View source for Meryl Streep

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| image         = Meryl Streep At The 2014 SAG Awards (12024455556) (cropped).jpg
| caption       = Streep at the [[20th Screen Actors Guild Awards|2014 SAG Awards]].
| image_size    = 220px
| birth_name    = Mary Louise Streep
| birth_date    = {{birth date and age|1949|06|22}}
| birth_place   = [[Summit, New Jersey]], U.S.
| partner        = [[John Cazale]]<br>(1976&ndash;1978)
 | spouse   =            [[Don Gummer]]<br>(1978–present)
| children      = 4
| occupation    = Actress, producer
| years_active  = 1971–present
| website       = {{URL|merylstreeponline.net}}
}}

'''Meryl Streep''' (born '''Mary Louise Streep'''; June 22, 1949)<ref>{{cite news|title=Monitor|newspaper=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=Jun 22, 2012|issue=1212|page=24}}</ref> is an American actress and producer. A three-time [[Academy Award]] winner, she is widely regarded as one of the greatest film actors of all time.<ref>{{cite book |last=Santas |first=Constantine |title=Responding to Film |year=2002 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield‏|isbn=0-8304-1580-7 |page=187}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hollinger |first=Karen |title=The Actor: Hollywood Acting and the Female Star |year=2006 |publisher=CRS Press |isbn=0-415-97792-4 |pages=94–95}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Middle East |year=2005 |publisher=Library Information and Research Service |page=204}}</ref> Streep made her professional stage debut in ''The Playboy of Seville'' in 1971, and went on to receive a 1976 [[Tony Award]] nomination for [[Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play|Best Featured Actor in a Play]] for ''[[A Memory of Two Mondays]]/[[List of one-act plays by Tennessee Williams#27 Wagons Full of Cotton|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 (1977 film)|Julia]]''. In 1978, she won an [[Emmy Award]] for her role in the miniseries ''[[Holocaust (TV miniseries)|Holocaust]]'', and received the first of her 19 Academy Award nominations for ''[[The Deer Hunter]]''. She has more Academy Award nominations than any actor or actress in history, winning [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]] for ''[[Kramer vs. Kramer]]'' (1979) and [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] for ''[[Sophie's Choice (film)|Sophie's Choice]]'' (1982) and ''[[The Iron Lady (film)|The Iron Lady]]'' (2011).

Streep is one of only six actors who have won [[List of actors with two or more Academy Awards in acting categories|three or more competitive Academy Awards for acting]]. Her other nominated roles include ''[[The French Lieutenant's Woman (film)|The French Lieutenant's Woman]]'' (1981), ''[[Silkwood]]'' (1983), ''[[Out of Africa (film)|Out of Africa]]'' (1985), ''[[A Cry in the Dark]]'' (1988), ''[[Postcards from the Edge (film)|Postcards From the Edge]]'' (1990), ''[[The Bridges of Madison County (film)|The Bridges of Madison County]]'' (1995), ''[[Adaptation (film)|Adaptation]]'' (2002), ''[[The Devil Wears Prada (film)|The Devil Wears Prada]]'' (2006), ''[[Doubt (2008 film)|Doubt]]'' (2008), ''[[Julie & Julia]]'' (2009), ''[[August: Osage County (film)|August: Osage County]]'' (2013), and ''[[Into the Woods (film)|Into the Woods]]'' (2014). She returned to the stage for the first time in over 20 years in [[The Public Theater]]'s 2002 revival of ''[[The Seagull]]'',  won a second Emmy Award in 2004 for the [[HBO]] miniseries ''[[Angels in America (miniseries)|Angels in America]]'' (2003), and starred in the Public Theater's 2006 production of ''[[Mother Courage and Her Children]]''.

Streep [[List of awards and nominations received by Meryl Streep|has also received]] 29 [[Golden Globe]] nominations, winning eight, more nominations and more competitive (non-honorary) wins than any other actor (male or female) in history.<ref>Ehbar, Ned (February 28, 2014). "Did you know?" ''Metro''. New York City. p. 18.</ref><!--This source supports the claim about Oscar noms, but not Golden Globe ones.--> Her work has also earned her two [[Screen Actors Guild Award]]s, a [[Cannes Film Festival]] award, five [[New York Film Critics Circle Awards]], two [[BAFTA]] awards, two [[Australian Film Institute Award|Australian Film Institute]] awards, five [[Grammy Award]] nominations, and five [[Drama Desk Award]] nominations, among several others. She was awarded the [[AFI Life Achievement Award]] in 2004 and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2011 for her contribution to American culture through performing arts, the youngest actor in each award's history. President [[Barack Obama]] awarded her the 2010 [[National Medal of Arts]] and in 2014 the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://merylstreepinfo.wordpress.com/tag/national-medal-of-arts/|title=National Medal of Arts - Meryl Streep Info|publisher=|accessdate=November 24, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/politics/article/Obama-to-award-Presidential-Medal-of-Freedom-5913512.php#/0|title=Obama awards Presidential Medal of Freedom to 18|work=San Francisco Chronicle|accessdate=November 24, 2014}}</ref>
In 2003, the government of France made her a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.

==Early life==
Streep was born in [[Summit, New Jersey]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~battle/celeb/streep.htm |title=Meryl Streep|author=Robert Battle|publisher=Ancestry.com|accessdate=January 16, 2009}}</ref> Her mother, [[Mary Wilkinson Streep]] (née Mary Wolf Wilkinson; 1915–2001), was a commercial artist and an art editor, and her father, Harry William Streep, Jr. (1910–2003), was a pharmaceutical executive.<ref name="filmr">{{cite web |title=Meryl Streep Biography (1949–)|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/65/Meryl-Streep.html |publisher=Film Reference.com |accessdate=January 16, 2009}}</ref><ref name="ref0912">{{cite news|last=ASSOCIATED PRESS|first=|title=Artist Mary W. Streep, mother of actor Meryl, dies at 86|pages=|publisher=The Star-Ledger|date=October 3, 2001|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/82788043.html?dids=82788043:82788043&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+03%2C+2001&author=THE+ASSOCIATED+PRESS&pub=Newsday+(Combined+editions)&desc=OBITUARIES+%2F+Mary+Wilkinson+Streep%2C+Mother+of+the+Actress&pqatl=google|accessdate=December 16, 2009}}</ref><ref name=tlgpr>{{cite news| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/baftas/9080244/Baftas-Meryl-Streeps-British-ancestor-helped-start-war-with-Native-Americans.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=Nick | last=Britten | title=Baftas: Meryl Streep's British ancestor 'helped start war with Native Americans' | date=February 14, 2012}}</ref> She has two brothers, Dana David and Harry William III.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800018835/bio |title=Meryl Streep Biography |publisher=Yahoo! Movies}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref>

Her father was of [[Germans|German]] and [[Swiss people|Swiss]]-German ancestry. Her father's lineage traces back to [[Loffenau]], [[Germany]], from where her second great-grandfather, Gottfried Streeb, emigrated to the United States, and where one of her ancestors served as a mayor (the surname was later changed to "Streep").<ref name=bookref1>[https://books.google.ca/books?id=meYbj1E6Ki8C&pg=PA40&dq=%22The+family+had+left+behind+a+long+line+of+distinguished+ancestors+in+Germany.%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8SO4VPPIJtDksASs7oHoDQ&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22The%20family%20had%20left%20behind%20a%20long%20line%20of%20distinguished%20ancestors%20in%20Germany.%22&f=false]</ref> Another line of her father's family was from [[Giswil]], [[Switzerland]]. Her mother had [[English people|English]], German, and [[Irish people|Irish]] ancestry.<ref name=bookref1/> Some of Streep's maternal ancestors lived in [[Pennsylvania]] and [[Rhode Island]], and were descended from 17th century immigrants from England.<ref name=tlgpr/><ref name="ref02101">{{cite news|last=|first=|title=Meryl Streep|pages=|publisher=Faces of America|year=2010|url=http://www.pbs.org/wnet/facesofamerica/profiles/meryl-streep/70/|accessdate=February 5, 2010}}</ref> Her eighth great-grandfather, Lawrence Wilkinson, was one of the first Europeans to settle Rhode Island.<ref name=facam1>http://www.pbs.org/wnet/facesofamerica/profiles/meryl-streep/70/</ref> Streep is also a distant relative of [[William Penn]], the founder of Pennsylvania, and records show that her family is among the first purchasers of land in the state.<ref name=facam1/> Streep's maternal <!--- definitely "great-great-", parents of Streep's great-grandmother Mary Agnes McFadden --->great-great-grandparents,<!--- definitely "great-great-", parents of Streep's great-grandmother Mary Agnes McFadden ---> Manus McFadden and Grace Strain, were natives of the Hook Head district of [[Dunfanaghy]], [[Ireland]].<ref name="ref02101"/><ref name="ref0210">{{cite news|last=McKenzie|first=Joi-Marie|title=Henry Louis Gates Says He Broke Meryl Streep's Heart|pages=|publisher=Niteside|date=February 4, 2010|url=http://www.nbcwashington.com/blogs/niteside/Henry-Louis-Gates-Explores-Immigrant-Origins-of-Famous-Americans-83509992.html|accessdate=February 4, 2010}}</ref><ref>[http://www.pbs.org/wnet/facesofamerica/profiles/meryl-streep/70/ "Faces of America: Meryl Streep"], PBS, ''[[Faces of America (PBS series)|Faces of America]]'' series, with Professor [[Henry Louis Gates|Henry Louis Gates, Jr.]], 2010.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://donegalnews.com/2014/01/meryl-streeps-great-grandparents-from-dunfanaghy/ |title=Meryl Streep’s great grandparents from Dunfanaghy |publisher=Donegalnews.com |date=January 15, 2014 |accessdate=April 20, 2014}}</ref>

