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Meryl Streep

Actor

Born 1949

Meryl Streep is an American actor born Mary Louise Streep in Summit, New Jersey. She studied at Vassar College and Yale School of Drama before beginning her professional career in New York theatre. Her early Broadway work included Trelawny of the “Wells”, 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, The Cherry Orchard and the musical Happy End. The Deer Hunter established her screen presence and brought her first Academy Award nomination. In Kramer vs. Kramer she played Joanna, a mother whose departure and return set a custody dispute in motion. Sophie’s Choice placed her at the centre of a drama about a Polish survivor of the Holocaust. Out of Africa gave her the role of writer Karen Blixen opposite Robert Redford. The Bridges of Madison County paired her with Clint Eastwood as Francesca Johnson, a woman confronting the possibilities and obligations of an unexpected romance. The Hours connected her contemporary Clarissa Vaughan with women in different periods, played by Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore. Mamma Mia! brought her singing to a popular musical as Donna Sheridan. For Julie & Julia, she linked Julia Child’s optimism to the spirit of her own mother, Mary Streep. Her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady brought another Academy Award. Television work includes the multiple characters of Angels in America, Mary Louise Wright in Big Little Lies and Loretta Durkin in Only Murders in the Building. Career recognition includes an honorary Palme d’Or from Cannes. She returned as editor Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada 2, reuniting with Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci. Netflix also names her among the cast of Greta Gerwig’s forthcoming Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew.

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