Marlee Matlin
Marlee Matlin
Marlee Beth Matlinis an American actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Children of a Lesser God, and is the only deaf performer to win the award. Her work in film and television has resulted in a Golden Globe award, with two additional nominations, and four Emmy nominations. Deaf since she was 18 months old, she is also a prominent member of the National Association of the Deaf. Her longtime interpreter is Jack...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth24 August 1965
CityMorton Grove, IL
CountryUnited States of America
Deaf people can do anything, except hear.
I live my life like everyone else; everyone has their own obstacles. Mine is deafness.
I'm a proud person who happens to be deaf. I don't want to change it. I don't want to wake up and suddenly say, 'Oh my God, I can hear.' That's not my dream. It's not my dream. I've been raised deaf. I'm used to the way I am. I don't want to change it. Why would I ever want to change? Because I'm used to this, I'm happy.
I have made the choices that work best for me. I know I cannot please everyone, and that's fine.
You can do anything if you set your mind to it. Look out for kids, help them dream and be inspired. We teach calculus in schools, but I believe the most important formula is courage plus dreams equals success.
It was ability that mattered, not disability, which is a word I'm not crazy about using.
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, and in spite of what most people might have expected from a young girl growing up deaf, life for me was like one long episode of 'The Brady Bunch.' Despite whatever barriers were in my way, I imagined myself as Marcia Brady skating down the street saying 'hi' to everyone, whether they knew me or not.
Every one of us is different in some way, but for those of us who are more different, we have to put more effort into convincing the less different that we can do the same thing they can, just differently.