Streep was raised as a [[Presbyterian]]<ref>{{cite news |first=Joy |last=Horowitz |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7DA133BF934A25750C0A967958260 |title=That Madcap Meryl. Really! |work= [[The New York Times]]|date=March 17, 1991|accessdate=January 13, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://simplystreep.com/press/press1992movieline.htm |archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20070929141718/http://simplystreep.com/press/press1992movieline.htm |archivedate=September 29, 2007 |work=Simply Streep.com |title=Press Archive}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref> in [[Bernardsville, New Jersey]], where she attended [[Bernards High School]].<ref>{{cite news |title=N.J. Teachers Honor 6 Graduates |work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |date=November 12, 1983 |accessdate=July 20, 2007 |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB29697FA2C7F62&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |quote=Streep is a graduate of Bernards High School in Bernardsville...}}</ref> She had many school friends who were [[Catholic]], and regularly attended [[Mass (religion)|Mass]] because she loved its rituals.<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/meryl-streep-movies-marriage-and-turning-sixty-1488485.html Meryl Streep: Movies, marriage, and turning sixty – Profiles – People]. The Independent (January 24, 2009). Retrieved on 2011-11-24.</ref> She received her [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in drama from [[Vassar College]] in 1971 (where she briefly received instruction from actor [[Jean Arthur]]), but also enrolled as a visiting student at  [[Dartmouth College]] shortly before it became coeducational.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} She subsequently earned an [[Master of Fine Arts|MFA]] from the [[Yale School of Drama]]. While at Yale, she played a variety of roles onstage,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.library.yale.edu/humanities/theater/Meryl_Streep's_roles.doc |title=Yale library's list of all roles played at Yale by Meryl Streep |accessdate=March 7, 2010}}</ref> from  [[Helena (A Midsummer Night's Dream)|Helena]] in ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' to an 80-year-old woman in a wheelchair in a comedy written by then-unknown playwrights [[Christopher Durang]] and [[Albert Innaurato]].<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=bkNrqBbGfTgC&pg=PA365&lpg=PA365&ots=38AriP8tb3&dq=%22the+idiots+Karamazov%22+gussow&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html "1974 ''New York Times'' review"], reprinted in [[Mel Gussow]]'s ''Theatre on the Edge''. p. 365.</ref><ref>{{cite news| author = [[Mel Gussow|Gussow, Mel]] |url=http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/07/movies/critic-s-notebook-luring-actors-back-to-the-stage-they-left-behind.html?pagewanted=1 | title = Critic's Notebook; Luring Actors Back to the Stage They Left Behind | work = [[The New York Times]] |date=January 7, 1991 |accessdate=March 7, 2010}}</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=3ejEl3_jNtUC&pg=PA61&lpg=PA60&dq=%22Meryl+Streep%22+Yale&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html Robert S. Brustein, ''Letters to a Young Actor'', p.61] This book also contains details of her performances at Yale.</ref>

==Career==

===1970s===
Streep performed in several theater productions in New York and New Jersey after graduation from [[Yale School of Drama]],<ref name=tca>{{cite episode|title=Meryl Streep |series=Inside the Actors Studio |serieslink=Inside the Actors Studio |network=[[Bravo (US TV channel)|Bravo]] |airdate=1998-11-22 |season=5 |number=1 |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0611276/}}</ref> including [[Joseph Papp|Joseph Papp's]] [[New York Shakespeare Festival]] productions of ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]'', ''[[The Taming of the Shrew]]'' with [[Raúl Juliá]], and ''Measure for Measure'' opposite [[Sam Waterston]] and [[John Cazale]]. At this time she entered a relationship with Cazale, with whom she lived until his death three years later. She starred on Broadway in the Brecht/Weill musical ''[[Happy End (musical)|Happy End]]'', and won an [[Obie Award|Obie]] for her performance in the all-sung [[off-Broadway]] production of ''Alice at the Palace''.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

[[File:Meryl Streep by Jack Mitchell.jpg|thumb|left|Streep photographed by [[Jack Mitchell (photographer)|Jack Mitchell]] in the late 1970s]]
Streep began auditioning for film roles, and later recalled an unsuccessful audition for [[Dino De Laurentiis]] for the leading female role in ''[[King Kong (1976 film)|King Kong]]''.<ref name="SimplyStreepDelayedProjects">{{cite web |title=Information, Considered & Delayed Projects |publisher=SimplyStreep.com |url=http://www.simplystreep.com/site/career/considered/ |accessdate=June 7, 2009}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref> In New York City, she appeared in the 1976 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] double bill of [[Tennessee Williams]]' ''[[One act plays by Tennessee Williams#27 Wagons Full of Cotton|27 Wagons Full of Cotton]]'' and [[Arthur Miller]]'s ''[[A Memory of Two Mondays]]''. For the former, she received a [[Tony Award]] nomination for Best Featured female actor in a Play.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} Her other early Broadway credits include [[Anton Chekhov]]'s ''[[The Cherry Orchard]]'' and the [[Bertolt Brecht]]-[[Kurt Weill]] musical ''[[Happy End (musical)|Happy End]]'' in which she originally appeared off-Broadway at the [[Chelsea Theater Center]]. She received [[Drama Desk Award]] nominations for both productions.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

Streep's first feature film role was ''[[Julia (1977 film)|Julia]]'' (1977), in which she played a small but pivotal role during a flashback scene. Streep was living in New York City with Cazale, who had been diagnosed with [[bone cancer]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Paul |last=Gray |title=Cinema: A Mother Finds Herself |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,948649-3,00.html |work =[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |page=3 |date=December 3, 1979 |accessdate=February 16, 2011}}</ref> He was cast in ''[[The Deer Hunter]]'' (1978), and Streep was delighted to secure a small role because it allowed her to remain with Cazale for the duration of filming. She was not specifically interested in the part, commenting, "They needed a girl between the two guys and I was it."<ref name="SimplyStreepMsMagazine1979">{{cite web |title=Magazines Archive |publisher=SimplyStreep.com |url=http://www.simplystreep.com/site/magazines/197902msmagazine/|accessdate=August 14, 2009}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}} citing {{cite journal |work=Ms. Magazine |date=February 1979 |title=Meryl Streep to the Rescue}}</ref>

She played a leading role in the television [[miniseries]] ''[[Holocaust (miniseries)|Holocaust]]'' (1978) as a German woman married to a [[Judaism|Jewish]] artist in [[Nazi era]] Germany. She later explained that she had considered the material to be "unrelentingly noble",<ref name="SimplyStreepMsMagazine1979" /> and had taken the role only because she had needed money.<ref name="SimplyStreepHorizonMagazine1978">{{cite web |title=Magazines Archive |publisher=SimplyStreep.com |url=http://www.www.simplystreep.com/magazines/197808horizon.htm |accessdate=June 7, 2009}} citing {{cite journal |work=Horizon Magazine |date=August 1978 |title=Star Treks}}</ref> Streep travelled to Germany and Austria for filming while Cazale remained in New York. Upon her return, Streep found that Cazale's illness had progressed, and she nursed him until his death on March 12, 1978.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} She spoke of her grief and her hope that work would provide a diversion; she accepted a role in ''[[The Seduction of Joe Tynan]]'' (1979) with [[Alan Alda]], later commenting that she played it on "automatic pilot",<ref name="SimplyStreepMsMagazine1979" /> and performed the role of [[Kate (The Taming of the Shrew)|Katherine]] in ''[[The Taming of the Shrew]]'' for [[Shakespeare in the Park]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Magazines Archive |publisher=SimplyStreep.com |url=http://www.simplystreep.com/site/career/stage/ |accessdate=June 7, 2009}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}} citing {{cite journal |work=[[TV Guide]] |date=June 1978 |title=From Homecoming Queen to Holocaust}}</ref> With an estimated audience of 109 million, ''Holocaust'' brought a degree of public recognition to Streep, who was described in August 1978 as "on the verge of national visibility".<ref name="SimplyStreepHorizonMagazine1978" /> She won the [[Primetime Emmy Award]] for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama or Comedy Special for her performance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.com/celebrities/meryl-streep |title=Meryl Streep Emmy Award Winner |publisher=Emmys.com |accessdate=April 20, 2014}}</ref>

''[[The Deer Hunter]]'' (1978) was released a month later, and Streep was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress]] for her performance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oscar.go.com/nominees/actress-in-a-leading-role/meryl-streep?|title=Meryl Streep Oscar Nominations|publisher=Oscar.go.com|accessdate=January 2, 2015}}</ref>

