Meryl Streep - Biography - IMDb Meryl Streep Biography Showing all 194 items Jump to: Overview (3) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trade Mark (3) | Trivia (119) | Personal Quotes (51) | Salary (16) Overview (3) 5' 6" (1.68 m) Mini Bio (1) Considered by many critics to be the greatest living actress, Meryl Streep has been nominated for the Academy Award an astonishing 19 times, and has won it three times. Meryl was born Mary Louise Streep in 1949 in Summit, New Jersey, to Mary Wolf (Wilkinson), a commercial artist, and Harry William Streep, Jr., a pharmaceutical executive. Her father was of German and Swiss-German descent, and her mother had English, Irish, and German ancestry. Meryl's early performing ambitions leaned toward the opera. She became interested in acting while a student at Vassar and upon graduation she enrolled in the Yale School of Drama.

She gave an outstanding performance in her first film role, Julia (1977), and the next year she was nominated for her first Oscar for her role in The Deer Hunter (1978). She went on to win the Academy Award for her performances in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Sophie's Choice (1982), in which she gave a heart-wrenching portrayal of an inmate mother in a Nazi death camp. A perfectionist in her craft and meticulous and painstaking in her preparation for her roles, Meryl turned out a string of highly acclaimed performances over the next decade in great films like Silkwood (1983); Out of Africa (1985); Ironweed (1987); and A Cry in the Dark (1988). Her career declined slightly in the early 1990s as a result of her inability to find suitable parts, but she shot back to the top in 1995 with her performance as Clint Eastwood 's married lover in The Bridges of Madison County (1995) and as the prodigal daughter in Marvin's Room (1996).

In 1998 she made her first venture into the area of producing, and was the executive producer for the moving ...First Do No Harm (1997). A realist when she talks about her future years in film, she remarked that "...no matter what happens, my work will stand..." - IMDb Mini Biography By: Tom McDonough Spouse (1) ( 30 September 1978 - present) (4 children) Trade Mark (3) Known for being a perfectionist when preparing for roles Known for her ability to master almost any accent She frequently plays real-life characters: Julia Child , Ethel Rosenberg , Karen Silkwood , Karen Blixen , 'Roberta Guasppari', 'Lindy Chamberlain', Susan Orlean , and 'Margaret Thatcher'. Trivia (119) In September 1999, named Best Modern Actress in an Entertainment Weekly online poll, substantially beating out runner-up Michelle Pfeiffer . Learned to play the violin, by practicing 6 hours a day for 8 weeks, for her role in Music of the Heart (1999). Has a fear of helicopters.

Listed as one of 12 "Promising New Actors of 1977" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 29. In October 1997, ranked #24 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. Educated at Yale University. Studied Drama. Graduated from Vassar College in 1971. Was romantically involved with actor John Cazale for a 2 years, culminating with his death at age 42 in 1978 from lung cancer. She is very reluctant to discuss the relationship with anyone. The couple had been sharing a loft at 146 Franklin Street in Manhattan's Tribeca district. Graduated from Bernards High School. Before making it big, she was a waitress at The Hotel Somerset in Somerville, New Jersey, USA. Was a cheerleader and homecoming queen in high school. She left her just-claimed Oscar for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) on the back of a toilet during the 1979 festivities. Replaced Madonna for the lead in Music of the Heart (1999).

In 2001, her son, Henry W. Gummer ("Hank") was a student at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. In 2000, named an Officer of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Born at 8:05 a.m. EDT. Tennessee Williams wanted her for a film version of "A Streetcar Named Desire" in the 1980s. When Streep proved unavailable, the project was refashioned for television and the role of Blanche given to Ann-Margret . Has a deviated septum, which she refuses to have fixed. The children's TV series Sesame Street (1969) has featured a character named "Meryl Sheep" in her honor. Was originally supposed to play the role of Iris Hineman is the film Minority Report (2002), but had to back out. She was replaced by Lois Smith . Her character Karen Silkwood from her 1983 film Silkwood (1983) was ranked #47 on the American Film Institute Heroes list of the 100 years of The Greatest Screen Heroes and Villians.

