Marlee Matlin received worldwide critical acclaim for her motion picture debut in Paramount Pictures Children of a Lesser God, earning her the Academy Award for Best Actress. At age 21, she became the youngest recipient of the Best Actress Oscar, making her one of only four actresses to receive that honor for a film debut. In addition to the Oscar, Matlin was honored by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association with the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama. That same year she was honored by Harpers Bazaar as one of The Ten Most Beautiful Women and Esquires Women We Love.

Since then, Matlin has starred in numerous feature films, including Walker, The Player, Hear No Evil, and in the AIDS drama Its My Party. In 2005, Matlin starred in the critically acclaimed documentary/feature, What the Bleep Do We Know!?

On TV, Matlin made her debut in CBS's Bridge to Silence, a film that marked her first speaking role. For seven seasons, Matlin starred on NBCs Emmy Award winning series, The West Wing. She has also guest starred on HBO's The Larry Sanders Show, ABC's Spin City and Desperate Housewives, NBC's ER, CBS's Judging Amy and CSI: New York and had a recurring role on NBC's My Name is Earl. In 2007, Matlin joined the cast of Showtimes cutting-edge drama The L Word, and in 2008, Matlin broke barriers once again when she joined the cast of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. She also appears on NBC's The Celebrity Apprentice, and ABC's Peabody Award winning Family drama, Switched at Birth.

An Academy Award and Golden Globe winner, Matlin has also received multiple nominations for her work on television including two Golden Globe Award nominations as Best Actress in a Dramatic Television Series, two Peoples Choice Awards nominations for Favorite Actress in a Drama, and four Emmy award nominations for her guest turns on CBSs Picket Fences, ABCs The Practice and NBCs Seinfeld and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.

In September 1999, under her Solo One Productions banner, Matlin embarked on her first effort as Executive Producer with the courtroom thriller Where the Truth Lies (Lifetime Television) in which she also starred. In 2003 she produced Eddies Million Dollar Bake-off for The Disney Channel, receiving an honor from the National Council on Family Relations for excellence in programming. In 2009, she self-produced “My Deaf Family” an pilot which she put up on You Tube; it has since garnered nearly 1 million views. In 2012 Marlee created her the first celebrity driven App for teaching Sign Language entitled “Marlee Signs” for Apple based handheld devices.

Marlee’s New York Times Best Selling autobiography, entitled “I’ll Scream Later” was published by Simon Spotlight, a division of Simon and Schuster in April, 2009. In addition, Marlee published novels for children including entitled Deaf Child Crossing, Nobody’s Perfect, and Leading Ladies.

Marlee has also appeared in a number of musical performances. She appeared on “Sesame Street” with Grammy Award winning singer Billy Joel, performing “Just the Way You Are,” and appeared in the music video for Joel’s Grammy-nominated “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” In January, 1993, she performed the national anthem in American Sign Language with Garth Brooks, at “Super Bowl XXVII” and appeared in Brooks’ music video “We Shall Be Free” and the follow up in 2008. Marlee returned to the Super Bowl in 2007 to perform the National Anthem with Billy Joel and most recently, returned for Super Bowl 50 to perform alongside Grammy Award winning singer, Lady Gaga.

Marlee has also appeared in a number of educational and children’s programs. Marlee served as host of PBS’ Emmy Award winning series “People in Motion,” and in 2007, she was featured in the PBS documentary, “Through Deaf Eyes.” Other television appearances include MTV’s “Rock the Vote,” Disney’s award winning series “Adventures in Wonderland.” And Nickelodeon’s Emmy Award winning “Blues Clues” where she appears as Marlee the Librarian. Marlee also appeared in “Baby Wordsworth,” part of the highly acclaimed “Baby Einstein” series, teaching sign language to infants and toddlers.

In 1994, Marlee was appointed by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate to the Board of Directors for the Corporation for National Service. In 1995, Marlee served as Chairperson for National Volunteer Week and honored in a White House Rose Garden ceremony by the President. In 2010 she joined President Barack Obama on the South Lawn of the White House, performing and participating in a signing ceremony, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Matlin currently serves as a National Celebrity Spokesperson for the American Red Cross, encouraging Americans to donate blood. She has also worked on behalf of closed captioning and in 1992 was instrumental in getting Congress to pass federal legislation requiring all televisions manufactured in the United States be equipped with closed captioning technology; in 2012, she was able to do the same for captioning over broadband and the Internet.

Marlee has served on the boards of a number of charitable organizations including Easter Seals, as well as those charities which primarily benefit children. Marlee has also combined her charity work with commercial ventures and has appeared in numerous commercials and Public Service Announcements, on behalf of corporate sponsors such as Target, Sprint. Toys R Us, 7UP and the ACLU each designed to raise awareness about the importance of donating to charitable organizations and interacting with deaf people. In 2006 Marlee was honored by America On Line as “Chief Everything Officer,” highlighting the important contributions of mothers, both home and work environments. In 2011 Marlee raised awareness for the need for hearing aids and better hearing health for millions of deaf and hard of hearing children and adults in developing countries when she traveled to Africa, supporting the Starkey Hearing Foundation; her visit was highlighted on the finale of NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice.”

Marlee makes her home in the greater Los Angeles area. She and her husband, law enforcement officer Kevin Grandalski, and their four children.

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