Meryl Streep Overview
Meryl Streep was an iconic figure in the Hollywood film industry, who was born on 22 June 1949, in New Jersey, USA, to Mary Wolf and Harry William Streep, Jr. Her mother was a commercial artist and an art editor by profession, while her father was a pharmaceutical executive. Over her more than four decades long career, she 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. She 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. The most classic example of beauty with talent, she was by far the most prolific and greatest living film actress.
Started Her Career
Meryl Streep completed her formal education from Bernards High School. Thereafter, she enrolled at the Vassar College from where she obtained a B.A. in Drama. Meanwhile, she also enrolled as an exchange student at Dartmouth College. She went on to receive her M.F.A. degree from Yale School of Drama. It was during her years at Yale that she made her debut at the stage, acting in a number of plays. Interestingly, she did not play the typical roles then as well and resorted to versatility in the characters she portrayed. Ever since her debut in the 1970s, she has been ruling the stage and big screen alike with her tremendous performance and top-class acting capability.
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Career Trajectory
Meryl Streep’s initial years were spent performing for several theater productions in New York and New Jersey, including the New York Shakespeare Festival productions of Henry V, The Taming of the Shrew, and Measure for Measure. She was next seen in the 1976 Broadway double bill of 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, A Memory of Two Mondays, and The Cherry Orchard. In 1977, she walked up to the big screen for a small yet significant role for the film, titled Julia. Same year, she was seen in the television miniseries, titled Holocaust, as a German woman married to a Jewish artist in Nazi era Germany.
In 1978, Meryl Streep played yet another small role in Deer Hunter. However, the movie was a super hit and earned Streep her first ever Academy Award nomination. Her flair for acting and her embedded talent which she carried in front of the camera was variably seen in the year 1979, which witnessed the release of three movies, each tangent apart from the other, wherein she played the role of a supporting actress. More than fifty films old and still going strong, she has garnered commercial and critical success all through her career.
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Award-Winning Roles
Maryl Streep’s outstanding ability was profoundly visible from the fact that she has 21 nominations at Academy Awards (winning three) and 33 nominations at Golden Globe Awards (winning eight), which was the highest ever recorded nominations by an actor in the history of both the awards. She also has been nominated fourteen times at the BAFTA Awards in various categories, that she won the same twice in the category, Best Actress in a Leading Role for the films, The French Lieutenant's Woman and The Iron Lady. Out of her ten nominations at the Satellite Awards, she won thrice for the works Angels in America, The Devil Wears Prada, and Julie & Julia.