Presented Paul McCartney with the 1990 Grammy Lifetime Achievement award. Attended The Beatles concert at Shea Stadium in 1965 with an "I love Paul" sign, which she mentioned when presenting the award to McCartney. Older sister of Harry Streep and Dana Streep . Spent a year as a transfer student at Dartmouth College where she participated in theater. Originally applied to Law School but slept in on the morning of her interview and took it as a sign she was destined for other things. Sigourney Weaver and Christine Estabrook were fellow classmates at Yale Drama School. Back at the Drama school, she and Sigourney Weaver appeared in a play staged in a swimming pool together. The play was called 'The Frogs.'. May 27, 2004 was proclaimed "Meryl Streep Day" by Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields. [May 2004] She was voted the 37th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. As a young actor, she performed at the Yale Repertory Theater with Christopher Lloyd . According to Katharine Hepburn 's official biographer A.

Scott Berg, Meryl Streep was her least favorite modern actress on screen: "Click, click, click," she said, referring to the wheels turning inside Streep's head. Has only been turned down for four roles: Michelle Straton in American Gigolo (1980), Patsy Cline in Sweet Dreams (1985), Miss Kenton in The Remains of the Day (1993), and Elizabeth I in Elizabeth (1998). She often works with Academy award-winning director Mike Nichols . Mentioned by first name only (with two-time co-star Jack Nicholson ) in Michael Crichton 's 2004 novel "State of Fear.". Tony Nominee in 1976 as Best Actress (Featured Role - Play) for Tennessee Williams ' "27 Wagons Full of Cotton.". Premiere Magazine ranked her as #46 on a list of the Greatest Movie Stars of All Time in their Stars in Our Constellation feature (2005). Took serious singing lessons. At age 12, she studied to become an opera singer. Acting career began on the stage.

Is the second of 4 consecutive winners of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar to have the initials "M.S.". The others are: Maggie Smith - California Suite (1978), Mary Steenburgen - Melvin and Howard (1980), and Maureen Stapleton - Reds (1981). Received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Middlebury College during her nephew's graduation in 2004. She attended Harding Township Middle School, in Harding, New Jersey for 1 or 2 years Sold her New York City townhouse for $9.1 million in February 2006. She was forced to slash the asking price for the eight-bedroom Manhattan property from $12 million to secure a sale. Streep bought the house for $2.2 million in 1995, according to the New York Post. Early in her career, Streep received a letter from Bette Davis , whom most critics and cinema historians rank as the greatest American movie actress ever. Davis told Streep that she felt that she was her successor as the premier American actress.

Davis, a double winner who was nominated 10 times for an Academy Award, all of them Best Actress nods, set the record for most acting nominations with her tenth in 1963 for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), a record later surpassed by Katharine Hepburn with her 11th nomination (and 3rd win) for The Lion in Winter (1968). Hepburn extended her record with her 12th nomination (and fourth win) for On Golden Pond (1981). Her performance as "Sophie Zawistowska" in Sophie's Choice (1982) is ranked #3 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). Her performance as "Karen Silkwood" in Silkwood (1983) is ranked #71 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). Her husband, Don Gummer , is a sculptor. Her father was a drug company exec; her mother, an artist-turned-housewife who kept an art studio behind the house. Her father loved to play the piano and her mother to sing.

Meryl was given singing lessons at a young age. Her mother died in 2001 and her father in 2004. Son Henry Gummer is an actor, filmmaker and co-founder of a rock band. Daughter Mary Willa, whose stage name is Mamie Gummer , is an off-Broadway actress. Friend of Jill Clayburgh . First met in their roles as mothers. The longest she has gone without an Oscar nomination is five years, between Postcards from the Edge (1990) and The Bridges of Madison County (1995). Robert De Niro said she is his favorite actress to work with. Was nominated for Best Actress in 1988 along with Cher . When Cher was announced, just before the cameras cut away from the other four actresses, Streep could be seen springing to her feet in delight and applauding for Cher. During her acceptance speech, Cher thanked Streep personally (addressing her as Mary Louise Streep), as they had worked together on Cher's first film, Silkwood (1983). As the camera briefly cut away to Streep sitting in the audience, she blew Cher a kiss.

