Award-winning actress and author Mariette Hartley will be speaking to clients and staff on Monday, May 14, at the Turning Point Program on Hidaway Street in Canyon Country and the public is invited to attend the event.

As the author of the book “Breaking The Silence” about her family struggle with alcoholism and depression, Hartley has been recognized by several mental health agencies for her inspirational outlook. She will be speaking after a 10 a.m. screening of the movie “Silence Of the Heart.”  The presentation is part of the clinic’s cinematherapy program.

Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking news alerts delivered right to your inbox

Turning Point is an outpatient psychiatric treatment program serving mentally disabled adults in the Santa Clarita Valley. Turning Point is the only program of its kind in the SCV, offering individual and group psychotherapy, medication management and addictions education to clients who strive to stabilize their mental health and remain productive members of the community.

Hartley is an Emmy Award-winning and five times nominated Best Actress. She has established herself as an enduring star on stage, in five television series, countless television movies, and more than a dozen feature films.  Her adventurous stage career has embodied the works of Chekhov and Shakespeare as well as musicals, and she has shared the stage with such notables as Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy and Charlton Heston.  Her tireless efforts in helping humanity through myriad charitable involvements has not only distinguished her career from its early beginnings, but has made her one of the top motivational speakers in the country.

Hartley has also appeared in dozens of television projects.  She was a regular cast member on the series Peyton Place and Goodnight, Beantown, and guest-starred on episodes of Gunsmoke, The Bob Newhart Show, The Streets of San Francisco, McCloud, M*A*SH, Nash Bridges, and many more.  She also starred in such acclaimed TV movies as M.A.D.D.: Mothers Against Drunk Drivers and Silence of the Heart.  Hartley may be best known for those great Polaroid commercials she did for six years with James Garner, and for which she won three Clio awards, advertising’s highest honor.  In 1980, she substituted for Jane Pauley on NBC’s Today Show, and in 1987 was co-host of CBS’s The Morning Program.

More recently, Hartley played Courtney Cox’s mother in the FX series “DIRT”, guest starred on Saving Grace, Grey’s Anatomy and Cold Case.  She recently starred in Hallmark Channel’s Meet the Santas, and she currently has a recurring role on Law & Order: SVU.

Born in Weston, Connecticut, she is the granddaughter of John B. Watson, the internationally renowned psychologist who founded the school of behaviorism and who taught that children were to be trained, not touched or nurtured. Her warm and affectionate personality is a stunning contrast to her upbringing. In 1990, her autobiography “Breaking the Silence” was a bestseller in hard cover and paperback; it publicly chronicled her personal memories as a child in a home torn apart by alcoholism and depression.  “Breaking the Silence” was recently republished and is available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Hartley feels privileged that her celebrity has allowed her to make contributions to society. She is the national spokesperson for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which honored her with an Humanitarian Award for her outstanding work in the field of suicide prevention and research. For her involvement with organizations combating mental illness, Hartley was honored by the Southern California Counseling Center, and received the PSYCHE Award from the L.A. County Psychological Association. She was the first recipient of the California Family Studies Center’s “Life Achievement Award” for her strength and ability to overcome family difficulties, and she was honored with the Larry Stewart Leadership and Inspiration Award from the Entertainment Industries Council.

Turning Point is located at 27141 Hidaway Avenue in Canyon Country. Their phone number is 661-299-1693 and their website is www.mchonline.org.