Streep, Meryl 1949–

views updated May 17 2018

STREEP, Meryl 1949–

PERSONAL

Born Mary Louise Streep, June 22, 1949, in Madison (some sources cite Summit), NJ; daughter of Harry, Jr. (a pharmaceutical company executive) and Mary W. (a commercial artist) Streep; sister of Harry Streep III (a choreographer and dancer); married Donald J. Gummer (a sculptor), September 15, 1978; children: Henry "Harry"/"Hank", Mary Willa "Mamie", Grace Jane, Louisa Jackson. Education: Vassar College, B.A., 1971; Yale University, M.F.A., 1975; also attended Dartmouth College; studied singing with Estelle Liebling. Avocational Interests: Gardening, skiing, art and museums, family activities.

Addresses:

Agent—Kevin Huvane, Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212. Publicist—PMK/HBH Public Relations, 8500 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 700, Beverly Hills, CA 90211.

Career:

Actress and producer. Appeared in productions with Green Mountain Guild, Woodstock, VT; O'Neill Playwrights Conference, actress, summer, 1975. Mothers and Others for a Livable Planet, cofounder; Mothers and Others for Pesticide Limits, campaign chair; narrator of public service announcements on behalf of American forests; supporter of Poetry and the Creative Mind (honorary benefit for Academy of American Poets), Connecticut Farmland Trust/Hartford Food System, Equality Now, Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment, and Scenic Hudson. Once performed as a singer with a group called the Night Owls; also worked as a waitress at Hotel Somerset, Somerville, NJ.

Awards, Honors:

