Marlee Matlin
Deaf almost from birth, actress Marlee Matlin became a respected Academy Award-winning actress. Born in Morton Grove, Illinois, she lost most of her hearing while still a baby. She began performing on stage as a youngster in productions with other hearing-impaired youth. She came to the attention of actor Henry Winkler who encouraged her to continue acting. Just out of her teens, she was cast opposite William Hurt in the drama "Children of a Lesser God" (1986), the film adaptation of Mark Medoff's Tony Award-winning play. Matlin starred as Sarah Norman, a reluctant to communicate deaf woman who becomes romantically involved with one of her teachers. The role earned her the Oscar for Best Actress, making her at 21 the youngest actress to win the award. Despite the success, she initially struggled to find follow-up roles. She had a supporting role in the drug drama "Walker" (1987) and starred in the television film "Bridge to Silence" (CBS, 1989). Her career began to find a groove in the 1990s. After starring in the French film "L'homme au masque d'or" (1990) with Jean Reno, she began finding steady work. She starred in the big screen thriller "Hear No Evil" (1993) and co-starred with Mark Harmon in the legal drama "Reasonable Doubt" (ABC, 1991-93). She had a memorable cameo appearance in Robert Altman's "The Player" (1992), as well as on "Seinfeld" (NBC, 1989-98), "The Larry Sanders Show" (HBO, 1992-98), and "ER" (NBC, 1994-2009). David E. Kelley cast her in the recurring role of Mayor Laurie Bey in his "Picket Fences" (CBS, 1992-96). She also played a non-hearing-impaired character for the first time when she starred in the TV movie "Against Her Will: The Carrie Buck Story" (Lifetime, 1994), playing a woman who was forcibly sterilized by the state of Virginia. She found steady work as well in films such as "It's My Party" (1996), "When Justice Falls" (1999), and "In Her Defense" (1999). An advocate of closed captioning, Matlin was instrumental in getting legislation passed requiring televisions to be outfitted with the technology necessary to provide the service. At the turn of the century, the actress began appearing on a recurring basis on Aaron Sorkin's presidential drama "The West Wing" (NBC, 1999-2006) playing political strategist Joey Lucas. She worked steadily on television, including guest appearances on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC, 1999- ), "Desperate Housewives" (ABC, 2004-12) and "My Name is Earl" (NBC, 2005-09). She had a recurring role on the LBGTQ landmark series "The L Word" (Showtime, 2004-09) playing deaf sculptor Jodi Lerner, one of the love interests of Jennifer Beals' Bette Porter. She played a guidance counselor and the mother of Sean Berdy's deaf character Emmett on the teen drama "Switched at Birth" (Freeform, 2011-17). The actress also appeared as a contestant on both "Dancing with the Stars" (ABC, 2005- ) and "The Celebrity Apprentice" (NBC, 2008-17). She continued her run of playing recurring characters, joining both "The Magicians" (Syfy, 2015- ) and "Quantico" (ABC, 2015-18) in that capacity. She also appeared on "This Close" (Sundance, 2018- ), a show created by deaf actors Joshua Feldman and Shoshannah Stern about hearing impaired best friends living in Los Angeles. Matlin then played the mother of fellow deaf actress Sandra Mae Frank in the sci-fi thriller "Entangled" (2020).
