#the l word

Actress, activist, and author Marlee Matlin, best known for her roles in films and television series such as Children of a Lesser God,The L Word, and Switched at Birth, became the first deaf performer to receive the Academy Award for Best Actress. She was 21 years old when she received the award, and holds the record for being the youngest person to receive this prestigious award. This amazing actress is also Jewish, and here’s how we know:

-Marlee’s family is of Russian and Polish Jewish background, and Marlee grew up attending the Jewish Temple for the Deaf, Bene Shalom, in Skokie, Illinois. [x]

-Marlee had a bat mitzvah and was later interviewed about her bat mitzvah experience for the book Mazel Tov: Celebrities’ Bar and Bat Mitzvah Memories. [x]

-Marlee has said that her Jewish background has been part of the driving force for the large amount of charity work she has done, including her work for the Starkey Hearing Foundation, which gives free hearing aids to children who cannot afford them. [x]

-Marlee has participated in advertising for the Jewish Federations of North America, which does philanthropic work to benefit Jewish causes. [x]

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