Marlee Matlin is sharing her story of survival and the friendship that helped her through a difficult time. In a new documentary premiering June 20, the actress opens up about her abusive relationship with the late actor William Hurt and how Henry Winkler became her rock during her recovery. Matlin met Hurt on the set of their 1986 film when she was 19 and he was 35.
She says Hurt had a “habit of abuse.” After going to rehab, Matlin knew she could not return to the house she shared with Hurt. “I walked out of that house and never went back,” Matlin says in the film. That is when Matlin turned to Winkler for help.
“He was always available. It was like an open door – an open door to his heart and my heart,” Matlin said. Winkler recalled the moment Matlin showed up at his door.
“‘I just broke up with my boyfriend. Can I stay with you just for the weekend?’ … Two years later, she finally moved out!” he said.
Matlin’s story of friendship and survival
Winkler and his wife Stacey Weitzman welcomed Matlin into their home like family. “If I didn’t have Henry in my life, I don’t think I would be here,” Matlin shared. “He provided a place for me to feel safe.” In 1993, Matlin married police officer Kevin Grandalski in Winkler’s backyard.
“There was no other place for her to get married, except in our yard, in her home away from home,” Winkler said. The documentary also explores Matlin’s past trauma and her courage in speaking out before the #MeToo movement. “I didn’t know that you could ask for help,” Matlin said.
“While I was screaming… no one came.” Judy Stern, who is also deaf, noted the backlash Matlin faced for speaking up. “She didn’t know that abuse was abuse at the time,” Stern said. “And that’s what happens to so many deaf people in the world.”
At 59, Matlin says she is still driven by the same passion that fueled her as a young actress in Hollywood.
“It was a dream come true. So why shouldn’t I be able to do another film?” she said. “But if it happened today, I would’ve made a lot of noise back then.”
“Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore” premieres June 20.
