Marlee Matlin

July is Disability Pride Month, which is important for the Golden Globes to recognize: The entertainment industry has been working hard to be more inclusive, but disabilities are too frequently overlooked. The Globes has extensive archives, since the awards go back to the 1940s.

Golden Globe and Oscar Winner Marlee Matlin made her directorial debut with an episode on Fox’s Accused, which aired earlier this year. At the London Hotel in West Hollywood, the actress addressed some of the myths about directing hearing actors; what surprised her about being behind the camera despite her years in front of one as an actress; and why, although she is tired of talking about being deaf, she continues to do so.

Marlee Matlin, who won a Golden Globes as Best Actress for Children of Lesser God directed by Randa Haines, spoke to the journalists of the Hollywood Foreign Press in 1986 about growing up deaf. “I grew up with a hearing family, so we had both speech and sign language mixed together.