Outer Critics' Circle Award, 1975, Theatre World Award, 1976, and Antoinette Perry Award nomination, best featured actress in a play, 1976, all for 27 Wagons Full of Cotton; Theatre World Award, 1976, for Secret Service; Mademoiselle Award, 1976; Emmy Award, outstanding lead actress in a limited series, 1978, for Holocaust; Academy Award nomination, best supporting actress, 1979, National Society of Film Critics' Award, best supporting actress, 1979, Golden Globe Award nomination, best supporting actress in a motion picture, 1979, Marquee Award, American Movie Awards, best supporting actress, 1980, and Film Award nomination, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, best actress, 1980, all for The Deer Hunter; Woman of the Year Award, B'nai Brith, 1979; Academy Award, best supporting actress, 1979, Golden Globe Award, best supporting actress in a motion picture, 1980, Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award, best supporting actress, 1980, and Film Award nomination, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, best actress, 1981, all for Kramer vs. Kramer; New York Film Critics Circle Award, best supporting actress, 1979, for Kramer vs. Kramer and The Seduction of Joe Tynan; Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, best supporting actress, 1979, National Board of Review Award, 1979, and National Society of Film Critics Award, 1980, all for Kramer vs. Kramer, Manhattan, and The Seduction of Joe Tynan. Film Award nomination, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, best supporting actress, 1980, for Manhattan; named Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year, Hasty Pudding Theatricals, Harvard University, 1980; Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, best actress, 1981, Academy Award nomination, best actress, 1982, Film Award, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, best actress, 1982, and Golden Globe Award, best actress in a motion picture drama, 1982, all for The French Lieutenant's Woman; Obie Award, Village Voice, 1981, for Alice in Concert; honorary D.F. A., Dartmouth College, 1981; Star of the Year Award, National Association of Theatre Owners, 1982; honorary D.F.A., Yale University and Vassar College, both 1983; New York Film Critics Circle Award, best actress, 1982, Academy Award, Boston Society of Film Critics Award, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, National Society of Film Critics Award, National Board of Review Award, and Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award, all best actress, 1983, Golden Globe Award, best actress in a motion picture drama, 1983, and Film Award nomination, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, best actress, 1984, all for Sophie's Choice; Academy Award nomination, best actress, 1984, Golden Globe Award nomination, best actress in a motion picture drama, 1984, and Film Award nomination, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, best actress, 1985, all for Silkwood; People's Choice Awards, Proctor & Gamble Productions, favorite motion picture actress, 1984–87; David Award, David di Donatello Awards, best foreign actress, 1985, for Falling in Love; Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, best actress, 1985, Golden Globe Award nomination, best actress in a motion picture drama, 1986, David Award, best foreign actress, 1986, Academy Award nomination and Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award, both best actress, 1986, and Film Award nomination, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, best actress, 1987, all for Out of Africa; Best Actress Award, Valladolid International Film Festival, 1986, for Heartburn; TV Prize, Aftonbladet TV Prize, best female foreign television personality, 1987; Academy Award nomination and New York Film Critics Circle Award, both best actress, 1988, for Ironweed; New York Film Critics Circle Award, best actress, 1988, Academy Award nomination, Cannes Film Festival Award, and Australian Film Institute Award, all best actress, and Golden Globe Award nomination, best actress in a motion picture drama, all 1989, all for A Cry in the Dark; People's Choice Awards, favorite dramatic motion picture actress, 1989, and world–favorite motion picture actress, 1990. Golden Globe Award nomination, best actress in a motion picture comedy or musical, 1990, for She–Devil; Academy Award nomination, best actress, Golden Globe Award nomination, best actress in a motion picture comedy or musical, and American Comedy Award, funniest leading actress in a motion picture, all 1991, for Postcards from the Edge; Saturn Award nomination, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, best actress, 1992, for Defending Your Life; Golden Globe Award nomination, best actress in a motion picture comedy or musical, and Saturn Award nomination, best actress, both 1993, for Death Becomes Her; Golden Globe Award nomination, best actress in a motion picture drama, and Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, outstanding performance by an actress in a leading role, both 1995, for The River Wild; Academy Award nomination, best actress, Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, outstanding performance by an actress in a leading role, and Golden Globe Award nomination, best actress in a motion picture drama, all 1996, for The Bridges of Madison County; Golden Globe Award nomination, best actress in a motion picture drama, Chlotrudis Award nomination, best supporting actress, and Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, outstanding cast performance (with others), all 1997, for Marvin's Room; Crystal Award, Women in Film, 1998; Emmy Award nomination, outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or special, 1997, and Golden Globe Award nomination and Golden Satellite Award nomination, International Press Academy, both best actress in a miniseries or television movie, 1998, all for … First Do No Harm; received star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, 1998; Academy Award nomination, best actress, Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, outstanding performance by an actress in a leading role, Golden Globe Award nomination, best actress in a motion picture drama, Golden Satellite Award nomination, best actress in a motion picture drama, all 1999, for One True Thing; Lifetime Achievement Award, Gotham Awards, Independent Features Project, 1999; People's Choice Award nomination, favorite motion picture actress, 1999; Berlinale Camera, Berlin International Film Festival, 1999. Decorated officer, French Order of Arts and Letters, 2000; Academy Award nomination, best actress, Golden Globe Award nomination, best actress in a motion picture drama, and Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, best actress, all 2000, for Music of the Heart; Drama Desk Award nomination, outstanding actress in a play, 2002, for The Seagull; Southeastern Film Critics Association Award, best supporting actress, 2002, Academy Award nomination, Film Award nomination, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Chicago Film Critics Association Award, Florida Film Critics Circle Award, Broadcast Film Critics Association Award nomination, and Online Film Critics Society Award nomination, all best supporting actress, Golden Globe Award and Golden Satellite Award nomination, both best supporting actress in a motion picture, Phoenix Film Critics Society Award nominations, best supporting actress and best acting ensemble (with others), and Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, outstanding cast performance in a theatrical motion picture (with others), all 2003, for Adaptation; Golden Globe Award nomination and Golden Satellite Award nomination, both best actress in a motion picture drama, Film Award nomination, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, best actress, Silver Berlin Bear, best actress (with others), Screen Idol Award, L.A. Out-fest, best actress, Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, outstanding cast in a theatrical motion picture (with others), and Phoenix Film Critics Society Award nomination, best acting ensemble (with others), all 2003, for The Hours; honorary Cesar Award, Academie des Arts et Techniques du Cinema, 2003; Lee Strasberg Artistic Achievement Award, Actors' Fund of America, 2003; Golden Globe Award, Golden Satellite Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, all best actress in a television miniseries or movie, and Emmy Award, outstanding actress in a miniseries or movie, all 2004, and Gracie Allen award, outstanding female lead in a drama special, 2005, all for Angels in America; Lifetime Achievement Award, American Film Institute, 2004; Career Achievement Award, New Dramatists, 2004; Stanislavsky Prize, Moscow International Film Festival, 2004; Common Wealth Award, PNC Financial Services Group, 2004; Saturn Award nomination and Film Award nomination, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, both best supporting actress, and Golden Globe Award nomination, best supporting actress in a motion picture, all 2005, for The Manchurian Candidate; Emmy Award, best children's recording, for The Velveteen Rabbit.

CREDITS

Film Appearances:

Voice from Stage 6, Everybody Rides the Carousel, 1975.

Anne Marie, Julia, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1977.

Linda, The Deer Hunter, Universal, 1978.

Jill, Manhattan, United Artists, 1979.

Karen Traynor, The Seduction of Joe Tynan, Universal, 1979.

Joanna Kramer, Kramer vs. Kramer, Columbia, 1979.

Sarah Woodruff and Anna, The French Lieutenant's Woman, United Artists, 1981.

Brooke Reynolds, Still of the Night, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer/United Artists, 1982.

Sophie Zawistowska, Sophie's Choice, Universal, 1982.

Karen Silkwood, Silkwood, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1983.

Narrator, In Our Hands (documentary), Libra Cinema 5, 1983.