Streep played a supporting role in ''[[Manhattan (film)|Manhattan]]'' (1979) for [[Woody Allen]], later stating that she had not seen a complete script and was given only the six pages of her own scenes,<ref>{{cite web |title=Magazines Archive |publisher=SimplyStreep.com |url=http://www.www.simplystreep.com/magazines/197903lookmagazine.htm |accessdate=June 7, 2009}} citing {{cite journal |work=Look Magazine |date=March 1979 |title=Streep Year}}</ref> and that she had not been permitted to improvise a word of her dialogue.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/?id=89W0QMDjA7gC&pg=PA71&dq=Meryl+Streep#PPA76,M1 |title=The Actress: Hollywood Acting and the Female Star |first=Karen |last=Hollinger |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |isbn=0-415-97792-4 |page=76}}</ref> Asked to comment on the script for ''[[Kramer vs. Kramer]]'' (1979), in a meeting with the producer Stan Jaffee, director [[Robert Benton]] and star [[Dustin Hoffman]], Streep insisted that the female character was not representative of many real women who faced marriage breakdown and child custody battles, and was written as "too evil".<ref name="SimplyStreepMsMagazine1979" /> Jaffee, Benton and Hoffman agreed with Streep, and the script was revised.<ref name="SimplyStreepMsMagazine1979" /> In preparing for the part, Streep spoke to her own mother about her life as a mother and housewife with a career,<ref>Hollinger, p. 75</ref> and frequented the [[Upper East Side]] neighborhood in which the film was set.<ref name="SimplyStreepMsMagazine1979" /> Benton allowed Streep to write her dialogue in two of her key scenes, despite some objection from Hoffman.<ref>Hollinger, p. 77</ref> Jaffee and Hoffman later spoke of Streep's tirelessness, with Hoffman commenting, "She's extraordinarily hardworking, to the extent that she's obsessive. I think that she thinks about nothing else but what she's doing."<ref>{{cite web |title=Magazines Archive |publisher=SimplyStreep.com |url=http://www.www.simplystreep.com/magazines/197911playgirl.htm |accessdate=June 7, 2009}} citing {{cite journal |work=Playgirl Magazine |date=November 1979 |title=The Freshest Face in Hollywood}}</ref>

Streep drew critical acclaim for her performance in each of her three films released in 1979: the [[romantic comedy]] ''Manhattan'', the political drama ''The Seduction of Joe Tynan'' and the family drama, ''Kramer vs. Kramer''.<ref name=tca/> She was awarded the [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress]], [[National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress]] and [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress]] for her collective work in the three films.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} Among the awards won for ''Kramer vs. Kramer'' were the Academy Award and [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture|Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress]].<ref name=tca/>

===1980s===
[[File:Meryl Streep (2071470089) (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Streep at the [[61st Academy Awards]], March 1989]]

After supporting roles in two of the 1970s' most successful films, the consecutive winners of the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]], ''[[The Deer Hunter]]'' and ''[[Kramer vs. Kramer]]'', and praise for her versatility in several supporting roles, Streep progressed to leading roles. Her first was ''[[The French Lieutenant's Woman (film)|The French Lieutenant's Woman]]'' (1981). A [[story within a story]] drama, the film paired Streep with [[Jeremy Irons]] as contemporary actors, telling their modern story as well as the [[Victorian era]] drama they were performing. A ''[[New York Magazine]]'' article commented that, while many female stars of the past had cultivated a singular identity in their films, Streep was a "[[chameleon]]", willing to play any type of role.<ref name="NewYorkMagazineSep1981">{{cite news |last=Denby |first=David |title=Meryl Streep is Madonna and siren in ''The French Lieutenant's Woman'' |work=New York Magazine |date=September 21, 1981 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=-OUCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26&dq=Meryl+Streep&lr=#PPA26,M1 |accessdate=June 15, 2009|page=27}}</ref> Streep was awarded a [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role]] for her work.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

Her next film, the [[psychological thriller]], ''[[Still of the Night (film)|Still of the Night]]'' (1982) reunited her with Robert Benton, the director of ''Kramer vs. Kramer'', and co-starred [[Roy Scheider]] and [[Jessica Tandy]]. [[Vincent Canby]], writing for ''[[The New York Times]]'', noted that the film was an homage to the works of [[Alfred Hitchcock]], but that one of its main weaknesses was a lack of chemistry between Streep and Scheider, concluding that Streep "is stunning, but she's not on screen anywhere near long enough".<ref>{{cite news |last=Canby |first=Vincent |title='Still of the Night', in Hitchcock Manner |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 20, 1985 |url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C02E2D8123BF93AA25752C1A964948260 |accessdate=June 6, 2009}}</ref>

As the [[Poland|Polish]] [[holocaust survivor]] in ''[[Sophie's Choice (film)|Sophie's Choice]]'' (1982), Streep's emotional dramatic performance and her apparent mastery of a Polish accent drew praise.<ref name=tca/> Streep said that the inspiration for her Polish accent in "Sophie's Choice" was Polish actress, [[Elżbieta Czyżewska]].<ref>{{YouTube|id=q53Yemc4LXQ |title=Meryl Streep: The Inspiration For Her Polish Accent In "Sophie's Choice" - UMass Lowell}}</ref> [[William Styron]] wrote the novel with [[Ursula Andress]] in mind for the part of Sophie, but Streep was very determined to get the role. After she obtained a pirated copy of the script, she went to [[Alan J. Pakula]] and threw herself on the ground begging him to give her the part.."{{citation needed|date=June 2012}} Streep filmed the "choice" scene in one take and refused to do it again, as she found shooting the scene extremely painful and emotionally exhausting.<ref>{{cite news |title=What Makes Meryl Magic |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924815-8,00.html |accessdate=June 15, 2009 |date=September 7, 1981 |work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | first=John | last=Skow}}</ref> Among several notable acting awards, Streep won the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] for her performance.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} [[Roger Ebert]] said of her performance, "Streep plays the Brooklyn scenes with an enchanting Polish-American accent (she has the first accent I've ever wanted to hug), and she plays the flashbacks in subtitled German and Polish. There is hardly an emotion that Streep doesn't touch in this movie, and yet we're never aware of her straining. This is one of the most astonishing and yet one of the most unaffected and natural performances I can imagine."{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

She followed this success with a biographical film, ''[[Silkwood]]'' (1983), in which she played her first real-life character, the [[Labor union|union activist]] [[Karen Silkwood]]. She discussed her preparation for the role in an interview with [[Roger Ebert]] and said that she had met with people close to Silkwood to learn more about her, and in doing so realized that each person saw a different aspect of Silkwood.<ref name="ebert">{{cite book |first=Roger|last=Ebert |author2=David Bordwell|title=Awake in the dark: the best of Roger Ebert: forty years of reviews, essays, and interviews |url=http://books.google.com/?id=YIU1jlgPjr8C&pg=PA64&dq=Meryl+Streep#PPA64,M1 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2006 |isbn=0-226-18200-2 |page=64}}</ref> Streep concentrated on the events of Silkwood's life and concluded, "I didn't try to turn myself into Karen. I just tried to look at what she did. I put together every piece of information I could find about her... What I finally did was look at the events in her life, and try to understand her from the inside."<ref name="ebert" />

Her next films were a [[romantic drama]], ''[[Falling in Love (1984 film)|Falling in Love]]'' (1984) opposite [[Robert De Niro]], and a British drama, ''[[Plenty (film)|Plenty]]'' (1985). Roger Ebert said of Streep's performance in ''Plenty'' that she conveyed "great subtlety; it is hard to play an unbalanced, neurotic, self-destructive woman, and do it with such gentleness and charm... Streep creates a whole character around a woman who could have simply been a catalogue of symptoms."<ref>{{cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |title='Plenty' review |work=Chicago Sun Times |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19850920/REVIEWS/509200303/1023 |date=November 19, 1982 |accessdate=June 6, 2009}}</ref>

''[[Out of Africa (film)|Out of Africa]]'' (1985) starred Streep as the Danish writer [[Karen Blixen]] and co-starred [[Robert Redford]]. A significant critical success, the film received a 63% "fresh" rating from [[Rotten Tomatoes]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Out of Africa (1985) |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/out_of_africa/ |publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |accessdate=June 6, 2009}}</ref> Streep co-starred with [[Jack Nicholson]] in her next two films, the dramas ''[[Heartburn (film)|Heartburn]]'' (1986) and ''[[Ironweed (film)|Ironweed]]'' (1987), in which she sang onscreen for the first time since the television movie, ''Secret Service'', in 1977. In ''[[Evil Angels (film)|A Cry in the Dark]]'', aka ''Evil Angels'' (1988), she played the biographical role of [[Lindy Chamberlain]], an Australian woman who had been convicted of the [[Death of Azaria Chamberlain|murder of her infant daughter]] despite Chamberlain claiming the baby had been taken by a [[dingo]] (a claim that was later vindicated). Filmed in Australia, Streep won the [[Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role]], a [[Prix d'interprétation féminine|Best Actress]] at the [[Cannes Film Festival]], the [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress]] and was nominated for several other awards for her portrayal of Chamberlain.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

In ''[[She-Devil (film)|She-Devil]]'' (1989), Streep played her first comedic film role, opposite [[Roseanne Barr]]. Richard Corliss, writing for ''Time,'' commented that Streep was the "one reason" to see the film and observed that it marked a departure from the type of role for which she had been known, saying, "Surprise! Inside the [[Greer Garson]] roles Streep usually plays, a vixenish [[Carole Lombard]] is screaming to be cut loose."<ref>{{cite news |last=Corliss |first=Richard |title=Warty Worm, "She-Devil" review |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959340,00.html |work=Time magazine |date=December 11, 1989 |accessdate=June 7, 2009}}</ref>

===1990s===
[[File:Jeff y Meryl Streep.jpg|left|thumb|Meryl Streep at the [[32nd Grammy Awards]] in 1990]]
In the 1990s, Streep continued to play a great variety of roles. From 1984 to 1990, she won six [[People's Choice Awards]] for Favorite Motion Picture Actress, and in 1990 was named World Favorite.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} Biographer Karen Hollinger described this period as a downturn in the popularity of Streep's films, attributing this partly to a critical perception that her comedies had been an attempt to convey a lighter image following several serious but commercially unsuccessful dramas, and more significantly to the lack of options available to an actress in her forties.<ref name="Hollingerp78">p. 78</ref> Streep commented that she had limited her options by her preference to work in Los Angeles, close to her family,<ref name="Hollingerp78" /> a situation that she had anticipated in a 1981 interview when she commented, "By the time an actress hits her mid-forties, no one's interested in her anymore. And if you want to fit a couple of babies into that schedule as well, you've got to pick your parts with great care."<ref name="NewYorkMagazineSep1981" />

