Academy-Award-winning actress Marlee Matlin has delivered several memorable performances in a career spanning nearly four decades. She is the first-ever deaf performer to win an Oscar after receiving the Best Actress accolade for her performance as Sarah Norman in the romantic drama movie Children of a Lesser God. Her co-star in the movie was William Hurt, with whom she was in an off-screen relationship at the time. In a new documentary, Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, the Reasonable Doubts actress recalled the night she won the Oscar and mentioned how afraid she was while getting the award from Hurt.
Reason why Marlee Matlin was afraid to accept Oscar from William Hurt
Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore premiered on Thursday at the Sundance Film Festival. The documentary sheds light on Matlin’s career in the entertainment industry and her life behind the camera. She and Hurt were in a two-year-long relationship, and according to Matlin, Hurt abused her during this period. During the production of Children of a Lesser God, Matlin was 19, whereas Hurt was 35.
Hurt won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1985 for Kiss of the Spider Woman, so he was the one who presented Matlin with her Oscar in 1986. Recounting the night, Matlin said in the documentary, “I was afraid as I walked up the stairs to get the Oscar. I was afraid because I knew in my gut that he wasn’t happy. Because I saw the look on his face, and my thought was, ‘S—!’” (via People)
Matlin discussed that night and more about her tumultuous relationship with Hurt in her 2009 memoir I’ll Scream Later. She also claimed that Hurt sexually assaulted her. (via Variety)
After the memoir’s publication, Hurt issued a statement claiming that his recollection was that he and Matlin “both apologized and both did a great deal to heal our lives. Of course, I did and do apologize for any pain I caused. And I know we both have grown. I wish Marlee and her family nothing but good.”
Hurt passed away in March 2022 due to complications related to bone-metastasized terminal prostate cancer at age 71.
Originally reported by Tamal Kundu on ComingSoon.
