“Marlee Matlin Live at the Putnam" -- August 19.
Wednesday, August 19, 6:30 p.m.
Putnam Museum & Science Center, 1717 West 12th Street, Davenport IA
On August 19, Putnam Museum & Science Center patrons will be privileged to share an evening with Academy Award winner Marlee Matlin when the star of Children of a Lesser God and Best Picture winner CODA delivers a keynote address in tandem with a screening of I Am disABLEd. This documentary was produced by the Rock Island-based Fresh Films, and its Davenport showing will be followed by Matlin's keynote focused on accessibility and inclusion, the night designed as a celebration of accessibility, representation, and the power of arts and culture to create communities in which everyone belongs.
Matlin was born in Morton Grove, Illinois, in 1965, and lost all hearing in her right ear and 80 percent of the hearing in her left ear at the age of 18 months due to illness and fevers. In her 2009 autobiography I'll Scream Later, Matlin suggests that her hearing loss may have been due to a genetically malformed cochlea. She is the only member of her family who is deaf and enjoys a sense of humor about her deafness, stating, "Often I'm talking to people through my speakerphone, and after 10 minutes or so they say, 'Wait a minute, Marlee, how can you hear me?' They forget I have an interpreter there who is signing to me as they talk. So I say, 'You know what? I can hear on Wednesdays.'"
Matlin made her stage debut at the age of seven as Dorothy in an International Center on Deafness and the Arts (ICODA) children's-theatre production of The Wizard of Oz, and continued to appear with the ICODA group throughout her childhood. At age 13, she won second prize in the Chicago Center's Annual International Creative Arts Festival for an essay titled "If I Was Not a Movie Star," and years later, she was discovered by Henry Winkler during one of her ICODA performances, which ultimately led to her film debut in 1986's Children of a Lesser God. Writing in Time magazine, Richard Schickel said that Matlin "has an unusual talent for concentrating her emotions -- and an audience's -- in her signing. But there is something more here, an ironic intelligence, a fierce but not distancing wit, that the movies, with their famous ability to photograph thought, discover in very few performances." Children of a Lesser God earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama and an Academy Award for Best Actress – only 21 years old at the time, Matlin remains the youngest actress to receive the Oscar in the Best Actress category. She was the only Deaf nominee and recipient in any category until 2022, when Troy Kotsur won for Best Supporting Actor for his role opposite Matlin in CODA.
Following her success with Children of a Lesser God, Matlin starred in the police drama series Reasonable Doubts from 1991 to 1993, which earned her two Golden Globe Award nominations, and her guest roles in Seinfeld (1993), Picket Fences (1993), The Practice (2000), and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2004–05) earned her four Primetime Emmy Award nominations. For her role in CODA, she was among those who received the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, and other significant films and TV credits include What the Bleep Do We Know?, Glee, CSI: NY, and, for seven seasons, a recurring guest role as Joey Lucas on The West Wing. Matlin is also a prominent member of the National Association of the Deaf,; actively involved with charitable organizations such as Easter Seals and the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation; the subject of the 2025 documentary Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore; and in 2009, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Fresh Films' I Am disABLEd challenges viewers to look beyond the label and see the full humanity, creativity, and capability of young people navigating the world with disabilities. “A person is a person, no matter how small.” That iconic phrase captures the heart of this powerful documentary which follows the journey of nine youth with disabilities as they stage the musical Seussical. As these young artists take center stage, the spotlight shines on their abilities and similarities to all of us. I Am disABLEd invites all audiences to discover what’s truly possible when we lead with empathy, celebrate individuality, and redefine what it means to belong.
Guests of the August 19 event will also be among the first to experience the Putnam Museum’s new interpretive-accessibility features powered by Capption technology. Through Culture Bright support, the Putnam will be the first museum in the region to provide this technology designed to create full access for all. Every visitor deserves a dignified, effortless experience learning about inspirational works at museums, galleries, parks, nature centers, public areas, sacred spaces, and commercial venues. Capption is a purpose-built assistive technology that shatters barriers and fosters deep connections to stories that inspire.
The Putnam Museum & Science Center's August 19 Marlee Matlin Live at the Putnam event begins with a 5:30 p.m. cocktail hour, followed by a 6:30 p.m. screening of I Am disABLEd. Matlin will deliver her keynote address at 7:30 p.m., and at 7:50 p.m., attendees will be guided on a tour of the Common Ground showcasing its new Capption system. Admission to the event is $55, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)324-1933 and visiting Putnam.org.
