Happy Birthday, Marlee Matlin!

It was on this date (Aug. 24) that Oscar winner Marlee Matlin was born in 1965.

Some things to know about Marlee Matlin:

Family:

• Parents: Libby and Donald Matlin (an automobile dealer).

• Two older brothers: Eric and Marc.

• Spouse: Married Burbank police officer Kevin Grandalski.

• Four children: Sarah (1996), Brandon (2000), Tyler (2002), and Isabelle (2003).

Acting Roles:

• Major roles in The West Wing, Children of a Lesser God, Switched at Birth and Reasonable Doubts.

• Guest appearances in: Seinfeld, Picket Fences, The Practice and Law & Order: SVU, and The L Word.

• Only accepts roles if producers agree to caption the work for deaf audiences.

Major Life Events:

1965: Born in Morton Grove, Illinois (just north of downtown Chicago) on Aug. 24

1967: Deaf since 18 months of age, losing all of her hearing in her right ear and 80% of the hearing in her left ear due to illness and fevers. The only member of her family who is deaf.

1972: Made her stage debut at the age of seven, as Dorothy in a production of The Wizard of Oz produced by the International Center on Deafness and the Arts children's theatre.

1976: Molested: by a babysitter at age 11 and according to her autobiography, later by a teacher in high school. Her memoir discusses being raped by Children of a Lesser God co-star William Hurt.

1978: Won second prize in the Chicago Center's Annual International Creative Arts Festival for an essay titled "If I Was not a Movie Star."

1983: Attended Harper College in Palatine, Illinois after graduating from John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights.

1985: Jack Jason becomes her interprter, meeting on the set of Children of a Lesser God.

1986: The first deaf person to win an Academy Award and the youngest woman to win the Best Actress Award for her role in Children of a Lesser God.

Four-time Emmy nominee.

1993: Marries Burbank police officer Kevin Grandalski on August 29. They met while she was working on Reasonable Doubts.

2002: Published her first novel, titled Deaf Child Crossing.

2009: Her autobiography, I'll Scream Later, was published.

2009: Got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2014: Won an award at the Henry Viscardi Achievement Awards.

2015: Began serving as the ACLU's celebrity ambassador.

2015: Made her Broadway debut in a revival of Spring Awakening.

2021: Won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for her role in the film CODA.

2025: The documentary film Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, was released.

2026: Commencement speaker at the University of Oregon. Her youngest daughter was among the graduates.

Religion:

• Grew up in a Reformed Jewish household.

• Attended a synagogue for the Deaf (Congregation Bene Shalom).

• Studyed Hebrew phonetically and learned her Torah portion for her Bat Mitzvah.