Also in 1990, at the [[Screen Actor's Guild]] National Women's Conference, Streep keynoted the first national event, emphasizing the decline in women's work opportunities, pay parity, and role models within the film industry.<ref name="SAG timeline">{{cite web |title=SAG History - SAG Timeline |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20120125115603/http://www.sag.org/content/womens-committee |accessdate=July 15, 2013}}</ref> She criticized the film industry for downplaying the importance of women both on screen and off.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

Streep played a drug-addicted movie actress in ''[[Postcards from the Edge (film)|Postcards from the Edge]]'', a screen adaptation of [[Carrie Fisher]]'s novel [[Postcards from the Edge|of the same name]], with [[Dennis Quaid]] and [[Shirley MacLaine]]. Streep and [[Goldie Hawn]] had established a friendship and were interested in making a film together. After considering various projects, they decided upon ''[[Thelma and Louise]]'', until Streep's pregnancy coincided with the filming schedule, and the producers decided to proceed with [[Susan Sarandon]] and [[Geena Davis]].<ref name="SimplyStreepDelayedProjects" /> They subsequently filmed the farcical black comedy, ''[[Death Becomes Her]]'', with [[Bruce Willis]] as their co-star. ''Time'''s Richard Corliss wrote approvingly of Streep's "wicked-witch routine" but dismissed the film as "''She-Devil'' with a make-over".<ref>{{cite news |last=Corliss |first=Richard |title=Beverly Hills Corpse, "Death Becomes Her" review |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,976129,00.html |work=Time |date=August 3, 1992 |accessdate=June 7, 2009}}</ref>

[[File:Meryl Streep - Walk of Fame.jpg|thumb|250px|''[[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]'']]

In 1995, Streep played opposite [[Clint Eastwood]] in the love story ''[[The Bridges of Madison County (film)|The Bridges of Madison County]]'' (1995). Based on a best-selling novel by [[Robert James Waller]],<ref>McGilligan, p.492</ref> it relates the story of Robert Kincaid (Eastwood), a photographer working for ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]'', who has a love affair with a middle-aged Italian farm wife in [[Iowa]] named Francesca (Streep). Streep and Eastwood got along famously during production and such was their on-screen chemistry that a number of people believed that the two were having an affair off-camera, although this was denied by both.<ref name="McGilligan 1999, p.499">McGilligan, p.499</ref> The film was a hit at the box office and grossed $70 million in the United States.<ref name="McGilligan, p.503">McGilligan, p.503</ref> The film, unlike the novel, surprised film critics and was warmly received. Janet Maslin of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote that Clint had managed to create "a moving, elegiac love story at the heart of Mr. Waller's self-congratulatory overkill", while [[Joe Morgenstern]] of ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' described ''The Bridges of Madison County'' as "one of the most pleasurable films in recent memory".<ref name="McGilligan, p.503" />

In 1996, Streep starred as Lee in ''[[Marvin's Room (film)|Marvin's Room]]'', an adaptation of the play by Scott McPherson. [[Diane Keaton]] played her estranged sister Bessie, a woman battling [[leukemia]], although Streep had initially been considered for the role.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} The film also starred a young [[Leonardo DiCaprio]] as Streep's rebellious son. [[Roger Ebert]] stated that "Streep and Keaton, in their different styles, find ways to make Lee and Bessie into much more than the expression of their problems."<ref>Roger Ebert. [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19970110/REVIEWS/701100302/1023 Review- ''Marvin's Room'']. January 10, 1997. Retrieved March 25, 2006.</ref> Although critically acclaimed, the film was not released on a wide scale. Streep, however, earned another Golden Globe nomination for the film.<ref name="awards"/>

In 1999, Streep portrayed [[Roberta Guaspari]], a real-life New Yorker who found passion and enlightenment teaching violin to inner-city kids in [[East Harlem]], in the music drama ''[[Music of the Heart]]''. A departure from director [[Wes Craven]]’s previous work on films like ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street]]'' and the ''[[Scream (film series)|Scream]]'' series, Streep replaced singer [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]] who left the project before filming began due to creative differences with Craven.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} Required to perform on the violin, Streep went through two months of intense training, four to six hours a day.<ref>[http://www.lifewhile.com/news/136587/detail.html]{{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref>

===2000s===
{{main|Meryl Streep in the 2000s}}

Streep entered the 2000s with an uncredited voice cameo in [[Steven Spielberg]]'s ''[[A.I. Artificial Intelligence]]'', a [[science fiction film]] about a childlike [[Android (robot)|android]], played by [[Haley Joel Osment]], uniquely programmed with the ability to love, voicing the [[Blue Fairy]].<ref>{{cite web|title=''A.I. Artificial Intelligence'' (2001)|url=http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=ai.htm|publisher=Box Office Mojo|accessdate=February 7, 2009}}</ref> The same year, Streep co-hosted the annual [[Nobel Peace Prize Concert]] concert with [[Liam Neeson]] which was held in [[Oslo, Norway]] on December 11, 2001 in honour of the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] laureate, the [[United Nations]] and [[Kofi Annan]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Previous Concerts (2001)|url=http://nobelpeaceprize.org/concert/history/2001.php|publisher=Nobelpeaceprize.org|accessdate=February 7, 2012}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref>

In 2002, Streep returned to the stage for the first time in more than twenty years, playing Arkadina in [[The Public Theater]]'s revival of [[Anton Chekhov]]'s ''[[The Seagull]]'', directed by [[Mike Nichols]] and co-starring [[Kevin Kline]], [[Natalie Portman]], and [[Philip Seymour Hoffman]].<ref>{{Cite news|first=Ben|last=Brantley|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/13/theater/theater-review-streep-meets-chekhov-up-in-central-park.html?src=pm|title=Theater Review: Streep Meets Chekhov, Up in Central Park|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=August 31, 2001|accessdate=February 13, 2011}}</ref> The same year, she began work on [[Spike Jonze]]'s comedy-drama ''[[Adaptation (film)|Adaptation]]'' (2002), in which she portrayed real-life journalist [[Susan Orlean]]. Lauded by critics and viewers alike,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/adaptation/|title=''Adaptation'' (2002)|publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|accessdate=April 8, 2008}}</ref> the film won Streep her fourth [[Golden Globe]] in the Best Supporting Actress category.<ref name="awards">{{cite web|title=Awards for Meryl Streep|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000658/awards|publisher=[[IMDb]].com|accessdate=February 7, 2010}}</ref> Also in 2002, Streep appeared alongside [[Nicole Kidman]] and [[Julianne Moore]] in [[Stephen Daldry]]'s ''[[The Hours (film)|The Hours]]'', based on the 1999 [[The Hours (novel)|novel]] by [[Michael Cunningham]]. Focusing on three women of different generations whose lives are interconnected by the novel ''[[Mrs. Dalloway]]'' by [[Virginia Woolf]], the film was generally well received and won all three leading actresses a [[Silver Bear for Best Actress]] the following year.<ref name="awards"/>

[[File:Meryl Streep in St-Petersburg 2.jpg|thumb|Streep in [[St. Petersburg]], [[Russia]], in June 2004]] The following year, Streep had a [[Cameo appearance|cameo]] as herself in the [[Farrelly brothers]] comedy ''[[Stuck on You (film)|Stuck on You]]'' (2003) and reunited with [[Mike Nichols]] to star with [[Al Pacino]] and [[Emma Thompson]] in the [[HBO]] adaptation of [[Tony Kushner]]'s six-hour play ''[[Angels in America (miniseries)|Angels in America]]'', the story of two couples whose relationships dissolve amidst the backdrop of [[Reagan Era]] politics. Streep, who was cast in four roles in the mini-series, received her second [[Emmy Award]] and fifth Golden Globe for her performance.<ref name="awards"/> In 2004, Streep was awarded the [[AFI Life Achievement Award]] by the [[American Film Institute|Board of Directors of the American Film Institute]].<ref name="awards"/> She appeared in [[Jonathan Demme]]'s  moderately successful remake of ''[[The Manchurian Candidate (2004 film)|The Manchurian Candidate]]'',<ref>{{cite web|title=''The Manchurian Candidate'' (2003)|url=http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=manchuriancandidate.htm|publisher=Box Office Mojo|accessdate=February 7, 2010}}</ref> co-starring [[Denzel Washington]], playing the role of a woman who is both a [[United States Senate|U.S. senator]] and the [[Psychological manipulation|manipulative]], ruthless mother of a [[Vice President of the United States|vice-presidential]] candidate.<ref>{{cite news |title = Terrorist attacks, corporate control, election controversy: Sound familiar? 'The Manchurian Candidate' has it all. |first = Mick |last = LaSalle |authorlink = Mick LaSalle |url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/07/30/DDGFD7V6NG1.DTL |newspaper = [[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date = July 30, 2004 |accessdate = May 30, 2010 |archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5q7FcZ2d6 |archivedate = May 30, 2010 }}</ref> The same year, she played the supporting role of Aunt Josephine in ''[[Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'' alongside [[Jim Carrey]], based on the first three novels in [[Lemony Snicket|Snicket]]'s book [[A Series of Unfortunate Events|series]]. The [[black comedy]] received generally favorable reviews from critics,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lemony_snicket/ |title=''Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events''|work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |accessdate=April 8, 2009}}</ref> and won the [[Academy Award for Best Makeup]].<ref>{{cite web|title=''Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events'' (2004)|url=http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=lemonysnicket.htm|publisher=Box Office Mojo|accessdate=February 10, 2010}}</ref> Inspired by her love of [[Giverny]] in France and [[Claude Monet]], Streep did the narration for the film ''Monet's Palate'', with [[Alice Waters]], [[Steve Wynn]], [[Daniel Boulud]] and Helen Rappel Bordman.<ref>{{IMDb title|0361919|Monet's Palate: A Gastronomic View from the Gardens of Giverny}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/02/prweb342320.htm|title="Monet's Palate - A Gastronomic View From the Gardens of Giverny" with Meryl Streep Is a Film About Claude Monet|publisher=PRWeb|date=February 6, 2006|accessdate=November 19, 2011}}</ref>

