Marlee Matlin Thanks Henry Winkler for His Support After Rehab: ‘My Second Dad’

Marlee Matlin was supported by an A-list star during a time of need in the late 80s.

After ending an abusive relationship with her then-boyfriend, William Hurt, and finishing a stint in rehab, the actress turned to Henry Winkler, now 79.

Although she initially intended to stay with him for a weekend, she would ultimately ended up living with the Happy Days actor and his family for two years.

Matlin, 59, told Page Six that Winkler and wife Stacey welcomed her into their home and treated her no differently than their three children — Jed, Max and Zoe.

‘I call Henry my second dad,’ Matlin gushed. ‘I mean, who gets to say that about Henry Winkler? [He’s] probably one of the most famous American icons ever.’

‘But honestly, he’s very genuine and he’s been a huge mentor in my life,’ she added.

Marlee Matlin was supported by an A-list star during a time of need in the late 80s; pictured June 9

After ending an abusive relationship with her then-boyfriend, William Hurt, and finishing a stint in rehab, the actress turned to Henry Winkler, now 79; pictured in 2009

Matlin and Winkler sharing a hug at her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2009

Marlee and Henry met when she was about 12-years-old and performing at the Chicago Center on Deafness. 

Remembering the excitement of him being there, she told the outlet, ‘We invited him and sure enough he showed up, which is amazing. Here he is, the Fonz! And I had been a fan of his for a long time.’

She added, ‘But we stayed in touch after that, and I didn’t anticipate that we would be staying in touch. And we stayed friends.’

Matlin would eventually marry husband Kevin Grandalski ​at Winkler’s family home. 

But before her successful marriage to Grandalski, she began dating Hurt as they filmed Children of a Lesser God.

The role earned her an Oscar for Best Actress, making her the youngest person to win in the category at age 21 and the first deaf performer to receive the honor.

She alleged in her memoir I’ll Scream Later that Hurt was physically and verbally abusive during the two years they dated, and said at the time, she ‘wasn’t familiar’ with ‘the language used to describe what I was experiencing.’

And the starlet was unaware that ‘I could reach out for help, not knowing that there was a name for what I was going through.’

Although she initially intended to stay with him for a weekend, she would ultimately ended up living with the Happy Days actor and his family for two years; pictured in 2003

Marlee began dating William Hurt as they filmed Children of a Lesser God. Years later she said he was verbally and physically abusive; pictured in 1987

The Children of a Lesser God role earned her an Oscar for Best Actress, making her the youngest person to win in the category at age 21; pictured with her Academy Award in 1986

Marlee’s new documentary hits theaters this month

Hurt died in 2022, and despite the claims of abuse against him, Marlee managed to say something positive when asked about him at the Critics Choice Awards that year.

‘We’ve lost a really great actor and working with him on set in Children of a Lesser God will always be something I remember very fondly,’ Matlin said of Hurt.

She added, ‘He taught me a great deal as an actor and he was one-of-a-kind.’ 

And the entertainment veteran says in her new documentary Not Alone Anymore that her ex-boyfriend inspired her to enter rehab.

‘He went to rehab, and I was able to see what it did for him,’ she says in the documentary, per Page Six. ‘And I knew that checking in there would do me great.’

The Shoshannah Stern-directed movie will be in theaters June 20 in New York, and starting June 27 in Los Angeles before hitting more theaters throughout the states.