Marlee Matlin
Date of Birth
24 August 1965, Morton Grove, Illinois, USA
Birth Name
Marlee Beth Matlin
Height
5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
Mini Biography
Marlee Beth Matlin was born on August 24, 1965, to Don and Libby Matlin; she was their third child. Marlee became deaf at the age of 18 months due to a bout with Roseola Infantum. That didn’t stop her, though, from acting in a children’s theatre company at age 7; she was Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.” Her deafness never held her back. As an adult she said it so eloquently: “I have always resisted putting limitations on myself, both professionally and personally.” Marlee studied Criminal Justice at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, and maintained her passion for acting after graduating. While performing on stage throughout Chicago and the Midwest, Marlee attracted notice for her performance in a production of the Tony award-winning play “Children of a Lesser God” and was cast in the movie version, Children of a Lesser God (1986). Although this was her film debut, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. While shooting her next movie. Walker (1987) in Nicaragua, big-hearted Marlee took time to visit both hearing and hearing-impaired children. She continued this tradition of visiting local children throughout her travels to Germany, England, Italy, Australia, Mexico, Canada, etc. Her interest in the criminal justice field played a part in her onscreen career; she portrayed an Assistant D.A. in the TV series “Reasonable Doubts” (1991), while offscreen she married police officer Kevin Grandalski on August 29, 1993. Marlee was nominated for an Emmy award in 1994 for her performance as Laurie Bey in the “Picket Fences” (1992) episode “Dancing Bandit.” Marlee is also a spokeswoman for the National Captioning Institute. In 1995 she testified at a Congressional hearing, and helped get a law passed that requires all TV sets 13 inches or larger to be manufactured with built-in chips to provide “Closed Captioning” on their screens; this was a godsend for deaf viewers.
Marlee is currently serving as the national spokeswoman for the largest provider of TV Closed Captioning, and has spoken on behalf of “CC” in countries such as Australia, England, France and Italy. She also serves on the boards of a number of charitable organizations, including Very Special Arts, the Starlight Foundation, and other charities that primarily benefit children. As someone who loves children so much, it is only fitting that she has two of her own: Sarah Rose, born January 1996, and Brandon, born September 2000. Professionally, Marlee has even tried producing, being the Executive Producer for Where the Truth Lies (1999) (TV).
IMDb Mini Biography By: kdhaisch@aol.com
Spouse
| Kevin Grandalski | (29 August 1993 - present) 4 children |
Trivia
Used to live with William Hurt.
She was rendered deaf in infancy by a bout of Roseola Infantum.
Husband is a police officer. Has one daughter named Sarah Rose, born in 1996.
Was married in Henry Winkler’s (the Fonz’s) backyard.
Listed as one of twelve “Promising New Actors of 1986″ in John Willis’ Screen World, Vol. 38.
Son, Tyler Daniel Grandalski, born 18 July 2002 in Los Angeles.
Son, Brandon Joseph, born 12 September 2000 in Los Angeles.
Graduated from John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, IL.
Daughter, Isabelle Jane Grandalski, was born on December 26, 2003 in Los Angeles, California.
She presented the Vardon family with $50,000 from a charity for the Vardon’s son to go to the college of his choice. This was on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (2003). The Vardon family is made up of two deaf parents, an able older son (Stefan) and a younger son who is both blind and autistic.
One of a chosen few to win a Best Acting Oscar for a debut performance.
Youngest Winner to win the Oscar in the Best Actress Category at the age of 21.
Her daughter Sarah was born on the same day an episode of “Picket Fences” (1992) aired, in which her character, Laurie Bey, also gave birth.
Personal Quotes
“The Earth does not belong to us: we belong to the Earth.”
“Silence is the last thing the world will ever hear from me.”
The handicap of deafness is not in the ear; it is in the mind.
In response to a new 2006 PBS censorship policy requiring additional visual pixelization for the deaf of recognizable lip movements of sworn words: “All I can say is I’ve been reading the lips of bleeped-out words, angry baseball players, and stoned-out rock stars on awards shows for years and it’s been hilarious. Everyone is always asking me what the bleeped-out parts are saying. Just say no to pixelization! Hehe.”
Where Are They Now
(2006) Release of her book, “Nobody’s Perfect” by Marlee with Doug Cooney.
(2007) Release of her book, “Leading Ladies