Molly Gilmore, Falling in Love, Paramount, 1984.

Susan Traherne, Plenty, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1985.

Karen Blixen–Finecke, Out of Africa, Universal, 1985.

Rachel Louise Samstat/Forman, Heartburn, Paramount, 1986.

Helen Archer, Ironweed, TriStar, 1988.

Lindy Chamberlain, A Cry in the Dark (also known as Evil Angels), Warner Bros., 1988.

Mary Fisher, She–Devil, Orion, 1989.

Suzanne Vale, Postcards from the Edge, Columbia, 1990.

Julia, Defending Your Life, Warner Bros., 1991.

Madeline Ashton, Death Becomes Her, Universal, 1992.

Clara Del Valle Trueba, The House of the Spirits (also known as Aandernes hus, A casa dos espiritos, and Das geisterhaus), Miramax, 1994.

Gail Hartman, The River Wild, Universal, 1994.

Francesca Johnson, The Bridges of Madison County, Warner Bros., 1995.

Narrator, The Living Sea (documentary), MacGillivray Freeman Films, 1995.

Carolyn Ryan, Before and After, Buena Vista, 1996.

Lee, Marvin's Room, Miramax, 1996.

Narrator, Assignment: Rescue (documentary; also known as The Story of Varian Fry and the Emergency Rescue Committee), 1997.

Kate "Kit" Mundy, Dancing at Lughnasa, Sony Pictures Classics, 1998.

Kate Gulden, One True Thing, Universal, 1998.

Narrator, Eternal Memory: Voices from the Great Terror (documentary), Cinema Guild, 1998.

Narrator, Chrysanthemum (short film), 1999.

Roberta Guaspari–Tzavaras, Music of the Heart (also known as Fifty Violins), Miramax, 1999.

Voice of Blue Mecha, Artificial Intelligence: AI (also known as A.I.: Artificial Intelligence), Warner Bros., 2001.

Herself, The Papp Project (documentary), American Masters, 2001.

Susan Orlean, Adaptation, Columbia, 2002.

Clarissa Vaughan, The Hours, Paramount, 2002.

(Uncredited) Herself, Stuck on You, Twentieth Century–Fox, 2003.

Narrator, Monet's Palate: A Gastronomic View from the Gardens of Giverny (documentary), AFB Productions/Renaissance Films, 2003.

Eleanor Prentiss Shaw, The Manchurian Candidate, Paramount, 2004.

Aunt Josephine, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Paramount, 2004.

Lisa Metzger, Prime, Universal/Focus Features, 2005.

Narrator, Stolen Childhoods (documentary), Balcony Releasing, 2005.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Inga Helms Weiss, Holocaust (also known as Holocaust—The Story of the Family Weiss), NBC, 1978.

Voice of Margaret Sanger, A Century of Women (also known as A Family of Women), TBS, 1994.

A Century of Women, Cable News Network, 1998.

Narrator, School (also known as School: The Story of American Public Education), PBS, 2001.

Rabbi Isidor Chemelwitz, Hannah Porter Pitt, Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg, and the Angel Australia, Angels in America, HBO, 2003.

Voices of Abigail Adams, Mother Jones, and Margaret Chase Smith, Freedom: A History of the U.S., PBS.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Edith Varney, Secret Service, PBS, 1977.

Leilah, "Uncommon Women … and Others," Great Performances, PBS, 1978.

Katherine, Kiss Me, Petruchio, PBS, 1981.

The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts, CBS, 1981.

(In archive footage) Sixty Years of Seduction, ABC, 1981.

Narrator, "Little Ears: The Velveteen Rabbit," Children's Storybook Classics, PBS, 1985.

Host and narrator, Power Struggle (distributed to schools in two parts: Energy Supply and Energy Efficiency), PBS, 1985.

Narrator, "Harold Clurman: A Life of Theatre," American Masters, PBS, 1989.

Premiere Presents: Christmas Movies '89, Fox, 1989.

The 3rd Annual Hollywood Insider Academy Awards Special, USA Network, 1989.

Host and narrator, "Arctic Refuge: A Vanishing Wilderness?," World of Audubon Specials (also known as National Audubon Society Specials), PBS and TBS, 1990.

An Evening with Bette, Cher, Goldie, Meryl, Olivia, Lily and Robin, ABC, 1990.

Time Warner Presents the Earth Day Special, ABC, 1990.

Member of choir, Voices that Care, Fox, 1991.

Host and narrator, Age Seven in America (documentary; also known as 7–Up in America), CBS, 1992.

Host, Great Performances 20th Anniversary Special, PBS, 1992.

Oprah: Behind the Scenes, ABC, 1992.

Narrator, "The Night before Christmas," We All Have Tales (animated), Showtime, 1992.