Streep was next cast in the 2005 comedy film ''[[Prime (film)|Prime]]'', directed by [[Ben Younger]]. In the film, she played Lisa Metzger, the [[Jew]]ish psychoanalyst of a divorced and lonesome business-woman, played by [[Uma Thurman]], who enters a relationship with Metzger's 23-year-old son ([[Bryan Greenberg]]). A modest mainstream success, it eventually grossed US$67.9 million internationally.<ref>{{cite web|title=''Prime'' (2004)|url=http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=prime.htm|publisher=Box Office Mojo|accessdate=February 10, 2010}}</ref> In August and September 2006, she starred onstage at [[The Public Theater]]'s production of ''[[Mother Courage and Her Children]]'' at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://theater2.nytimes.com/2006/08/22/theater/reviews/22moth.html |title=Mother Courage and Her Children |work= [[The New York Times]] |date=August 22, 2006 |accessdate=January 15, 2009 | author = [[Ben Brantley|Brantley, Ben]]}}</ref> The Public Theater production was a new translation by playwright [[Tony Kushner]] (''[[Angels in America]]''), with songs in the Weill/Brecht style written by composer [[Jeanine Tesori]] (''[[Caroline, or Change]]''); veteran director [[George C. Wolfe]] was at the helm. Streep starred alongside Kevin Kline and [[Austin Pendleton]] in this three-and-a-half-hour play in which she sang and appeared in almost every scene.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

Also in 2006, Streep, along with [[Lily Tomlin]], portrayed the last two members of what was once a popular family [[country music]] act in [[Robert Altman]]'s final film ''[[A Prairie Home Companion (film)|A Prairie Home Companion]]''. A comedic [[ensemble cast|ensemble piece]] featuring [[Tommy Lee Jones]], [[Kevin Kline]] and [[Woody Harrelson]], the film revolves around the behind-the-scenes activities at the long-running [[A Prairie Home Companion|public radio show of the same name]]. The film grossed more than US$26 million, the majority of which came from domestic markets.<ref>{{cite web|title=''A Prairie Home Companion'' (2006)|url=http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=prairiehomecompanion.htm|publisher=Box Office Mojo|accessdate=February 10, 2010}}</ref> Commercially, Streep fared better with a role in ''[[The Devil Wears Prada (film)|The Devil Wears Prada]]'' (2006), a loose [[film adaptation|screen adaptation]] of [[Lauren Weisberger]]'s 2003 [[The Devil Wears Prada (novel)|novel of the same name]]. Streep portrayed the powerful and demanding [[Miranda Priestly]], [[Fashion journalism|fashion magazine editor]] (and boss of a recent college graduate played by [[Anne Hathaway]]), and her performance drew rave reviews from critics and earned her many award nominations, including her record-setting 14th Oscar bid, as well as another Golden Globe.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} Upon its commercial release, the film became Streep's biggest commercial success yet, grossing more than US$326.5 million worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|title=''The Devil Wears Prada'' (2006)|url=http://www.the-numbers.com/people/MSTRE.php|publisher=Box Office Mojo|accessdate=February 10, 2010}}</ref>

[[File:ABBA 2008 Av Daniel Åhs.jpg|thumb|left|Streep with her fellow cast and all four members of [[ABBA]] at the Swedish premiere of ''[[Mamma Mia! (film)|Mamma Mia!]]'' in July 2008|400px]]

In 2007, Streep was cast in four films. She portrayed a wealthy university patron in [[Chen Shi-zheng]]'s much-delayed feature drama ''[[Dark Matter (film)|Dark Matter]]'' (2007), a film about a Chinese science graduate student who becomes violent after dealing with academic politics at a U.S. university. Inspired by the events of the 1991 [[University of Iowa shooting]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/23189744/ns/today-entertainment/|title=Streep Film Delayed Because Of Campus Shooting|agency=Associated Press|publisher=[[MSN]]|accessdate=February 17, 2011|date=February 15, 2008}}</ref> and initially scheduled for a 2007 release, producers and investors decided to shelve ''Dark Matter'' out of respect for the [[Virginia Tech massacre]] in April 2007.<ref>{{cite news|first=Dalya|last=Alberge|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article1706612.ece/|title=Campus Massacre Films Face A Ban|work=[[The Times]]|accessdate=February 17, 2011|date=April 26, 2007|location=London}}</ref> The drama received negative to mixed reviews upon its limited 2008 release.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dark_matter/ |title=''Dark Matter'' (2007)|accessdate=April 11, 2008|publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]}}</ref> Streep played a U.S. government official who investigates an Egyptian [[foreign national]] suspected of [[terrorism]] in the political thriller ''[[Rendition (film)|Rendition]]'' (2007), directed by [[Gavin Hood]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Markon|first=Jerry|title=Lawsuit Against CIA Is Dismissed|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/18/AR2006051802107.html|work=[[The Washington Post]]|date=May 19, 2006|accessdate=October 11, 2008}}</ref> Keen to get involved in a thriller film, Streep welcomed the opportunity to star in a film genre for which she was not usually offered scripts and immediately signed on to the project.<ref>{{cite web|title=Meryl Streep Plays With Politics|url=//www.youtube.com/watch?v=nerer1qI-zQ|work=Artisan News Service|publisher=[[YouTube]]|date=November 12, 2007|accessdate=February 19, 2011}}</ref> Upon its release, ''Rendition'' was less commercially successful,<ref>{{cite web|title=''Rendition'' (2007)|url=http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=rendition.htm|publisher=Box Office Mojo|accessdate=February 10, 2010}}</ref> and received mixed reviews.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rendition/|title=''Rendition'' (2007)|accessdate=February 11, 2011|publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]}}</ref>

Also in 2007, Streep had a short role alongside [[Vanessa Redgrave]], [[Glenn Close]] and her eldest daughter [[Mamie Gummer]] in [[Lajos Koltai]]'s drama film ''[[Evening (film)|Evening]]'', based on the 1998 novel of the same name by [[Susan Minot]]. Switching between the present and the past, it tells the story of a bedridden woman, who remembers her tumultuous life in the mid-1950s.<ref name="pe">{{cite web|first=Jay S.|last=Jacobs|url=http://www.popentertainment.com/danesdancygummer.htm|title=Some Enchanted Evening|work=Pop Entertainment|accessdate=February 17, 2011|date=June 27, 2007}}</ref> The film was released to lukewarm reactions by critics, who called it "beautifully filmed, but decidedly dull [and] a colossal waste of a talented cast."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/evening/|title=''Evening'' (2007)|accessdate=February 11, 2011|publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=''Evening'' (2007)|url=http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=evening.htm|publisher=Box Office Mojo|accessdate=February 10, 2010}}</ref> Streep's last film of 2007 was [[Robert Redford]]'s ''[[Lions for Lambs]]'', a film about the connection between a platoon of United States soldiers in [[Afghanistan]], a U.S. senator, a reporter, and a California college professor.

In 2008, Streep found major commercial success when she starred in [[Phyllida Lloyd]]'s ''[[Mamma Mia! (film)|Mamma Mia!]]'', a [[film adaptation]] of the [[Mamma Mia!|musical of the same name]], based on the songs of Swedish [[pop music|pop]] group [[ABBA]]. Co-starring [[Amanda Seyfried]], [[Pierce Brosnan]], [[Stellan Skarsgård]] and [[Colin Firth]], Streep played a single mother and a former girl-group singer, whose daughter (Seyfried), a bride-to-be who never met her father, invites three likely paternal candidates to her wedding on an idyllic Greek island.<ref>{{cite news|title=''Mamma Mia!'' Unfazed By The Fuss In Skopelos|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|date=July 15, 2008|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/artsandculture/2229868/Mamma-Mia---Unfazed-by-the-fuss-in-Skopelos.html|first=Paul|last=Mansfield|accessdate=May 12, 2010|location=London}}</ref> An instant box office success, ''Mamma Mia!'' became Streep's highest-grossing film to date, with box office receipts of US$602.6 million,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mammamia.htm |publisher=[[Box Office Mojo]]|title=''Mamma Mia!'' (2008)|accessdate=February 5, 2009}}</ref> also ranking it first among the highest-grossing musical films for now.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=musical.htm|publisher=[[Box Office Mojo]]|title=Genres: Musical|accessdate=February 5, 2009}}</ref> Nominated for another Golden Globe, Streep's performance was generally well received by critics, with [[Wesley Morris]] of the ''[[Boston Globe]]'' commenting "the greatest actor in American movies has finally become a movie star."<ref>{{cite news|title=Abba-cadabra|work=[[Boston Globe]]|date=July 18, 2008|url=http://www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=10190|first=Wesley|last=Morris|accessdate=February 20, 2011}}</ref>

Streep's other film of 2008 was ''[[Doubt (2008 film)|Doubt]]'' featuring [[Philip Seymour Hoffman]], [[Amy Adams]], and [[Viola Davis]]. A drama revolving around the stern principal nun (Streep) of a [[Bronx]] [[Catholic school]] in 1964 who brings charges of [[pedophilia]] against a popular priest (Hoffman), the film became a moderate box office success,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=doubt.htm|publisher=[[Box Office Mojo]]|title=''Doubt'' (2008)|accessdate=February 5, 2009}}</ref> but was hailed by many critics as one of the best of 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://apps.metacritic.com/film/awards/2008/toptens.shtml|publisher=[[Metacritic]]|title=Film Critic Top Ten List: 2008 Critics' Picks|accessdate=February 21, 2011}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref> The film received five Academy Awards nominations, for its four lead actors and for Shanley's script.<ref name="awards"/>

