Routinely hailed as the greatest actress of her generation, Streep earned that accolade with her amazing ability to transform herself physically, vocally and emotionally into seemingly any character. Equally adept at drama and comedy, comfortable on stage and screen, able to embody contemporary and classical roles, and even a formidable singer (she showed off her vocal chops in
Death Becomes Her, Postcards from the Edge,
Mamma Mia), Streep has earned a record 14 Academy Award acting nods and has won two Oscars, a pair of Emmys, six Golden Globes, not to mention a host of other honors during her lauded career. After earning an MFA from the Yale School of Drama, she made her mark in New York theater, picking up a 1976 Tony nomination for her turn in a revival of two Tennessee Williams one-acts,
A Memory of Two Mondays/27 Wagons Full of Cotton. Two years later, she proved she could command both the big and small screens, winning her first Emmy for her riveting turn as a Catholic married to a Jew in
Holocaust, and picking up her first Oscar nomination for her devastating work in
The Deer Hunter. In 1979, she took home her first Academy Award as a mom trying to find herself in the divorce drama
Kramer vs. Kramer and she snagged her second statuette as the tormented title character in 1982's
Sophie Choice. With her porcelain skin, pronounced cheek bones and off-kilter beauty, Streep wasn't a typical Hollywood glamour girl. However, she was a bona fide movie star who commanded respect and awe. Impossible to pigoenhole, Streep spent the next three decades stretching herself and her remarkable talents, portraying characters of all ethnic backgrounds (a reviled Australian mom in
A Cry in the Dark, a lovesick Danish noblewoman in
Out of Africa, an Irish spinster in
Dancing at Lughnasa, an Italian immigrant in love in
The Bridges of Madison County); all temperaments (comic turns as callous women in
Death Becomes Her and
The Devil Wears Prada, a mom-cum-action hero in
The River Wild); different sexual orientations (a literary lesbian in
The Hours); and even both genders (a male rabbi, one of a quartet of characters that earned her a 2004 Emmy Award for her multitasking in the miniseries
Angels in America). Even when the projects themselves weren't very good (the tepid romance
Falling in Love, the misguided comedy
She-Devil), Streep always delivered with her usual skill and dedication. For a star of her caliber, she also managed to stay out of the tabloids. Still engaged to her
Deer Hunter costar John Cazale when he died of cancer in 1978, she married sculptor Don Gummer soon after and had three daughters (one of whom is up-and-coming actress Mamie Gummer) and is beloved by the Hollywood community. In the '00s, Streep made a triumphant return to her stage roots, appearing in the New York Public Theater's 2001 mounting of
The Seagull and then playing the title character in the company's 2006 production of
Mother Courage. That same year, she earned her sixth Golden Globe and her
fourteenth Oscar nod as a riotously self-involved fashion editor in
The Devil Wears Prada,
proving once again that perhaps the only thing Streep can't do is give a bad performance.
Meryl Streep Fast Facts:
- Wanted to be an opera singer when she was young.
- Was a cheerleader and the homecoming queen in high school.
- Sigourney Weaver was a classmate at the Yale Drama School.
- The most nominated actor/actress in Oscar history with 14 nominations.
- Received Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Award as Woman of the Year in 1980.
- Said that her all-time favorite actress is Bette Davis; the classic star sent Streep a complimentary letter early in her career.
- Meryl Streep Relationships:
- Dana Streep - Brother
- Donald J. Gummer - Husband
- Grace Jane Gummer - Daughter
- Harry Streep III - Brother
- Harry Streep Jr. - Father
- Henry Gummer - Son
- John Cazale - Ex-fiancé
- Louisa Jacobson Gummer - Daughter
- Mary W. Streep - Mother
- Mary Willa Gummer - Daughter
- Meryl Streep Awards:
- 1978 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series - Winner
- 2004 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie - Winner
- 1995 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
- 1996 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
- 1997 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
- 1999 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
- 2000 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
- 2007 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Winner
- 1979 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Nominee
- 1980 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Winner
- 2005 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Nominee
- 1998 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Nominee
- 2003 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
- 2004 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Winner
- 1990 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
- 1991 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
- 1993 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
- 2003 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Winner
- 1982 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Winner
- 1983 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Winner
- 1984 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
- 1986 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
- 1989 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
- 1981 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
- 1982 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Winner
- 1983 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
- 1985 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
- 1987 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
- 1988 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
- 1990 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
- 1995 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
- 1998 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
- 1999 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
- 2006 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
- 1978 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Nominee
- 1979 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Winner
- 2002 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Nominee
- 1997 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Special - Nominee
- 2009 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Nominee
- 2009 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
- 2008 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nominee
- 1986 People's Choice Awards: Favorite All-Around Female Entertainer - Winner
- 1986 People's Choice Awards: Favorite Motion Picture Actress - Winner
- 1985 People's Choice Awards: Favorite Motion Picture Actress - Winner
- 1984 People's Choice Awards: Favorite Motion Picture Actress - Winner
- 2009 People's Choice Awards: Favorite Song from a Soundtrack - Winner
- 1990 People's Choice Awards: World Favorite Motion Picture Actress - Winner
- 1990 People's Choice Awards: Favorite Motion Picture Actress - Winner
- 1989 People's Choice Awards: Favorite Actress in a Dramatic Motion Picture - Winner
- 1987 People's Choice Awards: Favorite Motion Picture Actress - Winner
- 1976 Tony: Actress (Play) - Nominee
- 2010 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
- 2010 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
- College:
- Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY (BA, 1971); attended Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; Yale University, School of Drama, New Haven, CT (MFA, 1975)