Hollywood Stars: A Century of Cinema, The Disney Channel, 1995.

Interviewee, The Siskel and Ebert Interviews, CBS, 1996.

Interviewee, "Roseanne: Tabloids, Trash & Truth," Biography, Arts and Entertainment, 1996.

Interviewee, "Willi Styron: The Way of the Writer," American Masters, PBS, 1997.

Christopher Reeve: A Celebration of Hope, ABC, 1998.

Host, Defending Our Daughters: The Rights of Women in the World, Lifetime, 1998.

Narrator, Intimate Portrait: Vanessa Redgrave, Lifetime, 1998.

Rings of Passion: Five Emotions in World Art, PBS and Ovation, 1998.

From Star Wars to Star Wars: The Story of Industrial Light & Magic, Fox, 1999.

Netaid: A Concert Special, TNT, 1999.

Netaid, VH1, 1999.

Interviewee, Kurt Russell: Hollywood's Heavy Hitter, Arts and Entertainment, 1999.

Host, The Concert of the Century for VH1 Save the Music, VH1, 1999.

Interviewee, "Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows," American Masters, PBS, 2000.

Narrator, Isaac Stern: Life's Virtuoso, PBS, 2000.

Narrator, Ginevra's Story: Solving the Mysteries of Leonardo da Vinci's First Known Portrait, PBS, 2000.

Interviewee, Intimate Portrait: Diane Keaton, Lifetime, 2001.

Host, Nobel Peace Prize Concert (also known as The Nobel Peace Prize 100th Anniversary Concert), USA Network and Trio, 2001.

Narrator, New York at the Movies, Arts and Entertainment, 2002.

There's Only One Paul McCartney, BBC (England), 2002.

Hollywood Salutes Nicolas Cage: An American Cinematheque Tribute, TNT, 2002.

Narrator, Vermeer: Master of Light, PBS, 2002.

Interviewee, Kevin Bacon: Am I Me?, Arts and Entertainment, 2002.

Interviewee, What Not to Wear on the Red Carpet, BBC, 2003.

Nicole Kidman: An American Cinematheque Tribute (also known as The 18th Annual American Cinematheque Award), AMC, 2003.

The 26th Annual Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts, CBS, 2003.

AFI Lifetime Achievement Award: A Tribute to Meryl Streep, USA Network, 2004.

Jonathan Demme and the Making of "The Manchurian Candidate," 2004.

(In archive footage) Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust (documentary), Anker Productions, 2004.

Interviewee, "Bruce Willis," Biography, Arts and Entertainment, 2005.

Also narrator of a documentary special on Lyme disease, PBS, 1999.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Sharon Miller, The Deadliest Season, CBS, 1977.

Alice, Alice at the Palace, 1981.

Lori Reimuller, … First Do No Harm, ABC, 1997.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Guest, Omnibus, BBC (England), 1980.

Voice of Jessica Lovejoy, "Bart's Girlfriend," The Simpsons (animated), Fox, 1994.

Guest, Today, NBC, 1994, 2004.

Guest, CBS This Morning, CBS, 1996.

Inside the Actors Studio, Bravo, 1998.

Guest, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, syndicated, 1999.

Voice of Aunt Esme Dauterive, "A Beer Can Named Desire," King of the Hill (animated), Fox, 1999.

Guest, Late Show with David Letterman, 1999.

"The Films of Wes Craven," The Directors, Encore!, 1999.

"The Films of Sydney Pollack," The Directors, Encore!, 2000.

"The Films of Clint Eastwood," The Directors, Encore!, 2000.

Guest, The Oprah Winfrey Show, syndicated, 2002.

Guest, Tinseltown TV, International Channel, 2003.

"Stuck on You," HBO First Look, HBO, 2003.

"Dustin Hoffman," The Hollywood Greats, BBC1 (England), 2004.

Guest, Film '72, BBC, 2004.

Guest, The View, ABC, 2004.

Guest, Coming Attractions, 2004.

Herself, Unscripted, HBO, 2005.

"The Films of Carl Franklin," The Directors, Encore!, 2005.

Television Appearances; Awards Presentations:

The 52nd Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1980.

The 55th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1983.

The 56th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1984.

The 58th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1986.

The 60th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1988.

The 61st Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1989.

Presenter, The 32nd Annual Grammy Awards, CBS, 1990.

Presenter, The 63rd Annual Academy Awards Presentation, ABC, 1991.

The 68th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1996.

The 71st Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1999.

The 9th Annual Gotham Awards, Metroguide Network, 1999.

The 72nd Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 2000.

The 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards, NBC, 2003.

Presenter, The 75th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 2003.

Presenter, The 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards, NBC, 2004.

Presenter, The 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, TNT, 2004.

The 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, ABC, 2004.

Presenter, The 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards, NBC, 2005.

