Meryl Streep

Actor

American actress Meryl Streep (born Mary Louise Streep on June 22, 1949) is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most versatile performers in cinematic history, celebrated for her technical precision and masterly command of dialects. After graduating from Vassar College and the Yale School of Drama, she began her professional career on the New York stage, earning a Tony nomination for 27 Wagons Full of Cotton (1976) before making her feature film debut in Julia (1977). Streep quickly rose to stardom with an Academy Award-winning performance in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and a second win for her harrowing portrayal of a Holocaust survivor in Sophie’s Choice (1982), eventually setting a record for the most Oscar and Golden Globe nominations of any actor in history. Her career has spanned over five decades and multiple genres, from prestige dramas like Out of Africa (1985) and The Iron Lady (2011)—for which she won her third Oscar—to commercial hits like The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and the musical Mamma Mia! (2008).