Hollywood embraced me in the late ’80s because there was a good project I was in and it was different. Nowadays, it’s about corporate mentality, box office, youth. – Marlee Matlin
I got a good handshake. A lot of executives tell me I have the best handshake in Hollywood. – Marlee Matlin
When I learned to sign and speak at the same time, the whole world opened up to me. That’s the beauty of encouraging kids who are deaf to use whatever it takes to communicate. – Marlee Matlin
I have a great husband, great parents and in-laws, and I have help with a nanny. It’s not easy, but there are others who do it every day and don’t have a high-profile job as I do. – Marlee Matlin
Every one of us is different in some way, but for those of us who are more different, we have to put more effort into convincing the less different that we can do the same thing they can, just differently. – Marlee Matlin
Every one of us is different in some way but for those of us who are more ‘different,’ we have to put more effort into convincing the less different that we can do the same thing as they can… just differently. – Marlee Matlin
I have made the choices that work best for me. I know I cannot please everyone, and that’s fine. – Marlee Matlin
I’ve been around since I was 19, I won the Oscar when I was 21, I’ve had a couple of TV series. I’ve continued to work despite the predictions of some naysayers. – Marlee Matlin
What the Bleep Do We Know was not written with a deaf person in mind, but when they met me, it clicked with them to have me in it. But that happens with a lot of actors in Hollywood, not just with me. – Marlee Matlin
If I were offered a cochlear implant today, I would prefer not to have one. But that’s not a statement about hearing aids or cochlear implants. It’s about who you are. – Marlee Matlin
The only thing I can’t do is hear. I can drive, I have a life with four kids, I work on TV, I do movies, so the deafness question, is it that they want to know because, what? Not sure. – Marlee Matlin
I find the mantle of, she works hard for the money, or, she’s overcome so many obstacles a bit overused. – Marlee Matlin
There is nothing better than being a parent. It is the most challenging job one could ever ask for. I love being a mom and I love being a friend to my children as well. – Marlee Matlin
I’m particularly proud of my work with the Starkey Hearing Foundation for whom I raised a million dollars in one day on ‘Celebrity Apprentice.’ They do great work around the world helping deaf children in developing countries get proper attention and free hearing aids. – Marlee Matlin
I hope that through my example, such as my role on ‘The West Wing,’ I can help change attitudes on deafness and prove we can really do everything… except hear. – Marlee Matlin
I did three DVD’s for ‘Baby Einstein,’ teaching babies how to sign. It really helps a parent communicate because babies can’t talk. But it has been proven that they can communicate using their hands to communicate. So sign language is a great tool in that way. – Marlee Matlin
I know what it’s like to be growing up, called ‘deaf and mute’ and ‘deaf and dumb.’ They’re words that are very degrading and demeaning to people who are deaf and hard of hearing. It’s almost… it’s almost libelous, if you want to say that. – Marlee Matlin
I can hear you and I can watch your mouth move, and then I put together the sounds and the visual image, and I can understand the words as I integrate the two signals. – Marlee Matlin
When I was 13, I told Henry Winkler I wanted to act. He said, Do it and don’t let anyone stand in your way. His validation just made it all the more true. I haven’t stopped thanking him since. – Marlee Matlin
I learned to speak first, and then to sign. I have never really known what it was like to hear, so I can’t compare hearing aids to normal hearing. – Marlee Matlin