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Meryl Streep

Biography

Meryl Streep

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Overview

  • Born
    June 22, 1949 · Summit, New Jersey, USA
  • Birth name
    Mary Louise Streep
  • Nickname
    • Meryl
  • Height
    5′ 6″ (1.68 m)

Biography

    • Considered by many critics to be the greatest living actress, Meryl Streep has been nominated for the Academy Award an astonishing 21 times, and has won it three times. Meryl was born Mary Louise Streep in 1949 in Summit, New Jersey, to Mary Wolf (Wilkinson), a commercial artist, and Harry William Streep, Jr., a pharmaceutical executive. Her father was of German and Swiss-German descent, and her mother had English, Irish, and German ancestry.

      Meryl's early performing ambitions leaned toward the opera. She became interested in acting while a student at Vassar and upon graduation she enrolled in the Yale School of Drama. She gave an outstanding performance in her first film role, Julia (1977), and the next year she was nominated for her first Oscar for her role in The Deer Hunter (1978). She went on to win the Academy Award for her performances in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Sophie's Choice (1982), in which she gave a heart-wrenching portrayal of an inmate mother in a Nazi death camp.

      A perfectionist in her craft and meticulous and painstaking in her preparation for her roles, Meryl turned out a string of highly acclaimed performances over the next decade in great films like Silkwood (1983); Out of Africa (1985); Ironweed (1987); and A Cry in the Dark (1988). Her career declined slightly in the early 1990s as a result of her inability to find suitable parts, but she shot back to the top in 1995 with her performance as Clint Eastwood's married lover in The Bridges of Madison County (1995) and as the prodigal daughter in Marvin's Room (1996). In 1998 she made her first venture into the area of producing, and was the executive producer for the moving ...First Do No Harm (1997). A realist when she talks about her future years in film, she remarked that "...no matter what happens, my work will stand..."
      - IMDb mini biography by: Tom McDonough

Family

  • Spouse
      Don Gummer(September 30, 1978 - present) (separated, 4 children)
  • Children
      Mamie Gummer
      Henry Gummer
      Grace Gummer
      Louisa Jacobson
  • Parents
      Harry William Streep Jr.
      Mary Wolf Wilkinson

Trademarks

  • Known for being a perfectionist when preparing for roles
  • Known for her ability to master almost any accent
  • Frequently plays real-life characters: Julia Child, Ethel Rosenberg, Karen Silkwood, Karen Blixen, Roberta Guaspari, Lindy Chamberlain, Susan Orlean and Margaret Thatcher.
  • Frequently worked with Academy Award-winning director Mike Nichols.
  • High cheekbones

Trivia

  • Originally applied to Law School but slept in on the morning of her interview and took it as a sign she was destined for other things.
  • She left her just-claimed Oscar for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) on the back of a toilet during the 1979 festivities.
  • As of 2018, she is the most nominated actress with 21 Academy Award nominations.
  • Robert De Niro said she is his favorite actress to work with.
  • Claimed to have had a photographic memory when she was younger, which allowed her to memorize her lines after one reading.

Quotes

  • [Entertainment Tonight (1981)] I had it (smoking), it stinks.
  • [1978] I'm looking forward to bigger parts in the future, but I'm not doing soft-core scripts where the character emerges in half-light, half-dressed.
  • [on her Lifetime Achievement Award from the AFI] I don't want to spit in the eye of good fortune, but it was weird. I felt like I'd butted in line in front of Lucille Ball, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn. Hello? How did this happen? I was only the sixth woman to receive it, but they found 26 men to give it to. I thought that was embarrassing.
  • [on her view of acting back in college] I thought it was really fun, you've got to understand, but I didn't think it was a serious way to conduct your life. You know, I had a sense of mission. I was a true child of the '60s.
  • I love doing comedy, but people just don't give me enough of a chance. It's one of the reasons I enjoy The Manchurian Candidate (2004) so much. It's because I actually get a chance to be funny.

Salaries

  • Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) - $3,000,000
  • Ricki and the Flash (2015) - $5,000,000
  • Into the Woods (2014) - $1,500,000
  • Hope Springs (2012) - $12,000,000
  • The Iron Lady (2012) - % of gross (original $1,000,000 donated to NWHM)

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