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Marlee Matlin
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
94% |
|
CODA | Jackie Rossi (Character) | - | 2021 |
No Score Yet |
|
Multiverse | Dierdre (Character) | - | 2019 |
6% |
|
Some Kind of Beautiful | Cindy (Character) | - | 2014 |
83% |
|
The One I Love | Diner Patron (Character) | $511.6K | 2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Foreclosed | Ally Turner (Character) | - | 2013 |
No Score Yet |
|
No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie | Self | - | 2013 |
85% |
|
Excision | Amber (Character) | - | 2012 |
No Score Yet |
|
Sweet Nothing in My Ear | Laura Miller (Character) | - | 2008 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Baby Einstein: My First Signs | Unknown (Character) | - | 2007 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Baby Einstein - Baby's Favorite Places First Words Around Town | Unknown (Character) | - | 2006 |
34% |
|
What the Bleep Do We Know!? | Lead (Character) | $10.9M | 2004 |
No Score Yet |
|
Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-Off | Executive Producer | - | 2003 |
No Score Yet |
|
Askari | Paula McKinley (Character) | - | 2001 |
No Score Yet |
|
Kiss My Act | Casey (Character) | - | 2001 |
No Score Yet |
|
Freak City | Cassandra (Character) | - | 1999 |
No Score Yet |
|
Where the Truth Lies |
Dana Sue Lacey (Character), Executive Producer |
- | 1999 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Two Shades of Blue | Beth McDaniels (Character) | - | 1999 |
No Score Yet |
|
In Her Defense | Jane Claire (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet |
|
When Justice Fails | Katy Wesson (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet |
|
Dead Silence | Melanie Charrol (Character) | - | 1997 |
50% |
|
It's My Party | Daphne Stark (Character) | $562.0K | 1996 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Snitch | Unknown (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Against Her Will: The Carrie Buck Story | Carrie Buck (Character) | - | 1994 |
20% |
|
Hear No Evil | Jillian Shanahan (Character) | $5.2M | 1993 |
50% |
|
The Linguini Incident | Jeanette (Character) | - | 1992 |
No Score Yet |
|
Bridge to Silence | Peggy Lawrence (Character) | - | 1989 |
47% |
|
Walker | Ellen Martin (Character) | $216.1K | 1987 |
81% |
|
Children of a Lesser God | Sarah Norman (Character) | $26.8M | 1986 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Celebrity IOU | Self | 2024 |
61% | 62% | Accused | Director | 2023 |
No Score Yet | 55% | The Kelly Clarkson Show | Guest | 2021-2023 |
No Score Yet | 50% | New Amsterdam | Bev Clemons (Guest Star) | 2022 |
No Score Yet | 28% | The Drew Barrymore Show | Guest | 2022 |
No Score Yet | 12% | The View | Guest | 2022 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Ellen DeGeneres Show | Guest | 2021-2022 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Variety Studio: Actors on Actors | Guest | 2022 |
No Score Yet | 50% | The Late Show With Stephen Colbert | Guest | 2022 |
No Score Yet | 86% | This Close | Annie (Character) | 2018-2019 |
70% | 46% | Quantico | Jocelyn Turner (Character) | 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Larry King Now | Guest | 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Battle of the Network Stars | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hollywood Medium With Tyler Henry | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2017 |
No Score Yet | 82% | Switched at Birth | Melody Bledsoe (Guest Star) | 2011-2014 2017 |
No Score Yet | 64% | Family Guy | Stella (Guest Voice) | 2012 2014 2017 |
No Score Yet | 82% | Code Black | Kathy Byrne (Guest Star) | 2016 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Operation Change | Guest | 2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Tavis Smiley | Guest | 2014 |
No Score Yet | 80% | Cosmos | Unknown (Guest Voice) | 2014 |
70% | 72% | Glee | Herself (Guest Star) | 2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Doctors | Guest | 2012-2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Talk | Guest | 2011-2012 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Apprentice |
Guest, Contestant |
2011-2012 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Chew | Guest | 2011 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Nate Berkus Show | Guest | 2011 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Comedy Central Roast | Unknown (Character) | 2011 |
No Score Yet | 80% | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2011 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Extreme Makeover: Home Edition | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2004 2006 2010 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Wendy Williams Show | Guest | 2010 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dancing With the Stars | Contestant | 2008 |
74% | 82% | Nip/Tuck | Barbara Shapiro (Guest Star) | 2008 |
82% | 88% | My Name Is Earl | Ruby Whitlow (Guest Star) | 2006-2007 |
No Score Yet | 82% | CSI: New York | Gina Mitchum (Guest Star) | 2006 |
81% | 95% | The West Wing | Joey Lucas (Guest Star) | 2000-2002 2004-2006 |
78% | 83% | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Dr. Amy Solwey (Guest Star) | 2004-2005 |
72% | 89% | Desperate Housewives | Alisa Stevens (Guest Star) | 2005 |
58% | No Score Yet | I'm With Her | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2004 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Blue's Clues | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2003 |
50% | No Score Yet | Gideon's Crossing | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2001 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Practice | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2000 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Judging Amy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1999 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Daily Show | Guest | 1999 |
No Score Yet | 85% | ER | Sign Language Instructor (Guest Star) | 1999 |
68% | No Score Yet | Spin City | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1997 |
82% | 93% | Picket Fences |
Unknown (Character), Unknown (Guest Star) |
1995-1996 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Outer Limits | Jennifer Winter (Character) | 1995 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Sweet Justice | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1995 |
89% | 92% | Seinfeld | Laura (Guest Star) | 1993 |
50% | No Score Yet | Reasonable Doubts | Assistand DA Tess Kaufman (Character) | 1991-1993 |