Meryl Streep
Mary Louise Streep was born on the 22nd of June 1949 in Summit, New Jersey. Her mother Mary Wilkinson Streep worked as an artist while her father Harry William Streep Jr served as a pharmaceutical executive. The family moved to Bernardsville when Meryl was fourteen years old. She attended Bernards High School where she became homecoming queen and played the lead role of Louise Heller in a school play called The Family Upstairs. At age twelve she began taking opera lessons from Estelle Liebling after singing at a school recital. She quit those lessons four years later because she felt she was singing something she did not understand or feel through. This early experience taught her that finding emotional truth mattered more than technical perfection. During high school she appeared in numerous plays but remained uninterested in serious theater until joining Vassar College in 1969. There she starred in Miss Julie and gained attention across campus for her ability to mimic accents and memorize lines quickly. A drama professor named Clinton J. Atkinson noted that no one had ever taught her acting because she seemed to teach herself.
Streep moved to New York City in 1975 to pursue professional work. Joseph Papp cast her in Trelawny of the Wells opposite Mandy Patinkin and John Lithgow. Her first feature film role came in Julia released in 1977 alongside Jane Fonda. Most of her scenes were edited out during post-production which horrified the actress who thought she had made a terrible mistake. Robert De Niro spotted her in a stage production of The Cherry Orchard and suggested she play his girlfriend in The Deer Hunter released in 1978. Pauline Kael described her performance as bringing freshness to the film despite playing a stock character. That same year she won an Emmy Award for Holocaust where she played a German woman married to a Jewish artist. The miniseries reached an estimated audience of 109 million viewers. Streep found the material unrelentingly noble but took the role partly for financial gain while her partner James Woods remained in New York filming. She returned from Germany only to find her relationship with Cazale had ended due to his lung cancer diagnosis. He died on the 12th of March 1978 after she nursed him until the end. Kramer vs. Kramer followed in 1979 where she played an unhappily married woman who abandoned her husband and child. Dustin Hoffman initially hated her guts but later spoke of her tirelessness and obsession with craft. The film earned her both a Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
The early 1990s saw a downturn in Streep's popularity according to biographer Karen Hollinger. Critics felt her comedies were attempts to convey a lighter image following several serious dramas that failed commercially. She commented that actresses over forty faced limited options within Hollywood. Death Becomes Her released in 1992 became a commercial success earning $15.1 million in five days despite mixed critical reception. Richard Corliss of Time magazine called it She-Devil with a make-over and dismissed the film as hating women. The Bridges of Madison County released in 1995 grossed over $70 million domestically and was warmly received by critics. Janet Maslin of The New York Times described Eastwood's direction as creating a moving elegiac love story at the heart of Waller's novel. Longworth believed this role made Streep arguably the first middle-aged actress taken seriously by Hollywood as a romantic heroine. One True Thing released in 1998 met positive reviews with Mick LaSalle declaring she gave us a woman who was wildly idiosyncratic yet utterly believable. The Devil Wears Prada released in 2006 became her biggest commercial success to date grossing more than $326.5 million worldwide. Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe stated that the greatest actor in American movies had finally become a movie star through this performance.
Streep is well known for imitating a wide range of accents throughout her career. She spoke Danish in Out of Africa released in 1985 and British Received Pronunciation in The French Lieutenant's Woman from 1981. Her Italian accent in The Bridges of Madison County drew comparisons to Sophia Loren and Anna Magnani whom she studied prior to filming. In Evil Angels released in 1988 she developed a hybrid of Australian and New Zealand English which earned her awards at Cannes and the Australian Film Institute. For Sophie's Choice in 1982 she spoke both English and German with a Polish accent while also speaking Polish itself. Roger Ebert noted how she played Brooklyn scenes with an enchanting Polish-American accent he described as the first accent he ever wanted to hug. In Doubt released in 2008 she adopted a heavy Bronx accent for Sister Aloysius who hated all inroads of the modern world. Kelly Vance of The East Bay Express remarked that seeing Streep step into such an exaggerated role was thrilling yet ramped up just for sheer hell. She reproduced Margaret Thatcher's vocal style before and after elocution lessons changed pitch and delivery in The Iron Lady released in 2011.