Considered for the role of Evita Peron in Evita (1996). Donated her wardrobe from The Devil Wears Prada (2006) to a charity auction. Uses music, most often Classical, to get into character. Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS). Nominated for a 2007 Drama Desk Award for her performance in "Mother Courage and Her Children" (Outstanding Actress in a Play). Daughter of Mary Streep and Harry Streep (a pharmaceutical executive). Her accumulation of 19 Oscar nominations (3 wins) was accomplished over a period of only 36 years. Bette Davis scored 10 nominations (2 wins) over 28 years (all leading roles). Katharine Hepburn garnered 12 nominations (4 wins) after a relatively lengthy 48 years (all leading roles). Occasionally mistaken for friend Glenn Close , Streep was pregnant with her fourth child while shopping in a Los Angeles baby store where the staff lavished her with huge amounts of baby paraphernalia. Just as she was about to leave they whispered, "We loved you in Fatal Attraction (1987)".

Elected to the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2007 for her services to arts and entertainment (inaugural election). Official induction ceremonies held in May 2008. She and her daughter Mamie Gummer portrayed the same role at different ages in Evening (2007). In 2007, she ranked #6 on Entertainment Weekly's 'The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood'. Nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for "The One and Only Shrek" (Best Spoken Word Album For Children). Has said she is a great fan of actor Leonardo DiCaprio . With the announcement of the 66th Annual Golden Globe Award nominations and receiving two nominations, the actress surpassed Jack Lemmon's count of 22 nominations and is now, besides holding the record for most Oscar nominations, the actor with the most Golden Globe nominations of all time with a total of 29 nominations. She was a close friend of late actress Natasha Richardson . She attended Natasha Richardson 's funeral along with husband Don Gummer . Signs cheques with her real name - Mary Louise Gummer. She was ranked #87 on Ellen DeGeneres ' most sexy movie actors list.

(2009). She was awarded honorary Princeton degree in June 2009. She gained as much as 15 pounds while filming the Julie & Julia (2009) movie. Her fans call themselves "Streepers". In the stage show of Fame, though other actors are mentioned in song lyrics, she is the only actress to have her name in a song title. The song is called "Think of Meryl Streep" and takes place after Carmen kisses Nick when he asks her how she relaxes, and Serena (who wants Nick for herself) sees them. Studied acting with Michael Howard in New York City. Through the television series Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates Jr. (2010), she learned that she is a distant relative of director Mike Nichols . Lives in New York City and Salisbury, Connecticut. She presented leadership award to ex-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt on March 2010. Landed the breakthrough role of Linda in The Deer Hunter (1978) after Robert De Niro had seen her playing Dunyasha in Anton Chekhov 's "The Cherry Orchard" at Manhattan's Lincoln Center (1977).

Streep had been playing opposite Irene Worth , Raul Julia and Mary Beth Hurt . On her 60th birthday, her husband brought her a toaster and one of her daughters brought her a rocking chair. Despite having to work until late on the day, her children cooked her a birthday meal when she returned. Attended Emily Blunt and John Krasinski 's wedding with her husband, Don Gummer . Kept the sunglasses she wore in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and used them again during the "Money Money Money" sequence in Mamma Mia! (2008). As of 2015 she is still the most Oscar-nominated actress with 19 nominations. She was awarded the 2010 National Medal of the Arts for her services to drama. Recipient of the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors, along with Barbara Cook , Neil Diamond , Yo-Yo Ma , and Sonny Rollins . Was considered for the part of Ellen Ripley in Alien (1979).

Is one of only four thespians to be nominated for acting honors by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences over five decades - 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s. Along with Laurence Olivier (1930s-1970s), Paul Newman (1950s, 1960s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s) and Katherine Hepburn (1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1980s). Referenced in "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Your Horoscope for Today". Claimed to have had a photographic memory when she was younger, which allowed her to memorize her lines after one reading. Spokesperson for the Center for Reproductive Rights' Draw the Line campaign. The Center for Reproductive Rights is a global legal organization dedicated to advancing women's reproductive health, self-determination and dignity as basic human rights.

