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'Dream team' actors enchant Salem crowd | Statesman Journal | statesmanjournal.com
How the lives of Hollywood stars Henry Winkler and Marlee Matlin are intertwined is a mystery to most.
It's a curious enough mix to nearly fill the Historic Elsinore Theatre, where the duo appeared Friday evening in a benefit for MedAssist and Project Access, programs of the Medical Foundation of Marion and Polk Counties that help low-income residents.
Winkler, "the Fonz" from TV's "Happy Days," and Matlin, the youngest woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress, left the captivated Salem crowd with the message "If you will it, it is not a dream."
In a humorous but inspiring duet, they shared their stories, which merged when Matlin was 7.
Winkler recalled that he struggled with an undiagnosed learning challenge as a child.
"(My parents) called me stummen hund," he said. "For those who don't speak German, that means dumb dog."
He uncovered his talents — not math, not writing, not geography, he joked — by his senior year of college when he got a call from Yale School of Drama.
At the time, he was the king of negative thinking, in part from his parents' influence. (They later became the biggest fans of the Fonz, he said.)
"The dean of students stood up on a stage like this and he said, 'look to your left, look to your right, one of these people won't be here next semester.' So I went home and packed," Winkler joked.
Despite his parents' desire for him to be a woodworker, Winkler moved to Hollywood and read six simple lines during an acting audition. In the tryout, he made a decision to be better than the competition. When the director later called Winkler to offer him the part, the aspiring actor asked what made the Fonz cool when the jacket was off, because he wanted to show both sides of the character.
"Where I got the nerve to talk to this man this way, I don't know," Winkler said. But the confidence worked.
"I played the Fonz for 10 years."
A piece of fan mail — art that read "If you will it, it is not a dream" — led Winkler to Chicago's Center on Deafness.
He was captivated by a 7-year-old deaf girl, Matlin.
Young Matlin was an aspiring actress who considered herself a normal kid, the "Marsha Brady" of her neighborhood.
"The idea that I had in my mind, that I could do anything despite being deaf, came flowing from my family," she said through an interpreter.
When she met Winkler, she drew on her own confidence.
"I imagined myself meeting the Fonz, being friends with the Fonz and being famous in Hollywood like the Fonz," she signed.
Winkler became Matlin's mentor, affirming for her, in his words: "I went to Marlee, looked her in the eye and said, 'you can be anything you want to be'."
At 21, Matlin won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in "Children of a Lesser God."
The next day, Oscar in hand, she read a review that said she would never work in Hollywood again.
She turned to Winkler and lived with him and his family for more than two years. (According to him, she never picked up her laundry.)
"He said, 'Remember what I told you,'" she said through the interpreter. "You need to believe in yourself and believe in your dreams."
Matlin did just that and continued her role in Hollywood, recently appearing on shows "Celebrity Apprentice" and "Dancing with the Stars."
"It's been 24 years since the Hollywood columnist declared my career DOA, deaf on arrival," she said. "But how's that for never working in Hollywood again?"
Their stories meant to inspire the audience, which included students from Oregon School for the Deaf.
"Each and every one of you has greatness inside of you," Winkler told the crowd. "Your job is to figure it out, dig it out and give it to the world."
Just before their speeches, students from OSD's Bold Expressive Arts Theater group performed and signed to songs. Emmanuel Robles signed the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Through an interpreter he praised Matlin's message.
"She made me laugh," he signed. "I was so impressed with her."
Others in the audience were transfixed with Winkler and Matlin's stories.
"I realized he was really good for her," said Salem resident Debbie Schwab. "They didn't let anything get them down and they don't accept excuses."
How the lives of Hollywood stars Henry Winkler and Marlee Matlin are intertwined is a mystery to most.
It's a curious enough mix to nearly fill the Historic Elsinore Theatre, where the duo appeared Friday evening in a benefit for MedAssist and Project Access, programs of the Medical Foundation of Marion and Polk Counties that help low-income residents.
Winkler, "the Fonz" from TV's "Happy Days," and Matlin, the youngest woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress, left the captivated Salem crowd with the message "If you will it, it is not a dream."
In a humorous but inspiring duet, they shared their stories, which merged when Matlin was 7.
Winkler recalled that he struggled with an undiagnosed learning challenge as a child.
"(My parents) called me stummen hund," he said. "For those who don't speak German, that means dumb dog."
He uncovered his talents — not math, not writing, not geography, he joked — by his senior year of college when he got a call from Yale School of Drama.
At the time, he was the king of negative thinking, in part from his parents' influence. (They later became the biggest fans of the Fonz, he said.)
"The dean of students stood up on a stage like this and he said, 'look to your left, look to your right, one of these people won't be here next semester.' So I went home and packed," Winkler joked.
Despite his parents' desire for him to be a woodworker, Winkler moved to Hollywood and read six simple lines during an acting audition. In the tryout, he made a decision to be better than the competition. When the director later called Winkler to offer him the part, the aspiring actor asked what made the Fonz cool when the jacket was off, because he wanted to show both sides of the character.
"Where I got the nerve to talk to this man this way, I don't know," Winkler said. But the confidence worked.
"I played the Fonz for 10 years."
A piece of fan mail — art that read "If you will it, it is not a dream" — led Winkler to Chicago's Center on Deafness.
He was captivated by a 7-year-old deaf girl, Matlin.
Young Matlin was an aspiring actress who considered herself a normal kid, the "Marsha Brady" of her neighborhood.
"The idea that I had in my mind, that I could do anything despite being deaf, came flowing from my family," she said through an interpreter.
When she met Winkler, she drew on her own confidence.
"I imagined myself meeting the Fonz, being friends with the Fonz and being famous in Hollywood like the Fonz," she signed.
Winkler became Matlin's mentor, affirming for her, in his words: "I went to Marlee, looked her in the eye and said, 'you can be anything you want to be'."
At 21, Matlin won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in "Children of a Lesser God."
The next day, Oscar in hand, she read a review that said she would never work in Hollywood again.
She turned to Winkler and lived with him and his family for more than two years. (According to him, she never picked up her laundry.)
"He said, 'Remember what I told you,'" she said through the interpreter. "You need to believe in yourself and believe in your dreams."
Matlin did just that and continued her role in Hollywood, recently appearing on shows "Celebrity Apprentice" and "Dancing with the Stars."
"It's been 24 years since the Hollywood columnist declared my career DOA, deaf on arrival," she said. "But how's that for never working in Hollywood again?"
Their stories meant to inspire the audience, which included students from Oregon School for the Deaf.
"Each and every one of you has greatness inside of you," Winkler told the crowd. "Your job is to figure it out, dig it out and give it to the world."
Just before their speeches, students from OSD's Bold Expressive Arts Theater group performed and signed to songs. Emmanuel Robles signed the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Through an interpreter he praised Matlin's message.
"She made me laugh," he signed. "I was so impressed with her."
Others in the audience were transfixed with Winkler and Matlin's stories.
"I realized he was really good for her," said Salem resident Debbie Schwab. "They didn't let anything get them down and they don't accept excuses."