In 2009, Streep played chef [[Julia Child]] in [[Nora Ephron]]'s ''[[Julie & Julia]]'', co-starring Amy Adams and Stanley Tucci. The first major motion picture based on a blog, it contrasts the life of Child in the early years of her culinary career with the life of young New Yorker [[Julie Powell]] (Adams), who aspires to cook all 524 recipes in Child's cookbook ''[[Mastering the Art of French Cooking]]'' in 365 days, a challenge she described on her popular [[blog]], ''The Julie/Julia Project'', that would make her a published author.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} The same year, Streep also starred in [[Nancy Meyers]]' romantic comedy ''[[It's Complicated (film)|It's Complicated]]'', with [[Alec Baldwin]] and [[Steve Martin]]. She also received nominations for the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress&nbsp;– Motion Picture Musical or Comedy]] for both of these films and won the award for the former.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/year/2009/ |title=Golden Globe Awards 2009|publisher=Hollywood Foreign Press Association |accessdate=September 26, 2010}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref> Streep later received her 16th Oscar nomination for ''Julie & Julia''.<ref>{{cite news | last =Gans  | first = Andrew | title = Academy Award Nominations Announced Feb. 2; "Nine" Receives Four Noms | work = Playbill.com | date = February 2, 2010 | url = http://www.playbill.com/news/article/136504-Academy-Award-Nominations-Announced-Feb-2-Nine-Receives-Four-Noms | accessdate = January 17, 2012}}</ref> She also lent her voice to Mrs. Felicity Fox in the stop-motion film ''[[Fantastic Mr. Fox (film)|Fantastic Mr. Fox]]''.

===2010s===
Streep's first film of the 2010s was [[Phyllida Lloyd]]'s ''[[The Iron Lady (film)|The Iron Lady]]'' (2011), a British [[biographical film]] about [[Margaret Thatcher]], which takes a look at the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] during the [[Falklands War]] and her years in retirement.<ref>{{cite news |first=Tom |last=Peck |title=Meryl Streep takes on her toughest role: the Iron Lady |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/meryl-streep-takes-on-her-toughest-role-the-iron-lady-2016400.html |publisher=[[The Independent]] |date=July 2, 2010 |accessdate=January 26, 2011 |location=London}}</ref> Streep, who sat through a session at the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] to observe  British [[Member of Parliament|MP]]s in action in preparation for her role,<ref>{{cite news|title=Meryl Streep attends parliament for Thatcher research|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/meryl-streep-attends-parliament-for-thatcher-research-2189672.html |work=The Independent |location=UK|date=January 12, 2011|accessdate=February 29, 2012|first=Bang|last=Showbiz}}</ref> called her casting "a daunting and exciting challenge."<ref>{{cite news |title=Image of Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher unveiled |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12393674 |publisher=BBC News |date=February 8, 2011 |accessdate=February 8, 2011}}</ref> While the film had a mixed reception, Streep's performance got rave reviews, earning her Best Actress awards at the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama|Golden Globes]] and the [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role|BAFTAs]] as well as her third win at the [[84th Academy Awards]].<ref>{{cite web|author=|url= http://broadwayworld.com/article/2012-GOLDEN-GLOBES-Are-Tonight-BroadwayWorld-to-Update-Winners-LIVE-20120115 |title=2012 GOLDEN GLOBES Nominees and Winners - Complete List! |publisher=Broadwayworld.com |date=April 13, 2014 |accessdate=April 20, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Perlman |first=Jake |url=http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/02/12/bafta-winners-announced-2/ |title=BAFTA winners announced |publisher=Insidemovies.ew.com |date=February 12, 2012 |accessdate=April 20, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Perlman |first=Jake |url=http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/02/26/2012-oscar-winners/ |title=Oscars winners list: 'The Artist,' Jean Dujardin, and Meryl Streep take home top awards |publisher=Insidemovies.ew.com |date=February 26, 2012 |accessdate=April 20, 2014}}</ref> Former advisers, friends and family of Thatcher criticized Streep's portrayal of her as inaccurate and biased.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/8889476/The-Iron-Lady-Meryl-Streep-is-cashing-in-on-Thatcher-say-friends-of-former-PM.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=Christopher | last=Hope | title=The Iron Lady: Meryl Streep is 'cashing in' on Thatcher, say friends of former PM | date=November 14, 2011}}</ref> The following year, after Thatcher's death, Streep issued a formal statement criticizing Thatcher's "hard-nosed fiscal measures" and "hands-off approach to financial regulation," while praising her "personal strength and grit."<ref>{{cite web|author=|url=http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/04/08/meryl-streep-on-margaret-thatcher/ |title=Meryl Streep on Margaret Thatcher - Speakeasy - WSJ |publisher=Blogs.wsj.com |date=April 8, 2013 |accessdate=April 20, 2014}}</ref>

[[File:Meryl Streep Crop.jpg|thumb|upright|150px|Streep at the [[69th Golden Globe Awards]] in January 2012]] In 2012, Streep reunited with ''Prada'' director [[David Frankel]] on the set of the [[comedy-drama]] film ''[[Hope Springs (2012 film)|Hope Springs]]'', co-starring [[Tommy Lee Jones]] and [[Steve Carell]]. In it, Streep and Jones play a middle-aged couple, who attend a week of intensive marriage counseling to try to bring back the intimacy missing in their relationship.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hollywood Gets Sex Right, For Once: The Surprisingly Honest Hope Springs|url=http://gawker.com/5932701/what-the-surprisingly-honest-hope-springs-gets-right-about-sex|work=[[Gawker]]|date=August 7, 2012|accessdate=October 22, 2012}}{{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref> Reviews for the film were mostly positive, with critics praising the "mesmerizing performances [...] which offer filmgoers some grown-up laughs — and a thoughtful look at mature relationships".<ref>{{cite web|title=Hope Springs (2012)|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hope_springs_2012/|publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|accessdate=October 22, 2012}}</ref>

In 2013, Streep starred alongside [[Julia Roberts]], [[Ewan McGregor]], [[Chris Cooper]], and others in the [[black comedy]] drama ''[[August: Osage County (film)|August: Osage County]]'' about a [[dysfunctional family]] that reunites into the familial house when their patriarch suddenly disappears. Based on [[Tracy Letts]]'s Pulitzer Prize-winning [[August: Osage County|play of the same name]], Streep received positive reviews for her portrayal of the family's strong-willed and contentious matriarch, who is suffering from [[oral cancer]] and addiction to narcotics, and was subsequently nominated for another Golden Globe, SAG, and Academy Award.<ref>{{cite web|title='12 Years a Slave' and 'American Hustle' lead Golden Globe nominees|url=http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/12/12/golden-globe-nominations-2013/|publisher=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=December 12, 2013|accessdate=January 17, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Johnson|first=Zack|title=Screen Actors Guild Awards 2014: Complete List of Nominations|url=http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/12/12/golden-globe-nominations-2013/|publisher=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=December 11, 2013|accessdate=January 17, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Oscars 2014: And the nominees are...|url=http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/01/16/oscars-nominations-academy-awards-2014/|publisher=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=January 16, 2014|accessdate=January 16, 2014}}</ref> At the [[National Board of Review]] Awards in 2013, Streep labeled [[Walt Disney]] (d. 1966) as "anti-semitic" and a "gender bigot."<ref>{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/meryl-streep-slams-walt-disney-as-racist-antisemitic/ |title=Meryl Streep slams Walt Disney as racist, anti-Semitic |publisher=CBS News |date=January 8, 2014 |accessdate=April 20, 2014}}</ref> Former actors, employees and animators who knew Disney during his lifetime rebuffed the comments as misinformed and selective.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/01/10/critics-facts-dont-back-up-meryl-streeps-walt-disney-bashing/ | work=Fox News | title=Critics: Facts don't back up Meryl Streep's Walt Disney bashing | date=January 10, 2014}}</ref> [[The Walt Disney Family Museum]] issued a statement rebuking Streep's allegations indirectly, citing, among others, Disney's contributions to Jewish charities and his published letters stating that women "have the right to expect the same chances for advancement as men."<ref>{{cite web|author=Written by Storyboard |url=http://www.waltdisney.org/content/defense-walt-disney |title=In Defense of Walt Disney &#124; The Walt Disney Family Museum |publisher=Waltdisney.org |date=January 9, 2014 |accessdate=April 20, 2014}}</ref> However, Disney's grandniece, Abigail Disney, wholeheartedly agreed with Streep's statements, stating that he was an "anti-Semite," and "racist" who was also an exemplary filmmaker whose work "made billions of people happy."<ref>{{cite web|author=Ben Beaumont-Thomas |url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/16/abigail-disney-meryl-streep-racism-sexism |title=Disney grandniece backs Meryl Streep on Walt's racism and sexism &#124; Film |publisher=theguardian.com |date=January 16, 2014 |accessdate=April 20, 2014}}</ref>