Television Appearances; Others:

Herself, The Best of Everything, 1983.

Host, Race to Save the Planet (series; also known as State of the World), PBS, 1990.

Television Work; Movies:

Executive producer, …First Do No Harm, ABC, 1997.

Stage Appearances:

The Playboy of Seville, Cubiculo Theatre, New York City, 1971.

Lieutenant Lillian Holliday, Happy End (musical), Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, CT, 1974.

(Broadway debut) Imogen Parrot, Trelawny of the "Wells," New York Shakespeare Festival, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, New York City, 1975.

Flora Meighan, 27 Wagons Full of Cotton and Patricia, A Memory of Two Mondays (double–bill), Phoenix Repertory Theatre, Playhouse Theatre, New York City, 1976.

Edith Varney, Secret Service, Phoenix Repertory Theatre, Playhouse Theatre, 1976.

Katherine, Henry V, New York Shakespeare Festival, Delacorte Theatre, Public Theatre, New York City, 1976.

Juliet and Isabella, Measure for Measure, New York Shakespeare Festival, Delacorte Theatre, Public Theatre, 1976.

Dunyasha, The Cherry Orchard, New York Shakespeare Festival, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, 1977.

Lieutenant Lillian Holliday, Happy End (musical), Chelsea Theatre Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY, then Martin Beck Theatre, New York City, both 1977.

Katharina, The Taming of the Shrew, New York Shakespeare Festival, Delacorte Theatre, Public Theatre, 1978.

Alice, Wonderland in Concert, New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, 1978.

Andrea, Taken in Marriage, New York Shakespeare Festival, Estelle R. Newman Public Theatre, New York City, 1979.

Alice, Alice in Concert, New York Shakespeare Festival, Estelle R. Newman Public Theatre, 1980.

Cynthia Peterson, Isn't It Romantic?, Playwrights Horizons Theatre, New York City, 1983, then Lucille Lortel Theatre, New York City, 1984.

Necessary Targets (staged reading), Helen Hayes Theatre, New York City, 1996.

An American Daughter (workshop reading), Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle, WA, 1996.

Arkadina, The Seagull, New York Shakespeare Festival, Delacorte Theatre, Public Theatre, 2001.

Poetry and the Creative Mind (benefit reading), Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City, 2004.

"Sawbones" and "Hope Leaves the Theatre," Theatre of the New Ear (reading), St. Ann's Warehouse Theatre, New York City, and Royal Festival Hall, London, both 2005.

Stage Work:

Coproducer, Sarah Jones: Bridge and Tunnel, Culture Project, Forty–Five Bleecker Street Theatre, New York City, 2004.

RECORDINGS

Videos:

Voice of storyteller, Rabbit Ears: The Tale of Peter Rabbit, 1987.

Voice of storyteller, Rabbit Ears: The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher, 1987.

Narrator, The Tailor of Gloucester, 1988.

Voice of storyteller, Rabbit Ears: The Fisherman and His Wife, 1989.

(In archive footage) Oscar's Greatest Moments, Columbia TriStar Home Video, 1992.

A Song of Africa, Universal Studios Home Video, 1999.

Finding the Truth: The Making of "Kramer vs. Kramer," Columbia TriStar Home Video, 2001.

Reader for the videos For Yourself: A Guide to Breast Self–Examination and What Should I Tell My Child about Drinking? Appeared in choir for the music video "Voices that Care," Warner Bros., 1991.

Albums:

Reader, I Will Sing Life: Voices from the Hole in the Wall Gang, 1995.

Narrator, Babar the Elephant: Mother Goose Suite, 1996.

Reader, Dance on a Moonbeam (music and poetry for children), Telarc, 2000.

Recorded the albums For Our Children and The Velveteen Rabbit; also singer of the song "Nobody Understands Me" on the children's album Philadelphia Chickens.

Audio Books:

Narrator, "The Enormous Radio" and "The Sorrows of Gin," The John Cheever Audio Collection, 2003.

Also reader for Fifty Poems of Emily Dickinson, two volumes.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Encyclopedia of World Biography Supplement, Volume 23, Gale, 2005.

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume 3: Actors and Actresses, St. James Press, 2000.

Maychick, Diana, Meryl Streep: The Reluctant Superstar, 1984.

Pfaff, Eugene E., Jr., and Mark Emerson, Meryl Streep: A Critical Biography, McFarland and Co., 1987.

Smurthwaite, Nick, The Meryl Streep Story, 1984.

St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, St. James Press, 2000.

Periodicals:

American Film, fall, 2004, pp. 10–11, 28–29.

Back Stage West, February 18, 1999, p. 6.

Daily Telegraph, September 3, 2004, p. 11.

Empire, October, 1997, p. 192.

