Marlee received worldwide critical acclaim for her motion picture debut in Children of a Lesser God, a performance the film community chose to recognize with its highest honor—the Academy Award® for Best Actress. At age 21, she became the youngest recipient of the Best Actress Oscar® and 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.
Matlin was again praised by critics and audiences alike for her work in the independent feature film CODA. The film has earned several prestigious awards, including multiple Academy Awards, notably Best Feature Film, as well as Adapted Screenplay and Supporting Actor. The film additionally took home the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Other awards include: NBR, NAACP Image Award, HCA and AFI Honor. Independent Spirit, Critics Choice, BAFTA, Gotham, and International Press Academy. The film premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and earned a record breaking 4 awards including Cast, Jury and Audience, as well as setting a new festival record in its sale to AppleTV. Marlee is the executive producer of the 2021 Oscar-nominated short film FEELING THROUGH. Her previous work in “Reasonable Doubts,” earned her two Golden Globe Award nominations and a People’s Choice Award. Since then, she received nominations for four Emmy awards for her appearances on “Seinfeld,” “Picket Fences,” “The Practice,” and “Law and Order: SVU.” Marlee’s other notable TV credits include critically acclaimed series, “West Wing,” “The L Word,” and “Family Guy” just to name a few.
In 2022, Matlin became the first Deaf member of the DGA, with her directorial debut on the network series “Accused.” The series, based on the acclaimed British drama, is co-production by Sony Pictures Television and Fox, and produced by Howard Gordon, Alex Gansa and David Shore.
Matlin continues to make a name for herself behind the camera, she is the EP of the HBO documentary “Siren: The Voices of Shelley Beattie,” which will premiere at DOC NYC in November. She currently serves on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS). She also has a 1st Look Producer deal with AppleTV.
Matlin made her television debut starring alongside Lee Remick in Bridge to Silence. She went on to star for two seasons in the series Reasonable Doubts opposite Mark Harmon. She was twice nominated for both a Golden Globe® Award as Best Actress in a Dramatic Television Series as well as the People’s Choice® Awards. Matlin was nominated for two Emmy® awards for her guest turns on Seinfeld and Picket Fences. She also starred in Against Her Will: The Carrie Buck Story, a movie for Lifetime Television in which she was nominated for a CableACE Award for Best Actress in a Movie or Mini-Series. Marlee broke yet another barrier with the role, playing a character that was not Deaf. Matlin later returned to CBS’ Picket Fences for two seasons to reprise her Emmy®-nominated role. For seven seasons, Matlin starred opposite Martin Sheen, Jimmy Smits and Bradley Whitford as pollster Joey Lucas on the Emmy® Award-winning series, The West Wing. Matlin received her third Emmy® Award nomination for her work on The Practice, and guest starred on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, receiving her fourth Emmy® nomination for her performance.
Marlee’s New York Times best-selling autobiography I’ll Scream Later was published by Simon Spotlight, a division of Simon and Schuster, in April 2009. In addition, Matlin published a novel for children titled Deaf Child Crossing for Simon and Schuster.
Matlin has been instrumental in many activities that are aiding the deaf and hard of hearing communities — she is an avid crusader for closed captions on all media forms. She helped get legislation passed that mandated ASL interpreters be present at ALL COVID-19 press conferences.
She makes her home in the greater Los Angeles area with her husband and their four children.