Award winning deaf actress, author and activist Marlee Matlin has a message for everyone: Be courageous.
It is something she has had to practice her whole life.
The youngest woman to win a Best Actress Academy Award at 19 for her performance in the 1986 movie Children of A Lesser God and the only deaf person to ever win one, Matlin has taken her success from Hollywood, Broadway and television on the road in hopes of inspiring others to overcome obstacles.
Matlin has been almost totally deaf since she was 18 months old. But she said her parents -- in particular her mother -- refused to let her be handicapped. She attended mainstream schools, while enduring the taunts of hearing children.
But at the same time, she learned to overcome all the obstacles set in her path.
Matlin and her long-time interpreter Jack Jason spoke at the 4th Annual Invest In Women conference, sponsored by Financial Advisor and ETF Advisor magazines, recently in Houston.
“I know it seems unusual for me to speak to an audience like this,” she said of the more than 300 financial advisors, mostly women, who attended the conference, “but my story is universal. I’m proof that anything is possible if you set your minds to it.”
After she lost her hearing, Matlin said her parents “got busy, and asked questions, and refused to take no for an answer.” As she was growing up she was told it would be impossible for her to be a successful actress. After Children of A Lesser God came out, critics said she didn't deserve her Oscar for her lead role because it was her first movie. Then she was criticized by the deaf community for talking.
Her mentor, TV and movie star Henry Winkler, supported her every step of the way from early in her career, including taking her into his home for a couple of years.
“I was the houseguest who came for a weekend and never left,” Matlin said.