Entertainment Weekly, February 11, 1994, pp. 17, 19, 21, 22, 24; February 23, 1996, pp. 42–43; August 15, 1997, p. 45; October 2, 1998, p. 44; November 27, 1998, p. 54; March 1, 1999, p. 41; March 24, 2000, pp. 50–55; February 21, 2003, p. 48.

Good Housekeeping, September, 1998, pp. 94–97.

Harper's Bazaar, January, 1999, p. 124.

Hollywood Reporter, June 6, 2004.

Interview, December, 1998, p. 66; December, 2002, p. 124.

Miami Herald, July 26, 2004.

Movieline, October, 1995, p. 77.

New York Times, July 25, 2004.

New York Times Magazine, September 18, 1994, pp. 42, 44, 45.

People Weekly, June 26, 1995, pp. 70–74, 76; February 3, 2003, p. 75.

Premiere (England), Volume 5, number 5, 1997, pp.62–67.

Premiere (United States), November, 2002, pp. 66–69.

Times (London), February 27, 2003; September 3, 2004, pp. 12–13.

USA Weekend, December 1, 2002.

Electronic:

Meryl Streep Online, http://www.merylstreeponline.net, July 21, 2005.

Streep, Meryl

views updated May 11 2018

STREEP, Meryl



Nationality: American. Born: Mary Louise Streep in Summit, New Jersey, 22 June 1949. Education: Attended Bernardsville High School, New Jersey; Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, B.A., 1971; Yale Drama School, M.F.A., 1975. Family: Married Don Gummer, 1978, four children: Henry, Mary Willa, Grace, Louisa. Career: Made New York stage debut in The Playboy of Seville, 1969; worked in summer stock with Green Mountain Guild, Vermont, 1969; appeared in Joseph Papp's New York production of Trelawney of the Wells, 1975; appeared in the TV film The Deadliest Season, and made feature film debut in Julia, 1977; appeared in the TV mini-series Holocaust, 1978; was the voice of "Jessica Lovejoy" in the episode of The Simpsons titled "Bart's Girlfriend," 1994; named Best Modern Actress in an Entertainment Weekly Internet poll, 1999. Awards: Best Supporting Actress National Society of Film Critics, for The Deer Hunter, 1978; Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series Emmy Award, for Holocaust, 1978; Best Supporting Actress Academy Award, Best Motion Picture Actress in a Supporting Role Golden Globe, for Kramer vs. Kramer, 1979; Best Supporting Actress New York Film Critics Circle, for Kramer vs. Kramer and The Seduction of Joe Tynan, 1979; Best Supporting Actress National Society of Film Critics, Best Supporting Actress National Board of Review, Best Supporting Actress Los Angeles Film Critics Association, for Kramer vs. Kramer, The Seduction of Joe Tynan, and Manhattan, 1979; Best Actress British Academy Award, Best Actress Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Best Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama Golden Globe, for The French Lieutenant's Woman, 1981; Best Actress Academy Award, Best Actress National Society of Film Critics, Best Actress National Board of Review, Best Actress Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Best Actress New York Film Critics Circle, Best Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama Golden Globe, for Sophie's Choice, 1982; Best Actress Los Angeles Film Critics Association, for Out of Africa, 1985; Best Actress New York Film Critics Circle, Best Actress Australian Film Institute, Cannes Film Festival Best Actress, for A Cry in the Dark, 1988; Women in Film Crystal Award, 1998; Berlin Film Festival Berlinale Camera, 1999; Gotham Awards Lifetime Achievement Award, 1999. Agent: c/o CAA, 9830 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90212, U.S.A.



Films as Actress:

1977

The Deadliest Season (Markowitz—for TV); Julia (Zinnemann) (as Anne Marie)

1978

The Deer Hunter (Cimino) (as Linda)

1979

Manhattan (Woody Allen) (as Jill); The Seduction of Joe Tynan (Schatzberg) (as Karen Traynor); Kramer vs. Kramer (Benton) (as Joanna Kramer); Uncommon Women . . . and Others (Mossman and Robman—for TV) (as Leilah)

1981

The French Lieutenant's Woman (Reisz) (as Sarah/Anna)

1982

Sophie's Choice (Pakula) (title role); Still of the Night (Benton) (as Brooke Reynolds)

1983

Silkwood (Nichols) (title role)

1984

Falling in Love (Grosbard) (as Molly); In Our Hands (Richer and Warnow—doc) (appearance)

1985

Plenty (Schepisi) (as Susan Traherne); Out of Africa (Pollack) (as Karen Blixen)

1986

Heartburn (Nichols) (as Rachel)

1987

Ironweed (Babenco) (as Helen Archer)

1988

A Cry in the Dark (Schepisi) (as Lindy Chamberlain)

1989

She-Devil (Seidelman) (as Mary Fisher)

1990

Postcards from the Edge (Nichols) (as Suzanne Vale)

