Mary Louise “Meryl” Streep (Birthdate: June 22, 1949) is an American actress and philanthropist.
Cited in the media as the “best actress of her generation, – a designation to which she objects – Meryl Streep is particularly known for versatility in her roles and her accent adaptation.
Nominated for 20 Academy Awards, Meryl has more nominations than any other actor, and is one of the six actors to have won three or more competitive Oscars for acting.
Meryl has also received 30 Golden Globe nominations, winning eight – more nominations and more competitive wins than any other actor.
Meryl made her professional stage debut in Trelawny of the Wells in 1975.
In 1976 she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play for 27 Wagons Full of Cotton.
She made her screen debut in the 1977 television film The Deadliest Season, and made her film debut later that same year in Julia.
In 1978, she won an Emmy Award for her role in the miniseries Holocaust, and received her first Academy Award nomination for The Deer Hunter.
She went on to win Best Supporting Actress for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), and Best Actress for Sophie’s Choice (1982), and The Iron Lady (2011).
She returned to the stage for the first time in over 20 years in The Public Theater’s 2001 revival of The Seagull, won a second Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 2004 for the HBO miniseries Angels in America (2003).
Meryl was awarded the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2004, the Gala Tribute from the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 2008, and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2011 for her contribution to American culture through performing arts.
President Barack Obama awarded her the 2010 National Medal of Arts and in 2014 the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In 2003, the government of France made her a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.
In 2017, Meryl was awarded the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award.