Meryl Streep

In the mid-1970s, Streep entered into a relationship with actor John Cazale after they appeared together in a 1976 Public Theater production of Measure for Measure. She lived with him in New York and helped care for him during his illness until his death from lung cancer in March 1978.

On September 30, 1978, Streep married sculptor Don Gummer. Together they raised four children: son Henry Wolfe Gummer, a musician, and three daughters who pursued acting, Mary Willa "Mamie" Gummer, Grace Jane Gummer, and Louisa Jacobson Gummer. In 2023, it was reported that Streep and Gummer had been separated for more than six years. Streep is also the godmother of actress Billie Lourd, the daughter of her close friend, writer and actress Carrie Fisher.

Mary Louise Streep was born on June 22, 1949, in Summit, New Jersey, to Mary Wilkinson Streep, a commercial artist, and Harry William Streep Jr., a pharmaceutical executive. Raised Presbyterian in Basking Ridge and Bernardsville, New Jersey, she grew up with two younger brothers, Harry William Streep III and Dana David Streep. At age 12, she began taking opera vocal lessons from Estelle Liebling, though she chose to stop after four years to pursue interests more connected to her personal expression.

Streep became drawn to serious theatre while studying at Vassar College, where her campus performance in Miss Julie drew wide notice. She graduated cum laude in 1971 before entering the Yale School of Drama. At Yale, she appeared in more than a dozen stage productions each year while working as a waitress and typist to cover tuition. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in 1975, having trained under notable instructors including Robert Lewis and Carmen de Lavallade.

Streep launched her New York professional stage career in 1975 with Joseph Papp's Public Theater, appearing in Trelawny of the Wells and several Shakespeare in the Park productions. In 1976, she earned a Tony Award nomination for her performance in Tennessee Williams' 27 Wagons Full of Cotton. Her film debut came in Fred Zinnemann's Julia (1977), appearing briefly opposite Jane Fonda.

Director Michael Cimino cast Streep in The Deer Hunter (1978) on the recommendation of Robert De Niro, earning Streep her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The same year, she starred in the television miniseries Holocaust, winning a Primetime Emmy Award. In 1979, Streep won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Kramer vs. Kramer, playing Joanna Kramer opposite Dustin Hoffman. For the role, she advocated to rewrite her character's courtroom testimony to bring greater emotional depth and autonomy to the portrayal.

Streep established herself as a leading cinematic star during the 1980s, receiving widespread acclaim for her transformative dramatic work. She received a BAFTA Award for her dual performance in The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981) opposite Jeremy Irons. In 1982, she starred in Sophie's Choice as a Polish survivor of Auschwitz, a performance that required mastering German and Polish dialogue alongside an accented English delivery. The portrayal won her the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Throughout the remainder of the decade, Streep headlined major biographical and literary adaptations. She portrayed whistleblower Karen Silkwood in Mike Nichols' Silkwood (1983) and Danish author Karen Blixen in Sydney Pollack's romantic epic Out of Africa (1985) alongside Robert Redford. In 1988, she played Lindy Chamberlain in the Australian drama Evil Angels (released internationally as A Cry in the Dark), winning the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival and an Australian Film Institute Award.

During the 1990s, Streep expanded into varied genres, including the dark comedy Death Becomes Her (1992) and the action thriller The River Wild (1994). Her most notable romantic lead of the decade came in Clint Eastwood's adaptation of The Bridges of Madison County (1995), where she played Italian farm wife Francesca Johnson. She also earned awards attention for performances in Marvin's Room (1996), One True Thing (1998), and Music of the Heart (1999).

In the 2000s, Streep achieved immense commercial success while maintaining critical acclaim. She portrayed author Susan Orlean in Spike Jonze's Adaptation. (2002) and took four roles in Mike Nichols' television miniseries adaptation of Angels in America (2003). In 2006, she starred as the formidable fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada, earning international box office success and an Oscar nomination. She achieved her highest-grossing box office release with the 2008 musical adaptation Mamma Mia!, playing Donna Sheridan, and drew critical praise for her portrayal of Sister Aloysius Beauvier in Doubt (2008).

Streep won her third Academy Award for her portrayal of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in Phyllida Lloyd's biographical drama The Iron Lady (2011). She followed this with celebrated roles in August: Osage County (2013), the musical fantasy Into the Woods (2014), the biographical comedy Florence Foster Jenkins (2016), Steven Spielberg's The Post (2017), and Greta Gerwig's Little Women (2019). On television, she earned Emmy nominations for her performances in the drama series Big Little Lies and the comedy series Only Murders in the Building.

Beyond acting, Streep has been an active supporter of gender equality and the arts. She serves as a spokesperson and donor for the National Women's History Museum and provided funding to launch the Writers Lab for female screenwriters over forty. Her cultural contributions have been recognized with the AFI Life Achievement Award, the Kennedy Center Honor, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded to her by President Barack Obama in 2014.