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
I like to play around with people who don't know me. Often I'm talking to people through my speaker phone, and after 10 minutes or so they say, 'Wait a minute, Marlee, how can you hear me?' They forget I have an interpreter there who is signing to me as they talk. So I say, 'You know what? I can hear on Wednesdays.'
I know what it's like to be growing up, called 'deaf and mute' and 'deaf and dumb.' They're words that are very degrading and demeaning to people who are deaf and hard of hearing. It's almost... it's almost libelous, if you want to say that.
For people who are afraid to talk about cancer, for people who are afraid to communicate with their loved ones about it, and for the people who want to pretend cancer doesn't exist, either delaying diagnosis or not getting regular checkups, the consequences can be fatal. Doing nothing about cancer will kill you.
In the deaf community, there are different types of people who have different philosophies. Some believe that they should only sign. Some believe they should only speak. Some people say you should use cued speech. Some say you should use cochlear implants. Some say you shouldn't sign. Some people say you should sign.
We aren't handicapped in any way except by what other people think. Focus on people's abilities. I can't be on 'American Idol,' but there's all kinds of stuff I can do.
I hope I inspire people who hear. Hearing people have the ability to remove barriers that prevent deaf people from achieving their dreams.
How many deaf people do you know in real life? Unless they live in a cave, or are 14, which seems to be true for most people in this business, what could I possibly tell them that they don't already know?
I'm gonna be unemployed when people read this. Ha.
Why are people so interested in other people's relationships? It's like stealing.
There are so many people, deaf or otherwise abled, who are so talented but overlooked or not given a chance to even get their foot in the door.
Deaf people can do anything, except hear.
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.
I would absolutely love it if you didn't have to ever change the batteries. I am so cautious about that, I even keep batteries with me all the time.
Google, as usual, is one step ahead of everyone and provided the means where all videos on YouTube can be automatically captioned through voice-recognition technology without having to be told that it's the responsible thing to do.