Which deaf person won the Oscar as Best Actress in 1986 and for which film?

At the 1987 Academy Awards, Marlee Matlin took home the Best Actress Oscar for her stunning work in the 1986 drama *Children of a Lesser God*. It was her debut film role, in which she played Sarah Norman, a proud and defiant deaf custodian at a school for the deaf who clashes with, and later falls for, a new speech teacher played by William Hurt. Matlin had been discovered for the part after filmmakers saw her in a Chicago stage production of the same story.

Her victory was a landmark moment for several reasons. At just 21 years old, Matlin became the youngest person to ever win the Academy Award for Best Actress, a record she still holds. More significantly, she was the first deaf performer in history to win an Oscar. The win shattered long-standing barriers in Hollywood, bringing major visibility to the Deaf community and launching Matlin’s long and successful career as both an actress and a prominent advocate for disability rights.