American actress, author, and activist who is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, four Emmy nominations, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 1987 her Best Actress Oscar win for “Children of a Lesser God” made her the only deaf performer to win an Academy Award as well as the youngest winner in the Best Actress category. Her film work includes “The Man in the Golden Mask” (1990) and “CODA” (2021), and her TV credits include “Reasonable Doubts” (1991).
She lost all hearing in her right ear and 80% of the hearing in her left ear at the age of 18 months due to illness and fevers. In her autobiography “I’ll Scream Later”, she suggests that her hearing loss may have been due to a genetically malformed cochlea. She learned to read lips and use sign language.
She became a policewoman before acting and has been onscreen from 1986. She had a fling with William Hurt and by 1992 was living with L.A. Law executive producer David Kelley.
Matlin married Burbank police officer Kevin Grandalski on 29 August 1993. They first met while she was filming a scene from “Reasonable Doubts” outside the studio grounds; the police department had assigned Grandalski to provide security and control traffic. They have four children: Sarah (born 1996), Brandon (born 2000), Tyler (born 2002), and Isabelle (born 2003).
Link to Wikipedia biography