Streep's first film of 2014 was the [[The Giver (film)|motion picture adaptation]] of the [[young adult]] novel ''[[The Giver]]''.<ref>{{cite web|first=Kevin|last=Jagernauth|title=Meryl Streep Joins YA Adaptation 'The Giver' With Jeff Bridges|url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/meryl-strip-joins-ya-adaptation-the-giver-with-jeff-bridges-20130806|publisher=[[Indiewire]]|date=August 6, 2013|accessdate=August 22, 2013}}</ref> Set in 2048, the social science fiction film tells the story of a post-apocalyptic community without war, pain, suffering, differences or choice, where a young boy is chosen to learn the real world. Streep, who plays the community's leader, was aware of the book before being offered the role by co-star and producer [[Jeff Bridges]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Josh |last=Lasser|title=Meryl Streep talks 'The Giver' and says 'I like to be boss'|url=http://www.hitfix.com/news/meryl-streep-talks-the-giver-and-says-i-like-to-be-boss#uHpiB4ceIz9FdmcI.99 |publisher=Hitflix.com|date=August 12, 2014 |accessdate=December 30, 2014}}</ref> Upon its release, ''The Giver'' was met with generally mixed to negative reviews from critics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-giver|title=''The Giver''|publisher=[[Metacritic]]/[[CBS Interactive]]|accessdate=September 9, 2014}}</ref> The same year, she also had a small role in  the period drama film ''[[The Homesman]]'', Tommy Lee Jones' sophomore directorial effort. Set in the [[History of the United States (1849–65)|1850s midwest]], the film stars [[Hilary Swank]] and Jones as an unusual pair, who helps three women driven to madness by the frontier to get back East. Streep appears not until the end of the film, playing a preacher's wife, who takes the women into care.<ref>{{cite web|title=Meryl Streep & Hilary Swank Team For 'The Homesman'|url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/meryl-streep-hilary-swank-team-for-the-homesman-while-streep-tina-fey-pic-mommy-me-falls-apart-20120927/|publisher=[[Indiewire]]|date=September 27, 2012|accessdate=October 22, 2012}}</ref> ''The Homesman'' premiered at the [[2014 Cannes Film Festival]] where it garnered largely positive reviews from critics.<ref>http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_homesman/?search=the%20homesman accessed 12/14/14</ref>

Her final film of 2014 was the [[Into the Woods (film)|film adaptation]] of the Broadway musical ''[[Into the Woods]]'', directed by [[Rob Marshall]].<ref>{{cite web|title=SCOOP: Meryl Streep to Play the Witch in INTO THE WOODS Film; Arranger David Krane Confirms!|url=http://broadwayworld.com/article/SCOOP-Meryl-Streep-to-Play-the-Witch-in-INTO-THE-WOODS-Film-Arranger-David-Krane-Confirms-20130131|publisher=BroadwayWorld.com|accessdate=January 31, 2013}}</ref> A fantasy genre crossover inspired by the [[Brothers Grimm|Grimm Brothers]]' fairy tales, it centers on a childless couple, who sets out to end a curse placed on them by a vengeful witch, played by Streep.<ref>{{cite web|title=Roxbury Composer's Future: New Town, Working with Meryl Streep as a Witch|url=http://www.countytimes.com/articles/2013/01/31/entertainment/doc510959d3e6ffa160222903.txt|publisher=Litchfield Country Times|accessdate=January 31, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Meryl Streep Will Head Into The Woods With Rob Marshall|url=http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Meryl-Streep-Head-Woods-With-Rob-Marshall-35460.html|publisher=Cinema Blend|accessdate=February 1, 2013}}</ref> This performance earned Streep nominations for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and SAGs.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Labrecque|first1=Jeff|title=Oscars 2015: Full list of nominations|url=http://insidemovies.ew.com/2015/01/15/oscars-2015-nominations/|accessdate=January 15, 2015|work=Entertainment Weekly|date=January 15, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Gray|first1=Tim|title=Golden Globes: ‘Birdman,’ ‘Fargo’ Top Nominations|url=https://variety.com/2014/film/news/golden-globe-nominations-announced-updated-1201376916/|accessdate=January 15, 2015|work=Variety|date=December 11, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Nominees Announced for the 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®|url=http://www.sagawards.org/media-pr/press-releases/nominees-announced-21st-annual-screen-actors-guild-awards%C2%AE|publisher=[[SAG-AFTRA]]|accessdate=January 15, 2015|date=December 10, 2014}}</ref> 

Streep agreed to play [[Emmeline Pankhurst]], a supporting role in the film [[Suffragette (film)|''Suffragette'']], which started shooting during late February 2014.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-meryl-streep-to-play-british-suffragette-emmeline-pankhurst-20140220,0,1712555.story#axzz2uBYdleKR | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Oliver | last=Gettell | title=Meryl Streep to play British suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst | date=February 20, 2014}}</ref> In July 2014, it was confirmed that Streep has agreed to play [[Maria Callas]] in ''[[Master Class]]'' and that she would have reunited with former director [[Mike Nichols]] for this [[HBO]] film, though after the death of Nichols in November, the status of this project is unknown.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.movienewsguide.com/meryl-streep-to-star-in-hbos-master-class/22509|title=Meryl Streep to Star in HBO’s Master Class|work=Movie News Guide|accessdate=November 29, 2014}}</ref> It was also confirmed that Streep will begin shooting in October 2014, ''Ricki and the Flash.'' In the film Streep will play a grocery store checkout lady by day and by night a fading rock musician who has one last chance to reconnect with her estranged family. The film's director will be [[Jonathan Demme]] and the screenwriter attached to this project is [[Diablo Cody]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2014/apr/01/entertainment/la-et-mn-tristar-acquires-meryl-streep-diablo-cody-ricki-and-the-flash-20140401|title=TriStar lands Meryl Streep rocker movie 'Ricki and the Flash'|work=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=November 11, 2014}}</ref> On October 2014, it was confirmed that Streep had agreed to star in a biopic of the famously awful opera singer [[Florence Foster Jenkins]] for director [[Stephen Frears]], which will title: ''Florence''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/22/meryl-streep-hugh-grant-opera-singer-florence-foster-jenkins-biopic|title=Meryl Streep on for biopic of off-key opera singer Florence Foster Jenkins|author=Ben Child|work=the Guardian|accessdate=November 11, 2014}}</ref>

==Acting style and legacy==
Streep is well known for her ability to imitate a wide range of accents,<ref name=tca/> from Danish in ''[[Out of Africa (film)|Out of Africa]]'' (1985) to English [[received pronunciation]] in ''[[Plenty (film)|Plenty]]'' (1985), ''[[The French Lieutenant's Woman (film)|The French Lieutenant's Woman]]'' (1981), and ''[[The Iron Lady (film)|The Iron Lady]]'' (2011), Italian in ''[[The Bridges of Madison County (film)|The Bridges of Madison County]]'' (1995), a Minnesota accent in ''[[A Prairie Home Companion (film)|A Prairie Home Companion]]'' (2006), Irish-American in ''[[Ironweed (film)|Ironweed]]'', and a heavy [[Bronx]] accent in ''[[Doubt (2008 film)|Doubt]]''. After ''[[Evil Angels (film)|A Cry in the Dark]]'' (1988), critics were impressed with her ability to master an Australian accent with shades of New Zealand English.<ref>{{cite news |title=Trial by fury |url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/11/22/1100972318463.html | publisher = [[The Sydney Morning Herald]] | date=November 23, 2004}}</ref>

For her role in the film ''[[Sophie's Choice (film)|Sophie's Choice]]'' (1982), Streep spoke both English and German with a Polish accent, as well as Polish itself.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} In ''The Iron Lady'', she reproduced the vocal style of [[Margaret Thatcher]] from the time before Thatcher became Britain's Prime Minister, and after she had taken elocution lessons to change her pitch, pronunciation, and delivery.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} Despite the accolades awarded to her, Streep has emphasized that adopting accents is an element she simply considers an obvious part of creating a character. When asked whether accents helped her get into character, she responded: "I'm always baffled by this question. How could I play that part and talk like me?"{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} When questioned in [[Belfast]] as to how she reproduces different accents, Streep replied in a perfect Belfast accent: "I listen."<ref>Newsletter (August 20, 2007) [http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/oscar_winner_boosts_new_arts_centre_plan_1_1857735 Oscar winner boosts new arts centre plan]. Johnston Publishing. Retrieved on: December 6, 2011.</ref>

==Other ventures==

===Music===
After Streep appeared in ''[[Mamma Mia! (film)|Mamma Mia!]]'', her rendition of the song "[[Mamma Mia (song)|Mamma Mia]]" rose to popularity in the Portuguese music charts, where it peaked at #8 in October 2008.<ref>{{cite web |title=Portuguese Music Charts|url=http://acharts.us/portugal_singles_top_50/2008/43}}</ref>

At the [[35th People's Choice Awards]], her version of "Mamma Mia" won an award for "Favorite Song From A Soundtrack".<ref>{{cite web |title=People Choice Awards Results |url=http://www.peopleschoice.com/pca/awards/nominees/index.jsp?year=2009 | publisher = [[People's Choice Awards]]}}</ref> In 2008, Streep was nominated for a [[Grammy Award]] (her fifth nomination) for her work on the ''Mamma Mia!'' soundtrack.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

In the questionnaire part of her ''[[Inside the Actor's Studio]]'' episode, she mentioned that if she was not an actress, she would have liked to be a musician.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

===Philanthropy===
Streep is the spokesperson for the National Women's History Museum, to which she has donated a significant amount of money (including her fee for ''The Iron Lady, ''which was $1 million) and hosted numerous events.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nwhm.org/about-nwhm/press/featured-press/meryl-streep/|title=About|publisher=National Women's History Museum|accessdate=January 11, 2012}}</ref>

