Meryl Streep

Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Known for her versatility and adept accent work, she has been described as "the best actress of her generation". She has received numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades, including three Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, eight Golden Globe Awards, four Emmy Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for seven Grammy Awards and a Tony Award. Streep made her feature film debut in Julia (1977) and soon established herself as one of the most respected actresses of all time. She has received three Academy Awards, the first for Best Supporting Actress for playing a troubled wife in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), followed by two Best Actress wins for playing a Holocaust survivor in Sophie's Choice (1982) and Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (2011). Throughout her career she has continued to earn critical acclaim for her diverse roles on film ranging from the dramatic in The Deer Hunter (1978), Silkwood (1983), Out of Africa (1985), The Bridges of Madison County (1995), Doubt (2008), August: Osage County (2013), Into the Woods (2014), and The Post (2017) to the comedic in The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Mamma Mia! (2008), Julie & Julia, It's Complicated (both 2009), and Florence Foster Jenkins (2016). She was also featured in Woody Allen's comedy-drama Manhattan (1979). On stage, Streep made her debut in 1975 in Trelawny of the Wells, and the following year she received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for a double-bill production of 27 Wagons Full of Cotton and A Memory of Two Mondays. For her work on television, Streep has won four Emmy Awards, including Primetime Emmys for her acting roles in the miniseries Holocaust (1978) and Angels in America (2003). She has also taken roles in the HBO drama series Big Little Lies (2019) and the Hulu comedy-mystery series Only Murders in the Building (2023–24). Streep has been the recipient of many honorary awards, including an Honorary César in 2003, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2004, a Gala Tribute from the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 2008, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2011, an Honorary Golden Bear in 2012, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2017, and the Honorary Palme d'Or in 2024. President Barack Obama awarded her the National Medal of Arts in 2010 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014. In 2003, the French government made her a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.