Gave birth to her 1st child at age 30, a son Henry Wolfe Gummer (aka Henry Gummer ) on November 13, 1979. Child's father is her husband, Don Gummer . Gave birth to her 2nd child at age 34, a daughter Mary Willa Gummer (aka Mamie Gummer ) on August 3, 1983. Child's father is her husband, Don Gummer . Gave birth to her 3rd child at age 36, a daughter Grace Jane Gummer (aka Grace Gummer ) on May 9, 1986. Child's father is her husband, Don Gummer . Gave birth to her 4th child at age 41, a daughter Louisa Jacobson Gummer on June 12, 1991. Child's father is her husband, Don Gummer . As of 2015, she has the most Academy award nominations. In 2013, she presented the Best Actor Oscar to Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln (2012).

The previous year, she had received her third Oscar (second for Best Actress) for The Iron Lady (2011), and she give Lewis his third Best Actor Oscar. Both won their third Oscar for playing a Head of Government of a different nationality: Streep was an American actress playing a British Prime Minister, while Day-Lewis is a British actor playing an American President. In addition, Day-Lewis was not the only actor playing Abraham Lincoln that year. The part was played in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012) by Benjamin Walker , who was married to Streep's daughter Mamie Gummer . Was a finalist for the role of Ellen Ripley in Alien (1979), but the part went to good friend and classmate Sigourney Weaver instead. However, Streep later got to make her own contribution to the character. Many of the special effects for Alien 3 (1992) were created in England, after the cast; including Weaver; had returned home to the U.S.

The filmmakers needed a prosthetic cast of Ripley's head for some shots, so rather than call back Weaver, they used an available cast of Streep that had been made for a previous project and was still floating around the studio. Her father was of German and Swiss-German descent, and his patrilineal ancestors had originally been surnamed "Streeb". Her mother had English, German, Irish, Scots-Irish (Northern Irish), and remote French, ancestry, and was descended from early settlers in Pennsylvania. One of Meryl's maternal great-grandmothers, Mary Agnes McFadden, was born in Ireland. Acting mentors were Jean Arthur and Joseph Papp . London, UK: To begin promoting the film, The Iron Lady (2011). [November 2011] As of 2014, has appeared in five films that nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Julia (1977), The Deer Hunter (1978), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Out of Africa (1985), The Hours (2002). Winners in the category are The Deer Hunter (1978), Kramer vs.

Kramer (1979), Out of Africa (1985). Is one of 6 actresses to have been pregnant at the time of winning the Academy Award; the others are Eva Marie Saint , Patricia Neal , Catherine Zeta-Jones , Rachel Weisz and Natalie Portman . Neal is the only to have not accepted her award in person as a result of her pregnancy. Streep was 5 months pregnant with her daughter Mamie Gummer when she won the Best Actress Oscar for Sophie's Choice (1982). Was the 82nd actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) at The 52nd Annual Academy Awards (1980) on April 14, 1980. In 2013, David Letterman revealed that the director Harmony Korine had been banned from appearing on Letterman's show during the late 1990s when Letterman personally caught Korine rifling through Meryl Streep's purse in a dressing room. Streep and Korine had both been scheduled to appear on Letterman's show that night, but only Streep did.

According to biographer Diana Maychick when companion John Cazale was too weak to read the newspapers, Streep read the paper to him imitating well-known broadcaster Warner Wolf's voice. Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama 24 November 2014. Meryl Streep sings in Silkwood (1983), Heartburn (1986), and Postcards from the Edge (1990), all of which were directed by Mike Nichols . Donated her entire salary for The Iron Lady (2011) to the Women's History Museum. Ever since her first Oscar nomination, 63 actresses have been one of her four co-nominees in the same category, spanning an age gap of 81 years (five generations) from Katharine Hepburn to Emma Stone . Among them, 11 actresses were co-nominated twice: Cate Blanchett , Debra Winger , Helen Mirren , Jane Alexander , Jessica Lange , Judi Dench , Julianne Moore , Kate Winslet , Kathy Bates , Sandra Bullock and Winona Ryder .