On October 4, 2012, Streep donated $1 million to [[The Public Theater]] in honor of both its late founder, [[Joseph Papp]], and her friend, the author [[Nora Ephron]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Meryl Streep donates $1M to The Public Theatre|url=http://news.yahoo.com/meryl-streep-donates-1m-public-theatre-163830911.html|publisher=Yahoo News|accessdate=October 6, 2012}}</ref> She also supports [[Gucci]]'s "Chime For Change" campaign that aims to spread female empowerment.<ref>{{cite web|last=Karmali|first=Sarah|title=Beyoncé Leads New Gucci Empowerment Campaign|url=http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2013/02/28/beyonce-knowles-salma-hayek-gucci-chime-for-change-campaign-frida-giannini|work=[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]|date=February 28, 2013|accessdate=April 22, 2013}}</ref>

In 2014, Streep established two scholarships for students at the [[University of Massachusetts Lowell]] - the Meryl Streep Endowed Scholarship for English majors, and the Joan Hertzberg Endowed Scholarship (named for Streep’s former classmate at [[Vassar College]]) for math majors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bostonherald.com/entertainment/movies/movie_news/2014/04/meryl_streep_brings_star_power_to_umass_lowell |title=Meryl Streep brings star power to UMass Lowell |publisher=Boston Herald |date=April 2, 2014 |accessdate=April 20, 2014}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Streep lived with actor [[John Cazale]] for three years until his death in March 1978.<ref>[http://www.kansascity.com/2010/12/01/2487206/john-cazales-brief-brilliant-career.html John Cazale’s brief, brilliant career]{{dead link|date=April 2014}}. KansasCity.com. Retrieved on November 24, 2011.</ref><ref>[http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2010/06/richard-shepard-talks-john-cazale-doc.html "Richard Shepard Talks John Cazale Doc, Plus The Trailer For 'I Knew It Was You' ", The Playlist blog]. Theplaylist.blogspot.com (January 6, 2010). Retrieved on 2011-11-24.</ref> About this, [[Al Pacino]] said: "I've hardly ever seen a person so devoted to someone who is falling away like John was. To see her in that act of love for this man was overwhelming."<ref name=EW>Fretts, Bruce. [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,422759,00.html "Unfortunate Son".] ''Entertainment Weekly''. February 21, 2003.</ref> Streep married sculptor [[Don Gummer]] on September 30, 1978.<ref>[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Hw4gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pmUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1223,438388&dq=meryl+streep+don+gummer&hl=en The Lewiston Daily Sun, October 3, 1978]. News.google.com. Retrieved on November 24, 2011.</ref> They have four children: musician [[Henry Wolfe Gummer|Henry]] (born 1979), actresses [[Mamie Gummer|Mamie]] (born 1983) and [[Grace Gummer|Grace]] (born 1986), and model [[Louisa Gummer|Louisa]] (born 1991).<ref name="filmr"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Osterhout|first=Jacob E.|title=Almost famous: His mom may be an icon, but musician Henry Wolfe is making a name of his own|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/famous-mom-icon-musician-henry-wolfe-making-article-1.144059|publisher=New York Daily News|accessdate=March 27, 2014|date=May 15, 2011}}</ref>

When asked if religion plays a part in her life in 2009, Streep replied: "I follow no doctrine. I don't belong to a church or a temple or a synagogue or an [[ashram]]."<ref>"Movies, Marriage, and Turning Sixty'. ''[[The Independent]]''. January 24, 2009.</ref> In an interview in December 2008, she also alluded to her inability to follow a religion when she said: "So I've always been really, deeply interested, because I think I can understand the solace that's available in the whole construct of religion. But I really don't believe in the power of prayer, or things would have been avoided that have happened, that are awful. So it's a horrible position as an intelligent, emotional, yearning human being to sit outside of the available comfort there. But I just can't go there."<ref name="The Telegraph" />

When asked from where she draws consolation in the face of aging and death, Streep responded: "Consolation? I'm not sure I have it. I have a belief, I guess, in the power of the aggregate human attempt – the best of ourselves. In love and hope and optimism – you know, the magic things that seem inexplicable. Why we are the way we are. I do have a sense of trying to make things better. Where does that come from?"<ref name="The Telegraph">{{cite news|last=Brown|first=Mick|title=Meryl Streep: mother superior|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3563965/Meryl-Streep-mother-superior.html|publisher=The Week|accessdate=December 4, 2008|location=London|date=December 4, 2008}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{{Further|Meryl Streep filmography}}

==Awards and nominations==
{{Further|List of awards and nominations received by Meryl Streep}}

==See also==
* [[List of actors with two or more Academy Awards in acting categories]]

{{Portal bar|Biography|Film|Theatre|Television}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |authorlink=Davi Napoleon |last=Napoleon |first=Davi |date=1991 |title=[[Chelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American Theater]] |location=Ames, Iowa |publisher=Iowa State University Press |isbn=0-8138-1713-7 |oclc=23211514}} Includes discussion of Streep's performance in [[Robert Kalfin]]'s production of ''Happy End'' at the Chelsea Theater and on Broadway.
* {{Cite journal |url=http://www.filmlinc.com/fcm/mj08/streep.htm |title=Finding Herself: The Prime of Meryl Streep |first=Molly |last=Haskell |author-link=Molly Haskell |journal=[[Film Comment]] |date=May–June 2008  |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090309070509/http://www.filmlinc.com/fcm/mj08/streep.htm |archivedate=March 9, 2009 |dead-url=yes}}
* {{cite book |chapter-url=http://books.google.com/books?id=89W0QMDjA7gC&pg=PA71#v=twopage&q&f=false |chapter=Chapter 4: 'Magic Meryl': Meryl Streep |title=The Actress: Hollywood Acting and the Female Star |last=Hollinger |first=Karen |location=New York |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2006 |isbn=0-415-97792-4 |oclc=62281405 |pages=71–100}}

==External links==
{{sisterlinks|commons=category:Meryl Streep|n=no|v=no|voy=no|b=no|q=Meryl Streep|species=no|wikt=no|mw=no|d=Q873|s=no}}
* {{Official website|1=http://www.merylstreeponline.net}}
* {{Amg name|68676}}
* {{Allmusic|class=artist|id=mn0000855529|label=Meryl Streep}}
* {{IBDB name|61324}}
* {{IMDb name|658}}
* {{iobdb|Meryl|Streep}}
* {{tcmdb name|185873}}

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| title = [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress]] 
| years = 1979 
| before = [[Maggie Smith]] 
| after = [[Mary Steenburgen]] 
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{{succession box 
| title = [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] 
| years = 1982 
| before = [[Katharine Hepburn]] 
| after = [[Shirley MacLaine]] 
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| title = [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] 
| years = 2011 
| before = [[Natalie Portman]] 
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{{Navboxes
| title = [[List of awards and nominations received by Meryl Streep|Awards for Meryl Streep]]
| list =
{{Academy Award Best Actress}}
{{AcademyAwardBestSupportingActress 1961-1980}}
{{AFI Life Achievement Award}}
{{AACTA Award Best Actress in a Leading Role}}
{{AACTA International Award for Best Actress}}
{{BAFTA Award for Best Actress 2000-2019}}
{{Silver Bear for Best Actress}}
{{Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress}}
{{Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress}}
{{Prix d'interprétation féminine 1980–1999}}
{{EmmyAward MiniseriesLeadActress 2001-2025}}
{{Lincoln Center Gala Tribute}}
{{GoldenGlobeBestActressMotionPictureDrama 1981–2000}}
{{GoldenGlobeBestActressMotionPictureDrama 2001–2020}}
{{GoldenGlobeBestActressMotionPictureMusicalComedy 2001–2020}}
{{Golden Globe Award Best Supporting Actress Motion Picture}}
{{GoldenGlobeBestActressTVMiniseriesFilm 2000-2019}}
{{Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year}}
{{Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress}}
{{Kennedy Center Honorees 2010s}}
{{London Film Critics Circle Award for Actress of the Year}}
{{Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress}}
{{Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress}}
{{National Board of Review Award for Best Actress}}
{{National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress}}
{{National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress}}
{{National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress}}
{{Satellite Award Best Actress Motion Picture}}
{{Satellite Award Best Actress Television Miniseries or Film}}
{{Satellite Award for Best Cast – Motion Picture}}
{{ScreenActorsGuildAward FemaleLeadMotionPicture 2001–2020}}
{{ScreenActorsGuildAward FemaleTVMiniseriesMovie 1994-2009}}
}}
{{Authority control|VIAF=66485464}}

{{Persondata
| NAME              = Streep, Meryl
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Streep, Mary Louise
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American actress
| DATE OF BIRTH     = June 22, 1949
| PLACE OF BIRTH    = Summit, New Jersey, U.S.
| DATE OF DEATH     = 
| PLACE OF DEATH    = 
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Streep, Meryl}}
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:21st-century American actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from New Jersey]]
[[Category:American film actresses]]
[[Category:American musical theatre actresses]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:American people of German descent]]
[[Category:American people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:American people of Swiss-German descent]]
[[Category:American television actresses]]
[[Category:American voice actresses]]
[[Category:BAFTA winners (people)]]
[[Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:Best Actress BAFTA Award winners]]
[[Category:Best Actress AACTA Award winners]]
[[Category:Best Actress AACTA International Award winners]]
[[Category:Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (film) winners]]
[[Category:Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actress Golden Globe winners]]
[[Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film) winners]]
[[Category:Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (film) winners]]
[[Category:César Award winners]]
[[Category:Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Former Presbyterians]]
[[Category:Kennedy Center honorees]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Obie Award recipients]]
[[Category:Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners]]
[[Category:Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Screen Actors Guild Award winners]]
[[Category:Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners]]
[[Category:People from Bernardsville, New Jersey]]
[[Category:People from Summit, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients]]
[[Category:Silver Bear for Best Actress winners]]
[[Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients]]
[[Category:Vassar College alumni]]
[[Category:Yale School of Drama alumni]]