The first film directed by a woman (Randa Haines) to be Oscar nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Marlee Matlin won the Best Actress Academy Award for her role as Sarah Norman in this film. At 21 years and 218 days, she is the youngest ever winner of a Best Actress Oscar. Matlin is also one of only five actresses to win the Best Actress Oscar for a debut film performance, the other four being Shirley Booth for Come Back, Little Sheba (1952), Audrey Hepburn for Roman Holiday (1953), Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins (1964), and Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl (1968).
The film's box office takings shot up by an unprecedented 164% after Marlee Matlin's Oscar win for Best Actress.
For her Best Actress Oscar acceptance speech, actress Marlee Matlin thanked the film's cast and crew, "particularly William Hurt for his great support and love", with the aid and assistance of an interpreter.
The movie was distinguishable from earlier films about deafness such as Johnny Belinda (1948), The Miracle Worker (1962), The Miracle Worker (1979), and The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968) in that the picture was cast with deaf and hard of hearing actors and actresses for the deaf and hearing impaired roles.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
Top Gap
By what name was Children of a Lesser God (1986) officially released in India in English?
Answer