So far, Meryl Streep 's greatest rival, with 3 Oscar co-nominations, is still Glenn Close . Is a democrat. Her role in Music of the Heart (1999) is the only performance for which Wes Craven directed an actor to an Oscar nomination. Is one of 13 actresses who won their Best Supporting Actress Oscars in a movie that also won the Best Picture Oscar (she won for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)). The others are Hattie McDaniel for Gone with the Wind (1939), Teresa Wright for Mrs.

Miniver (1942), Celeste Holm for Gentleman's Agreement (1947), Mercedes McCambridge for All the King's Men (1949), Donna Reed for From Here to Eternity (1953), Eva Marie Saint for On the Waterfront (1954), Rita Moreno for West Side Story (1961), Juliette Binoche for The English Patient (1996), Judi Dench for Shakespeare in Love (1998), Jennifer Connelly for A Beautiful Mind (2001), Catherine Zeta-Jones for Chicago (2002) and Lupita Nyong'o for 12 Years a Slave (2013). She won an Oscar for playing Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (2011), making her one of 18 actors to win the Award for playing a real person who was still alive at the evening of the Award ceremony (as of 2015). The other sixteen actors and their respective performances are: Spencer Tracy for playing Father Edward Flanagan in Boys Town (1938), Gary Cooper for playing Alvin C.

York in Sergeant York (1941), Patty Duke for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (1962), Jason Robards for playing Ben Bradlee in All the President's Men (1976), Robert De Niro for playing Jake La Motta in Raging Bull (1980), Sissy Spacek for playing Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)_, Jeremy Irons for playing Claus Von Bullow in Reversal of Fortune (1990), Susan Sarandon for playing Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking (1995), Geoffrey Rush for playing David Helfgott in Shine (1996), Julia Roberts for playing Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich (2000), Jennifer Connelly for playing Alicia Nash in A Beautiful Mind (2001), Jim Broadbent for playing John Bayley in Iris (2001), Helen Mirren for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006), Sandra Bullock for playing Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side (2009), Melissa Leo for playing Alice Eklund-Ward in The Fighter (2010), Christian Bale for

 playing Dickie Eklund in The Fighter (2010) and Eddie Redmayne for playing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything (2014).

President of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in 2016. Her daughter, Grace Gummer , stars as Nora Ephron in Good Girls Revolt (2015). Streep starred in three films written by Ephron: Silkwood (1983), Heartburn (1986) and Julie & Julia (2009). Campaigned for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Presidential Election. Personal Quotes (51) [ Entertainment Tonight (1981)] I had it (smoking), it stinks. [in 1978] I'm looking forward to bigger parts in the future, but I'm not doing soft-core scripts where the character emerges in half-light, half-dressed. [on her Lifetime Achievement Award from the AFI] I don't want to spit in the eye of good fortune, but it was weird. I felt like I'd butted in line in front of Lucille Ball , Audrey Hepburn , Katharine Hepburn . Hello? How did this happen? I was only the sixth woman to receive it, but they found 26 men to give it to. I thought that was embarrassing.

[on her view of acting back in college] I thought it was really fun, you've got to understand, but I didn't think it was a serious way to conduct your life. You know, I had a sense of mission. I was a true child of the '60s. I love doing comedy, but people just don't give me enough of a chance. It's one of the reasons I enjoy The Manchurian Candidate (2004) so much. It's because I actually get a chance to be funny. Let's face it, we were all once 3-year-olds who stood in the middle of the living room and everybody thought we were so adorable. Only some of us grow up and get paid for it. [accepting an Emmy for Angels in America (2003)] You know, there are some days when I myself think I'm overrated, but not today. Someone once said that sometimes studio heads don't want to cast films with the image of their first wife in the role. It's just rather unpleasant for them. So they like the idea of the new one. [on her role in The Manchurian Candidate (2004)] I loved being someone so certain.

Because certainty is just so attractive in people. To me, it's a completely bogus position - for me. Because, you know, I'm listening to every side. But it's so nice not to have to listen to all the different sides. To be so clear and on your track and sure. It's a fabulous thing. Unfortunately, it leads to fanaticism. I think I was wired for family. You know how they say people are wired for religion, or wired for this or that? I always knew I would like to, if I could find the right person, have a family. I can't imagine living single. I get nervous calling myself an artist. I feel I'm more like an interpreter or a violinist, you know. [on winning the 1983 Best Actress Oscar for Sophie's Choice (1982)] Oh boy, no matter how much you try to imagine what this is like, it's just so incredibly thrilling right down your toes. But ... in my own experience of male and female directors, people have a much, much harder time taking a direct command from a woman. It's somehow very difficult for people.

