Marlee Matlin | Actress Marlee Matlin (centre) with her children Isabelle Grandalski , Tyler Grandalski, Sara Grandalski and Brandon Joseph Grandalski | Source: Getty Images | instagram.com/themarleematlin
When Marlee Matlin made her historical 1987 Academy Award win, the young actress was also winning a battle with addiction in private. The deaf actress now has a strong support structure at home with her former cop husband and their children.
Advertisem*nt
Marlee Matlin and her husband of nearly three decades, Kevin Grandalski, have four children together: Sarah, Brandon, Tyler, and Isabelle Grandalski. The kids often post in support of their mother's projects.
They reside in a five-bedroom Tudor house in the suburbs of Los Angeles, California. Sarah and her father attended every taping of "Dancing with the Stars" when the "Switched at Birth" star competed in season six.
Actresses Marlee Matlin, husband Kevin Grandalski (R) and children Brandon Grandalski, Isabelle Grandalski and Tyler Grandalski attend the Marlee Matlin Sardi's portait unveiling at Sardi's on November 24, 2015 in New York City. | Source: Getty Images
The Sign of a Loving Family
Matlin has a compass tattoo with the initials of her four children on the back of her neck by tattoo artist Luke Wessman. The family celebrates Jewish and Christian holidays.
Advertisem*nt
"Marlee Matlin was in the Betty Ford Center on the night when she learned of her Oscar nomination."
The kids are all fluent in American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate with their mother. She told Verywell Health that their eldest daughter's first word, at six months, was the sign for a telephone. "This is a household that speaks and signs, so there are no barriers."
Advertisem*nt
Marlee In Training
Sara Rose Grandalski was born on January 19, 1996; this turned out to be the same day the episode aired where Matlin's character gives birth on the drama CBS "Picket Fences." Sara is a digital creator and tattoo enthusiast. She honored her mother on mother's day:
"Mom - I know life wasn't always easy... I wasn’t always easy. But you’ve always given me your best... guiding me in the right direction, showing your support, loving me unconditionally. I know I didn’t always see it, but believe me, I appreciate it now…”
Sara gave her mother inspirational pep talks during her "Dancing with the Stars" stint. In the PEOPLE profile, Matlin called her daughter M-I-T, "Marlee in training."
Advertisem*nt
Meet the Younger Members of the Matlin-Grandalski Clan
Brandon Joseph Grandalski was born on September 12, 2000. Brandon is the only Grandalski sibling with a private Instagram account. According to Distractify, he is enrolled at Marquette University's "LA Experience." In his Twitter bio, he declares, "it's my turn."
Tyler Daniel Grandalski was born on July 18, 2002. Tyler is outdoorsy, most of his socials place him on the beach, desert or mountains. He sports a frosted-tip hairdo in line with the 90s fashion trend. Per Distractify, he is a student at San Diego State University.
Isabelle Jane Grandalski, the family's baby, was born on December 26, 2003. In high school, Isabelle was a varsity cheerleader for four years.
Advertisem*nt
Dad of Four
The actress met her police officer husband, Kevin Grandalski, on the set of the police drama, Reasonable Doubts. After a two-year courtship, the couple tied the knot on the front lawn of actor Henry Winkler's house by a priest and a rabbi. She told Oregon Jewish Life:
"He's not Jewish, but I believe that we can share both our beliefs in a household together."
She celebrates their August 29, 1993, union every year with photos from the wedding. On her husband's retirement in 2017, she proclaimed herself a proud police wife with an image of his shadow box given to him by the Burbank Police Officers Association.
(L-R) Canadian actress Amy Forsyth, US actor Daniel Durant, Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez, British actress Emilia Jones, and US actress Marlee Matlin, winners of best picture for Coda, attend the 94th Annual Academy Awards Governors Ball in Hollywood, California on March 27, 2022. | Source: Getty Images
Advertisem*nt
Back in the Oscar Game
Matlin is the executive producer of "Feeling Through," a live-action short starring Robert Tarango, the first deaf and blind actor in a lead role. Her interpreter and fellow executive producer, Jack Jason, said:
"You don't see these kinds of projects very often, and we have produced a couple of projects in the past, but this one is so unique, and I knew it was time for Marlee to get back into the Oscar game."
Matlin told ABC 7's George Pennacchio that the short film "really brings out the best in the viewer, maybe not even realizing it." The film lost out to Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe's "Two Distant Strangers."
Advertisem*nt
Read also
Marlee Matlin Thanks Family for Sobriety
PEOPLE reports that Marlee Matlin was in the Betty Ford Center the night she learned of her Oscar nomination. In her memoir "I’ll Scream Later," she wrote about the events leading up to her decision to sober up:
"I was due to fly the next day to be with Bill [her boyfriend] at Betty Ford as part of his therapy. I knew they would bust me about my drug use, so I tried to finish everything I had: a gram of co*ke, a half-ounce bag of pot. I knew I needed help."
Advertisem*nt
The CODA actress celebrated her 30-year sobriety chip on January 11, 2020. She thanked her husband and four children for their support. She writes that no one in her life took her drug addiction seriously in her memoir.
When she committed to rehab, her boyfriend, Bill Hurt, was the only one encouraging her. In a Twitter tribute to Betty Ford upon her death, she called the former first lady an angel. She credited Ford and her eponymous clinic for helping her beat her addiction.
Advertisem*nt
