Marlee Matlin 'I'm Very Loud'

She stormed into our awareness with 1986's Children of a Lesser God and won an Oscar — a first for a deaf actor. In a new documentary, she bravely examines her struggles with abuse, addiction and just being understood.

- by POLLY HUDSON & AMANDA WILLIAMS

Marlee Matlin has the word “perseverance” tattooed on her left wrist. On her right, “warrior.” They perfectly sum up the life and career of the talented actress — deaf since the age of 18 months — and courageous advocate. “I look at them often,” she says in a moving scene from the documentary Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore (in theaters June 20), produced and directed by Shoshannah Stern, who is also deaf.

Matlin, 59, has defied the critics. Coverage of her standout first role in 1986's Children of a Lesser God ranged from clueless (one reviewer spoke of her “silent world” as “strange and frightening”) to cruel (her Oscar nod was “wasted”). “I'm very loud,” she asserts in the doe. “And within myself, my mind is never silent.” She was written off as an actress who won because of a sympathy vote and would never work again. Even from the deaf community, she faced backlash after presenting at the next Academy Awards, where she chose to speak the names of the nominees without also signing them.

Family has kept Matlin strong. By her side for more than three decades: hearing husband Kevin Grandalski, a policeman and “wonderful guy.” They have two sons and two daughters in their 20s, plus a 13-month-old granddaughter. “I just really am the luckiest woman on earth,” she says with a smile. The luminous Matlin sat down with Us to discuss just a few of her highs and lows.

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