In a new documentary, “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore,” the star reflects on the joy, and pain, of being Hollywood’s first Oscar-winning Deaf actress.
Marlee Matlin is a fighter. At 21, she became the first Deaf performer to win an Oscar for her role as a smart, stubborn custodian in the 1986 film “Children of a Lesser God.” Though the win thrust her into the spotlight, it did not change the barriers she faced as a Deaf woman, nor did it afford her or other deaf actors the same opportunities as hearing actors. The next Oscar win for a Deaf performer did not occur until 35 years later, when Ms. Matlin’s co-star Troy Kotsur won for the 2021 movie “CODA,” in which they played loving parents to a hearing daughter.
The documentary explores the challenges Ms. Matlin has faced throughout her life. The actress said that she battled drug and alcohol addiction and that she was in an abusive relationship with her “Children of A Lesser God” co-star William Hurt, who died in 2022. After Ms. Matlin wrote about the relationship in her 2009 memoir, Mr. Hurt said in a statement: “I did and do apologize for any pain I caused.”
Throughout her career Ms. Matlin has pushed for more acting roles and has become an advocate on deaf issues such as improving accessibility and representation in mainstream media. When she was asked to participate in a documentary about her life, Ms. Matlin insisted on hiring a Deaf, female director. As a result, the documentary, “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore,” is not rooted in sound, and there are no voice-overs — there are only captions — for the American Sign Language conversations.