1991

Defending Your Life (Albert Brooks) (as Julia)

1992

Death Becomes Her (Zemeckis) (as Madeline Ashton)

1993

The House of the Spirits (August) (as Clara Del Valle Trueba)

1994

The River Wild (Hanson) (as Gail Hartman); A Century of Cinema (Thomas (doc) (as herself)

1995

The Bridges of Madison County (Eastwood) (as Francesca Johnson); The Living Sea (MacGillivray) (doc) (short) (as Narrator)

1996

Before and After (Schroeder) (as Carolyn Ryan); Marvin's Room (Zaks) (as Lee)

1997

First Do No Harm (Abrahams) (as Lori Reimuller) (+ exec pr); Assignment Rescue (The Story of Varian Fry and the Emergency Rescue Committee) (Kaplan) (doc) (short) (as Narrator)

1998

Dancing at Lughnasa (O'Connor) (as Kate Mundy); Chrysanthemum (Wilkos) (short) (as Narrator); One True Thing (Franklin) (as Kate Gulden); Eternal Memory: Voices from the Great Terror (Pultz, Yemec) (doc) (as Narrator)

1999

Music of the Heart (Craven) (as Roberta Guaspari)



Publications


By STREEP: articles—

Interview with Thomas Wiener, in American Film (Washington, D.C.), December 1983.

"Streeping Beauty," interview with Wendy Wasserstein, in Saturday Evening Post, July/August 1989.

"Meryl Streep Comes Calling," interview with Wendy Wasserstein and Brigitte Lacombe, in Interview (New York), December 1988.

"Winning Streep," interview with David Handelman, in Vogue, April 1992.

"The Perils of Meryl," interview with James Greenberg, in Entertainment Weekly, 7 October 1994.

"Hidden Depths: Meryl's Perils," interview in Time Out (London), 22 February 1995.

"Streep Fighter," interview with Rachel Abramowitz, in Premiere (London), vol. 5, 1997.

"The Meryl Streep Nobody Knows," interview with L. Smith, in Good Housekeeping (New York), September 1998.

"Streep's Ahead," interview with G. Fuller, in Interview (New York), December 1998.


On STREEP: books—

Maychick, Diana, Meryl Streep: The Reluctant Superstar, New York, 1984.

Smurthwaite, Nick, The Meryl Streep Story, New York, 1984.

Glogger, Helmut-Maria, Die aktuelle Biographie Meryl Streep: das Portrat eines Weltstars, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, 1987.

Pfaff, Eugene E., and Mark Emerson, Meryl Streep: A Critical Biography, Jefferson, North Carolina, 1987.


On STREEP: articles—

Silverman, S. M., "Meryl Streep: There's No End to Her Range," in American Film (Washington, D.C.), August 1979.

Current Biography 1980, New York, 1980.

Pally, M., "Choice Parts," in Film Comment (New York), Septem-ber/October 1985.

Haskell, Molly, "Meryl Streep: Hiding in the Spotlight," in Ms. Magazine, December 1988.

Rayner, Richard, "Esprit de Streep," in Harper's Bazaar, March 1994.

Weinraub, Bernard, "Her Peculiar Career," in New York Times Magazine, 18 September 1994.

Atkinson, M., "Meryl Streep in 'Sophie's Choice'," in Movieline (Escondido), October 1995.

Thomson, D. and others, "Who's the Best Actress in Hollywood?" in Movieline (Escondido), November 1996.


* * *

Meryl Streep is among the contemporary cinema's greatest assets—a star of the first order who, like the Spencer Tracys and Edward G. Robinsons before her, is an exceptional and multifaceted actor. One critic has said that she "manages to make her face an astonishingly clear reflection of her characters' complexities." Indeed, Streep is a master at shaping the intricacies of emotion and bringing them subtly to life through the use of refined and minimalist expression. The result has been an impressive and memorable list of films in which she has appeared, and in which she has offered consistently credible performances playing an astounding variety of roles.

On occasion, Streep has been criticized for taking on so many "accents" in her films. Her characters have been British, Irish, Australian, Polish; her "American" roles have ranged from sophisticated New Yorkers to small-town blue collar types, average suburbanites to ravaged alcoholics. One suspects, however, that this disapproval comes from a misguided mistrust of her ability to transform herself with such seeming effortlessness. The fact is that Streep can play—and play brilliantly—just about any character she chooses.

