This week on Full Frame: Women of Hollywood

Full Frame

Marlee Matlin with Mike Walter and Jack JasonDeaf actress Marlee Matlin shares the story about her life and life’s work with Mike Walter.

Their Hollywood roles vary from film to television…but off-screen, these leading ladies are making a global impact through personal philanthropy projects.

This week on Full Frame, we’ll meet some of the women of Hollywood who are making a difference, worldwide.

Marlee Matlin: Combining courage with dreams

Marlee Matlin

Deaf actress Marlee Matlin talks about her passion for helping the deaf community.

Actress Marlee Matlin first received worldwide critical acclaim for her debut role in the hit film, “Children of a Lesser God”. Her performance won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and at 21 years old, she became the youngest actress ever to receive the honor.

Since then, she’s added the roles of wife, mother, and New York Times best-selling author to her resume and appeared in numerous American television series including: The West Wing, The L Word, and more recently, ABC Family’s Switched at Birth.

She is also involved with a number of charitable organizations, most notably the Starkey Hearing Foundation, an international organization that delivers the gift of hearing to people in more than 100 countries.

Marlee Matlin and her interpreter, Jack Jason, join Mike Walter in our Los Angeles studio to share more about her life’s work and her passion for helping the deaf community.

Garcelle Beauvais: Help still needed in Haiti

Garcelle Beauvais

Haitian-American actress Garcelle Beauvais talks about on-going relief efforts after 2010 Haiti earthquake.


After 20 years of modeling and acting in both TV and film, Garcelle Beauvais has proven she is one of the few mainstays in Hollywood.

The Haitian-American actress recently starred in leading roles in the films Flight, alongside Denzel Washington, and White House Down with Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum.

Born in Haiti, Garcelle moved to the United States at age seven with her mother and siblings. In 2010, when a massive earthquake hit Haiti, devastating the lives of millions, Garcelle felt the pain of her home nation. So, she used her celebrity spotlight to bring media attention to the need for support. Since then, she’s been actively giving back. Most recently, she traveled to Haiti to partner with a non-profit organization called Fonkoze. It offers financial and development services to help Haitian women succeed.

Garcelle Beauvais joins Mike Walter in our Los Angeles studio to discuss the on-going recovery efforts in Haiti and the resilience of the Haitian community.

Danica McKellar: Why math matters

Danica McKellar

Actress Danica McKellar talks about her approach to getting girls to excel in math.


Actress, turned mathematician, Danica McKellar, is out to disprove a myth that women and girls are not as good at math as men and boys. And Danica is living proof. She is a summa cum laude graduate of UCLA with a degree in mathematics. She even has a groundbreaking theorem named after her.

Danica first caught the eye of America when she was just 12 years old, playing schoolgirl Winnie Cooper on the beloved TV hit, The Wonder Years. Since then, she’s become a New York Times bestselling author of innovative math books with titillating titles like: Math Doesn’t Suck, Kiss My Math, Hot X: Algebra Exposed and Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape.

Danica joins Mike Walter in our Los Angeles studio to talk about her unique approach to getting girls to explore, embrace and excel in mathematics.

Mariel Hemingway: Breaking the stigma of mental illness

Mariel Hemingway

Oscar-nominated actress Mariel Hemingway talks about mental health awareness and suicide prevention.


Mariel Hemingway is not only an iconic Oscar-nominated actor from a celebrated American family; she is a prolific author and a tireless mental health awareness and suicide prevention advocate. Her family has a history of suffering from depression. Seven of her family members, including her sister, fashion model and actress Margaux Hemingway and her grandfather, famed novelist Ernest Hemingway, have committed suicide.

Mariel says she often talks with her two daughters about their own mental health. She often speaks about mental illness awareness and suicide prevention; two subjects, she believes, are not talked about enough.

This year, she released two new books that deal with the issue of mental illness in an effort to bring attention to this important health and social issue and to show what it took for her to emerge as a healthy person from her own struggles with mental illness.