandon, Tyler and Isabelle.
