Marlee Matlin

**Marlee Beth Matlin** (born August 24,1965) is an American television and movie actress. She is also deaf. Deaf means she cannot hear. She is the first deaf person to win an Academy Award for Best Actress. At the age of 21, she was also the youngest woman in history to win. She won for her part in *Children of a Lesser God*. In addition to her acting work, she also works with the National Association of the Deaf. She is known for her work on television shows such as *Reasonable Doubts*, *Desperate Housewives*, *The West Wing*, and *Switched at Birth*.

## Early life
Matlin was born in Morton Grove, Illinois to Libby and Donald Matlin. Her father sold cars for a living. She has two older brothers. They are Eric and Marc. At 18 months of age, she lost all hearing in her right ear and 80% of her hearing in her left ear. She thinks she lost her hearing because of a genetic problem in her cochlea.She is the only person in her family who is deaf.

She and her family are Jewish. Matlin had a Bat Mitzvah. A Bat Mitzvah is a coming of age party for girls in the Jewish tradition. She had to read the Torah. The Torah is an important book for Jewish people, and it is in Hebrew. Because she was deaf, she learned to read it by memorizing the sounds of the Hebrew letters. She went to John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights and Harper College.

As a child, she had some bad experiences. Two adults touched her in a sexual way. This is called sexual abuse or molestation. She was molested by her babysitter when she was 11 years old and later by a teacher in high school.

In addition to acting, Matlin has done other public work. On October 15-18, 2004, Matlin was the host of the 3rd Annual Festival for Cinema of the Deaf in Chicago. Annual means people do it every year. On February 4, 2007, Matlin sang the "Star Spangled Banner" in American Sign Language at the 41st Super Bowl in Miami, Florida. She also participated in the first-ever national television advertising campaign for "celebrating Jewish heritage and promoting charitable giving to the Jewish community." Matlin has been a frequent guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World.

On May 6, 2009, Matlin got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

## Books
In 2002, Matlin wrote her first book. It is called *Deaf Child Crossing*, and it is based on her childhood. She also wrote a second book called ''Nobody's Perfect.* The second book was turned into a stage show at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in October 2007.

In 2009, Matlin wrote a book about herself. The name is *I'll Scream Later*. She tells about her drug problem and about the time when she was dating William Hurt, who was also an actor.

## Private Life
Matlin married Kevin Grandalski on August 29, 1993. Grandalski is a police officer. They met when she was working on *Reasonable Doubts''. Grandalski was working security and helping with traffic that day. They have four children: Sarah, Brandon, Tyler, and Isabelle.

Matlin works with many groups to help people. She works with Easter Seals, the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, and the Red Cross. She also supports Jewish groups. For example, she is a lifetime member of Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America.

In 1987, Matlin got an honorary degree from Gallaudet University.

## References