Marlee Matlin is the first hearing-impaired contestant in the history of Dancing with the Stars. She's also the show's first Oscar-winner.

That's quite the combination. Below, TV Guide helps us get to know this actress a bit better:

Marlee Matlin
Age: 42
Best Known For: Winning a best-actress Oscar for 1986's Children of a Lesser God
Lives In: Los Angeles
Partner: The season's only newcomer, Fabian Sanchez, a world mambo champion and four-time Fred Astaire National Champion
Advantages: An iron will. Matlin's whole career, she says, has been about defying expectations. "I've been doing that ever since I won the Academy Award and critics said I won out of pity, just because I'm deaf."
Disadvantages: An unusually strong reliance on Sanchez, who will demonstrate the moves as her interpreter relays the instructions. "Effectively, all she'll be able to hear is the beat," says DWTS executive producer Conrad Green.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.