Streep returned to Broadway in 2001 playing Arkadina in The Seagull directed by Mike Nichols. She starred alongside Kevin Kline Natalie Portman John Goodman Marcia Gay Harden Stephen Spinella Debra Monk Larry Pine and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Her stage work included Mother Courage and Her Children performed at Delacorte Theatre in Central Park during August and September 2006. George C Wolfe helmed this three-and-a-half-hour production featuring songs written by Jeanine Tesori in Weill/Brecht style. On television she won four Emmy Awards including roles in Holocaust from 1978 and Angels in America from 2003. Big Little Lies season two aired on HBO in 2019 where she played Mary Louise Wright mother-in-law to Nicole Kidman's character. Liane Moriarty wrote a 200-page novella serving as the basis for this second season naming the new character after Streep's legal name. Only Murders in the Building began airing on Hulu in 2023 with Streep playing Loretta Durkin struggling actress who kept her dream alive despite lifetime rejection. Leila Latif of The Guardian wrote that Streep tapped into the agony of such a woman beautifully.
Streep has received numerous accolades spanning over five decades including three Academy Awards and eight Golden Globe Awards. She earned four Emmy Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards alongside seven Grammy Award nominations and one Tony nomination. In 2004 she received the AFI Life Achievement Award presented by board directors of the American Film Institute. President Barack Obama bestowed upon her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2014 citing her unparalleled ability to portray characters embodying full human experience. The Kennedy Center Honors recognized her work in 2011 introduced by Tracey Ullman with speeches from Robert De Niro and Mike Nichols. Other honorees included Kevin Kline Emily Blunt Stanley Tucci and Anne Hathaway who sang She's My Pal at tribute conclusion. In January 2017 Viola Davis presented Streep with the Cecil B. DeMille Award stating You make me proud to be an artist. Her acceptance speech quoted Carrie Fisher saying Take your broken heart and make it into art. Emma Brockes of The Guardian noted how strange it was to pin an image on Streep despite being one of most famous actresses globally.
Streep serves as spokesperson for National Women's History Museum making significant donations including her fee for The Iron Lady which totaled $1 million. On the 4th of October 2012 she donated $1 million to The Public Theater honoring late founder Joseph Papp and friend Nora Ephron. Two scholarships established at University of Massachusetts Lowell bear her name: Meryl Streep Endowed Scholarship for English majors and Joan Hertzberg Endowed Scholarship for math majors named after former classmate. April 2015 saw funding for Writers Lab run by New York Women in Film & Television supporting female screenwriters over forty years old. This lab remained unique worldwide for its demographic focus. She signed open letters addressed to Angela Merkel and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma urging focus on women during G7 and AU summits in 2015. Each letter sent to U.S Congress members included copy of Equal Means Equal book by Jessica Neuwirth president of ERA Coalition. March 2016 marked signing another letter asking for global gender equality organized by One Campaign observing International Women's Day. In 2018 she collaborated with three hundred women Hollywood figures setting up Time's Up initiative protecting against harassment and discrimination.
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Common questions
When and where was Meryl Streep born?
Mary Louise Streep was born on the 22nd of June 1949 in Summit, New Jersey. Her mother Mary Wilkinson Streep worked as an artist while her father Harry William Streep Jr served as a pharmaceutical executive.
What were the early career milestones for Meryl Streep before moving to New York City?
Meryl Streep attended Bernards High School where she became homecoming queen and played the lead role of Louise Heller in The Family Upstairs. She began taking opera lessons from Estelle Liebling at age twelve but quit four years later after realizing emotional truth mattered more than technical perfection.
Which films earned Meryl Streep major awards during the late 1970s?
The Deer Hunter released in 1978 featured Meryl Streep playing Robert De Niro's girlfriend and received praise from Pauline Kael. Kramer vs. Kramer followed in 1979 where she won both a Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing an unhappily married woman who abandoned her husband and child.
How did Meryl Streep handle accent work throughout her filmography?
Meryl Streep spoke Danish in Out of Africa released in 1985 and British Received Pronunciation in The French Lieutenant's Woman from 1981. Her Italian accent in The Bridges of Madison County drew comparisons to Sophia Loren and Anna Magnani whom she studied prior to filming.
What significant honors has Meryl Streep received from government institutions?
President Barack Obama bestowed upon Meryl Streep the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2014 citing her unparalleled ability to portray characters embodying full human experience. She also received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2011 introduced by Tracey Ullman with speeches from Robert De Niro and Mike Nichols.