Meryl Streep – Biography, Age, Career, Net Worth

Who is Meryl Streep?

Mary Louise ‘Meryl’ Streep, whose real name is Mary Louise ‘Meryl’ Streep, was born on June 22, 1949 and is currently an actress. Meryl Streep is often referred to as the ‘best actress of her generation’ due to her versatility and accents. She was nominated for 21 Oscars and won three of them. Apart from other achievements, she was nominated for 32 Golden Globes, surpassing all others, and won eight of them.

Over her more than four decades long career, Meryl Streep has played a wide variety of roles, which has earned her the title of a ‘chameleon’, much unlike other actors who have preferred a singular identity in their films. What is interesting to note is that Streep has managed to play each of the roles convincingly and with perfection; her meticulous and painstaking preparation, zealous nature and attention to minute detailing aiding in the effort! Streep has achieved commercial and critical success throughout her career, despite having more than fifty films to her credit.

Biography

Mary Louise Meryl Streep’s date of birth was June 22, 1943 in Summit, New Jersey. Her father, Harry William Streep Jr., was a pharmaceutical executive and her mother, Mary Wilionkson Streep, was a painter. Streep was encouraged and instilled with confidence by her mother at an extremely young age. Throughout her career, her mother was her mentor and guided her every step of the way. During her childhood, she was raised by her two younger brothers, Harry William Streep III and Dana David Streep, who are both actors.

At the time, Cedar Hill Elementary School and Oak Street School were both junior high schools that she attended. Bernardsville High School was her place of education when her family moved to Bernardsville, New Jersey in 1963. During her high school years, she participated in cheerleading for the Bernards High School Mountaineers and performed in various roles.

The renowned actress did not spend a lot of time in school, but she graduated with an MFA from Yale University in 1975. Dartmouth College awarded her an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree in 1981 after she enrolled as a visiting student there in 1970.

Personal Life

For some time, Meryl Streep was in a relationship with actor John Cazale. She had a three-year relationship with John Cazale until he died of lung cancer in March 1978. She recounted how devastating it was for her to lose John Cazale.

In September 1978, John Cazale’s death was followed by Meryl Streep’s marriage to sculptor Don Gummer. They have four children: a son Henry Wolfe Gummer (born 1979), and three daughters, Mary Willa “Mamie” Gummer (born 1983), Grace Jane Gummer (born 1986), and Louisa Jacobson Gummer (born 1991).

Career

In her early years, Meryl Streep performed in multiple theatre productions in New York and New Jersey. She was involved in various productions, such as the New York Shakespeare Festival’s Henry V, The Taming of the Shrew, and Measure for Measure. In addition, she was even a part of the Broadway musical ‘Happy End’. Streep was next seen in the 1976 Broadway double bill of Tennessee Williams’ ‘27 Wagons Full of Cotton’, Arthur Miller’s ‘A Memory of Two Mondays’ and Anton Chekhov’s ‘The Cherry Orchard’.

Streep played a small yet significant part in the film ‘Julia’ when she walked onto the big screen in 1977. She played a German woman married to a Jewish artist in Nazi Germany in the television miniseries ‘Holocaust’ in that year. Streep played another small part in ‘Deer Hunter’, which was released in 1978. Streep received her first Academy Award nomination after the movie was a huge success.

Her main occupation during this decade was film roles. Her roles in these movies were larger than they were in the decade before. Sophie’s Choice, Silkwood, Out of Africa, Ironweed, A Cry in the Dark, and She-Devil are some of her film appearances in this decade.

Meryl Streep’s reputation for being a technical actress became a hindrance to her. Her name is usually associated with a serious, often depressing movie, and some critics pointed out that her performances were lacking compassion. As a result, she tried to change her popular image by appearing in a handful of comedies, including Postcards from the Edge (1990) and Death Becomes Her (1992), to spice up her career.

In the following years, which possibly runs up to three decades, Meryl Streep was involved in a lot of acting productions such as AI Artificial Intelligence (2001), Adaptation (2002), Mamma Mia (2008) and Iron Lady. She experimented with a few TV shows, including The Simpsons (1994) and Angels in America (2003).

Streep re-teamed with Mamma Mia director Phyllida Lloyd on The Iron Lady (2011), a British biographical film about Margaret Thatcher, which takes a look at the Prime Minister during the Falklands War and her years in retirement. While the film had a mixed reception, Streep’s performance gained rave reviews, earning her Best Actress awards at the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs, as well as her third win at the 84th Academy Awards.

The portrayal of Thatcher as “inaccurate” and “biased” was criticized by former advisers, friends, and family. Following Thatcher’s passing, Streep released a formal statement describing her ‘hard-nosed fiscal measures’ and ‘hands-off approach to financial regulation’, while also appreciating her ‘personal strength and grit’.

By the end of the decade, Streep had a variety of roles in films such as ‘Falling in Love,’ ‘Plenty’, ‘Out of Africa,’ ‘Heartburn’, and ‘Ironweed’. Lindy Chamberlain’s role in the biographical film ‘A Cry in the Dark’ was her most intriguing role. Both box office and critical success were achieved by the film, which received rave reviews and achieved both.

She has received a number of accolades, including being nominated for a record 21 Academy Awards, of which she has won three, and a record 32 Golden Globe nominations, winning nine. During her first performance on stage, Streep made a Tony Award nomination for 27 Wagons Full of Cotton and A Memory of Two Mondays, a 1976 production that won her a Tony Award nomination for ‘Wagons Full of Cotton and A Memory of Two Mondays’. Her performance in the miniseries Holocaust in 1978 resulted in her receiving a Primetime Emmy Award and her first Oscar nomination for The Deer Hunter. Streep won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing a troubled wife in Kramer vs. Kramer and went on to establish herself as a film actress in the 1980s. She was a finalist for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of a Holocaust survivor in Sophie’s Choice and had her highest commercial success to date in Out of Africa.

Net Worth

Meryl Streep, who has achieved great success and respect as an actress, has amassed a net worth of $190 million through her distinguished career. Her performances have consistently resulted in substantial salaries, making her one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood. Meryl Streep, who has been acting for 50 years, has earned numerous accolades and widespread acclaim for her remarkable acting abilities. Her net worth is a result of her exceptional talent and the acknowledgment she has received in the industry.

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