Trivia

Youngest person to receive the Oscar in the Best Actress Category at the age of 21 and 218 days old. Until 2022 she was the only deaf actor to receive an Academy Award when her CODA costar Troy Kotsur won for Best Supporting Actor at the 94th Academy Awards.

Revealed in her biography "I'll Scream Later" that her relationship with William Hurt was physically abusive on both sides and that their fights were alcohol- and drug-fueled.

Credits ex-boyfriend William Hurt with helping her seek help for her drug abuse.

She is profoundly deaf. Her right ear has complete loss, while her left ear has around 80% loss. She is the only member of her family who is deaf.

Found out about her Oscar nomination for Children of a Lesser God (1986) from her interpreter Jack Jason when she was in rehab in the Betty Ford Clinic for 26 days, seeking help because of her drug problems. She didn't want to field questions from the press about her nomination, since she didn't want them to know that she was in recovery, so she responded to Jack, "I'll scream later." That phrase became the title of her 2009 memoir.

Was married in Henry Winkler's (the Fonz's) backyard.

Initially she believed she was rendered deaf in infancy by a bout of roseola infantum, but later found out that roseola doesn't cause deafness. In the 1990s a doctor told her mother that he believed Matlin had a genetically malformed cochlea, which meant that she could likely hear when she was born but that her hearing receded over the first couple of years of her life.

One of a chosen few to receive a Best Acting Oscar for a debut performance.

Is one of four actresses to win the Best Actress Oscar for her film debut (Children of a Lesser God (1986)). The others are Shirley Booth (for Come Back, Little Sheba (1952)), Julie Andrews (for Mary Poppins (1964)), and Barbra Streisand (for Funny Girl (1968)).

Awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6667 Hollywood Blvd. on 5/6/09.

As a child she attended a synagogue for the deaf.

Her husband, Kevin Grandalski, is a police officer.

Gave birth to her fourth child at age 38: a daughter, Isabelle Jane Grandalski, on 12/26/03. The child's father is her husband, Kevin Grandalski.

Her father was of Russian Jewish descent. Her maternal grandparents were Polish Jewish immigrants.

As of 2022, she has been in two films that were Oscar-nominated for Best Picture: Children of a Lesser God (1986) and CODA (2021), the latter won the category.

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.

Received a special award from the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) for performers with disabilities.

Gave birth to her first child at age 30: a daughter, Sara Rose Grandalski, on 1/19/96. The child's father is her husband, Kevin Grandalski.

Used to reside with Academy Award winner William Hurt.

Gave birth to her third child at age 36: a son, Tyler Daniel Grandalski, on 7/18/02. The child's father is her husband, Kevin Grandalski.

At the age of 7, she played Dorothy Gale in a production of "The Wizard of Oz" at ICODA (International Center on Deafness and the Arts).

Gave birth to her second child at age 35: a son, Brandon Joseph Grandalski, on 9/12//2000. The child's father is her husband, Kevin Grandalski.

Listed as one of 12 "Promising New Actors of 1986" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 38.

She presented the Vardon family with $50,000 from a charity for the Vardons' 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, a hearing older son (Stefan) and a younger son who is both blind and autistic.

As of 2009 was residing in Los Angeles, CA, with her husband, Kevin Grandalski, and their four children.

Was the 94th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won a Best Actress Oscar for Children of a Lesser God (1986) at The 59th Annual Academy Awards (1987) on 3/30/87.

Attended and graduated from John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, IL.

Named godmother of Holland-America Line cruise ship the MS Noordam.

Suffered a miscarriage in December 1998.

Before her screen debut in the film adaptation of "Children of a Lesser God" and the Academy Award for her performance as Sarah Norman, Marlee Matlin got her breakthrough professional start in the stage production of the original play at The Immediate Theatre in Chicago with Paul Raci as James Leeds, where he was also nominated for a 1985 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a Principal Role.

Delivered her children Sara, Tyler and Isabella via Caesarean section and her son Brandon via forceps.