Marlee Matlin on 1987 Oscar win with William Damage
Marlee Matlin recollects the fearful expertise of receiving the 1987 Oscar from William Damage.
A brand new documentary, Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, premiered Thursday on the Sundance Movie Pageant, providing a candid have a look at the CODA star’s tumultuous relationship with the late actor William Damage.
Damage, who handed away in 2022 on the age of 71, shared each an expert and private bond with Matlin once they starred collectively within the 1986 movie Kids of a Lesser God.
Matlin, then 19 years outdated, made her function movie debut reverse Damage, who was 35 on the time. Their on-screen romance mirrored their real-life relationship, although Matlin has since opened up in regards to the complexities of their time collectively.
In 1987, Matlin made historical past because the youngest actress to win the Academy Award for Greatest Actress for her function in Kids of a Lesser God.
William Damage handed away at age of 71 on March thirteenth, 2022
Damage himself offered her with the Oscar, however Matlin reveals within the documentary that the second was removed from celebratory.
“I was afraid as I walked up the stairs to get the Oscar,” Matlin recollects within the movie, per Individuals. “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–t!’”
After sharing a kiss with Damage onstage, Matlin says she hesitated to take the award from him.
“I didn’t take the Oscar from him right away,” she explains. “I wish it were different. I wish I had shown my joy. But I was afraid because he was standing right there.”
This isn’t the primary time Matlin has spoken out about Damage’s habits that evening.
In Dave Karger’s 2024 e-book, 50 Oscar Nights, she revealed how dismissive Damage was of her achievement. Based on Matlin, he later stated to her, “‘So you have that little man there next to you. What makes you think you deserve it?’”
She continued, “I looked at him like, ‘What do you mean?’ And he said, ‘A lot of people work a long time, especially the ones you were nominated with, for a lot of years to get what you got with one film.’”