Matlin enjoys visiting children of the deaf community.
When she was in Nicaragua filming for a movie she visited many deaf children and has continued this tradition ever since. She has traveled all around Europe to countries such as Germany, Italy, and England to visit deaf people and to give speeches.
Marlee is also a spokeswoman for the National Captioning Institute. In 1995 she testified at a Congressional hearing, and helped get a law passed that requires all TV sets 13 inches or larger to be manufactured with built-in chips to provide "Closed Captioning" on their screens. She also serves on the boards for many charitable organizations in the deaf community. Some of these organizations include Very special arts and the starlight foundation. Most of the organizations she serves in have to do with benefiting
children.
On August 29, 1993 Marlee married a police officer by the name of Kevin Grandalski. To this day they have four children. They have two sons as well as two daughters. Their names are Sara born on January 19, 1996, Brandon born on September 12, 2000, Tyler born on July 18, 2002, and Isabelle born on December 26, 2003.
On February 4, 2007, Matlin performed the "Star Spangled Banner" in American Sign Language at Super Bowl XLI in Miami, Florida. She was also a competttitor in the sixth season of dancing with the stars. Her partner was Fabian Sanchez. They were eliminated in the Sixth week of the season. On April 14, 2009, Matlin released I’ll Scream Later, an autobiography that chronicles her life’s journey. In it, she speaks about her rocky, two-year relationship with actor William Hurt, whom she alleges was physically abusive to her and abused drugs during their two-year relationship. And she also addresses sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of a babysitter.
I believe that Marlee Matlin serves as a spokesperson for the deaf society. She is a widely known actress with a vision for the future society in general. I think that she is the perfect example of showing the world that being deaf is not a handicap. I think that she is a very inspiring person whether you are deaf or hearing.
I have learned many things on my research about Marlee Matlin. One thing is that anyone is capable of accomplishing anything. Marlee has received many awards for acting while being different than the hearing community. She has also helped the world by serving in countless charities and funds. I have learned that it does not matter whether you are hearing or deaf, you can always make a difference in the world.