Streep's initial important roles were supporting ones. Her first major part came in The Deer Hunter, in which her pale good looks and soft-spoken delivery made a compelling contrast to her male counterparts, small-town Pennsylvania buddies who head off to fight in Vietnam. Her role in the television miniseries Holocaust was essentially a reworking of this quietly gentle persona. What is most intriguing about Streep's early career is that she offered award-caliber performances in roles that were not showy, that easily might have been typically bland feminine characters. The year after she made The Deer Hunter, Streep appeared in supporting roles in three films: The Seduction of Joe Tynan (playing a bright Southern charmer); Manhattan (as Woody Allen's estranged lesbian spouse); and Kramer vs. Kramer (as Dustin Hoffman's confused, insecure estranged wife). Especially in the latter, she fused the quality of introverted shyness that characterized her role in The Deer Hunter with a new external effervescence to convey her character's disorientation and instability. As a result, she won an Oscar, and firmly entrenched herself in the minds of moviegoers.

From then on, Streep has had her choice of starring roles in high-prestige features. Her best characterizations have been thoughtfully conceived and complexly drawn; they have been women who are severely troubled, or facing an overwhelming life crisis. Her first starring role came in The French Lieutenant's Woman, in which she is cast in a double role, that of an actress and the restrained Victorian woman this character plays in a movie. Here, Streep displays her uncanny ability for understatement and subtle expression as she projects the private madness of the latter character. She was to prove equally brilliant playing a working-class woman under duress in a film that is part drama, part political tract (Karen Silkwood, the illfated nuclear parts factory worker, in Silkwood); an intellectual in a film that is primarily romantic in tone (Danish writer Karen Blixen, in Out of Africa); and an immature, fragile offspring of privileged Hollywood in a cautionary drama whose core is a mother-daughter relationship (the fatigued, drugged-up actress who lives in the shadow of her famous, domineering mother, in Postcards from the Edge). On occasion, the torment of Streep's characters directly relates to one of the most personal concerns of any woman: her maternal feelings, coupled with the very survival of her children. In Sophie's Choice, she won her second Oscar as the tragic Polish concentration camp survivor, whose "choice" was to decide which of her offspring will live and which will die. In A Cry in the Dark, she is an otherwise average Australian woman who experiences the death of her baby and then finds herself charged with murder. In Before and After, she is a loving wife and mother whose adolescent son is accused of murdering his girlfriend. In the TV movie . . . First Do No Harm,which she executive produced, she is a mother seeking alternative treatment for her epileptic son.

Streep also has accepted roles that are not as psychologically intricate, but which still allow her to display her impressive talent. She can more than effectively play a standard, essentially unglamorous part, such as the average suburban New York commuter who commences an extramarital relationship in Falling in Love, and even can add class and intelligence to a generic action-heroine role, as she did in The River Wild. And she is capable of playing gentle comedy—witness her likable performance in Defending Your Life—as well as in-your-face farce—her hilarious turns were the sole reasons for seeing She-Devil and Death Becomes Her.

Most any Streep performance can be examined for its nuances and lauded for its sheer believability. Take Ironweed, in which she plays Helen Archer, the longtime companion of street bum Francis Phelan (Jack Nicholson). Archer has, in her time, guzzled too much wine, and her insides are now twisted beyond repair. She raves and rants irrationally, and declares that "everything ails me." At first Streep is almost unrecognizable in the role. Her voice is coarse. Her words sound as if they are emanating from a throat that really has been abused by the constant flow of alcohol. In her best of several exceptional moments, Streep sings a ditty called "He's Me Pal" in a gin mill—and fantasizes that she is doing so in fine voice for high-class folk, rather than in a roomful of rummies.

As her screen career approached the end of its second decade, Streep remained the preeminent movie actress of her era. Her mid-to-late-1990s roles remained rich and varied: an Iowa farm wife and mother who becomes the lover of photographer Clint Eastwood (The Bridges of Madison County); a coarse, chain-smoking trailer trash type who is out of touch with troubled son Leonardo Di Caprio and long-estranged from caregiver sister Diane Keaton (Marvin's Room); a bossy schoolteacher who is the eldest of five unmarried rural Irish sisters (Dancing at Lughnasa); a wife and mother who relishes her role as happy homemaker, but is dying of cancer and is looked after by reluctant careerist daughter Renee Zellweger (One True Thing); the concerned mothers in Before and After and . . . First Do No Harm; and a violinist, abandoned by her husband, who reinvents herself as a music teacher and inspires her inner-city charges (Music of the Heart). For the latter, Streep earned her 12th Academy Award nomination.

Indeed, Meryl Streep can play (and has played) just about any role. And, one suspects, she will go on doing so.

—Rob Winning, updated by Rob Edelman

Streep, Meryl

views updated May 18 2018

Streep, Meryl (1949– ) US film actress. She is renowned for her attention to realistic characterization. After an Academy Award nomination for The Deer Hunter (1978), Streep won a best supporting actress Oscar for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979). Her performance as a Holocaust victim in Sophie's Choice (1982) earned her an Academy Award for best actress. Other credits include The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Silkwood (1983), and Out of Africa (1985). She later gained Academy Award nominations for Postcards from the Edge (1990) and The Bridges of Madison County (1995).

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