I mean, come on; when you have people writing these things, that you're the greatest thing that ever ate scenery, you're dead. You're fucking dead. How can you even presume to begin a new character? It's a killer. It's a lesson I learned in drama school: the teacher asks, how do you be the queen? And everybody says, 'Oh it's about posture and authority.' And they said, no, it's about how the air in the room shifts when you walk in. And that's everyone else's work. I really, really depend on the other actors for the confirmation of who I think I am," she says. "And so it's important to me to work with good people that are not worried about how they look. You know. Real actors. They're your blood. [part of Emmy acceptance speech for Angels in America (2003)] Glenn Close is my friend so I know she'll forgive me, Helen Mirren is an acting god, and no one has put a better performance on film than Judy Davis in Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001). The only one in the group is Emma Thompson , who will hold a grudge for the rest of her life.

But who cares? [accepting the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical 2007] "I think I've worked with everyone in the room! I have!" [on her struggles as an actress earlier in her career] It's hard to negotiate the present landscape with a brain and a female body. [on winning a Golden Globe for Adaptation. (2002)]. I've been nominated 789 times and I was getting settled over there for a long winter's nap....I didn't have anything prepared because it's been since the Pleistocene Era that I won anything. It would be nice to have a woman President. I think half the Senate should be women, half of Parliament, half the ruling mullahs. But that will never happen, darling! [on Dustin Hoffman ] He's energized and the greatest combination of the generous and the selfish that ever lived. He wants to be the greatest actor who ever was. I try to lead as ordinary a life as I can. You can't get spoiled if you do your own ironing. I don't know what I'd do without my husband. I'd be dead, emotionally at least, if I hadn't met him.

He's the greatest. Listening is everything. Listening is the whole deal. That's what I think. And I mean that in terms of before you work, after you work, in between work, with your children, with your husband, with your friends, with your mother, with your father. It's everything. And it's where you learn everything. [on her marriage] There's no road map on how to raise a family: it's always an enormous negotiation. But I have a holistic need to work and to have huge ties of love in my life. I can't imagine eschewing one for the other. [on life as a young actress] When I was 20 I busked to afford accommodation. One night I hadn't earned enough, I actually slept in the open in Green Park [in London]. The view was of the Ritz Hotel and I vowed I'd stay there one day. And I have. I hate the [Oscar] campaigning thing. It's unseemly. You should be honored for something. It shouldn't be for whose campaign was better. [February 2009 about her appearance] My daughters had helped me to stop worrying about my appearance over the years.

I wasted so many years thinking I wasn't pretty enough and why didn't I have Jessica Lange 's body or someone else's legs? What a waste of time. [in 2009] I've been nominated for an Oscar 15 times and won twice, but it still feels like it's happening to someone else. I wish I could feel it more. [on Natasha Richardson 's tragic death] Tash was the warm sun in the center of a large constellation of family, friends, all of those lucky enough to know her - she is irreplaceable in our lives; she gave us so much, so generously - her legacy is the love that connects us all. If you've been married for a long time you love without looking. My greatest culinary triumph was when I was falling in love with my husband. We were on the coast of Maine in a cabin and I made an apple pie...just whipped it up, without a recipe or anything..just the perfect pastry. I've never been able to do it again - and he asks for it often! Turning 60 was important to everyone else.

It was a big number, to me it was, 'Well yeah, that comes after 59', and I don't even want to look it in the eye. [on portraying Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (2011)] The prospect of exploring the swathe cut through history by this remarkable woman is a daunting and exciting challenge. I am trying to approach the role with as much zeal, fervor and attention to detail as the real Lady Thatcher possesses - I can only hope my stamina will begin to approach her own. [1994, on if she's bothered when one of her films don't do well at the box-office] I'm horribly disappointed when people don't see what I consider some of my best work. Yeah, I'm very sad. But I know that I have a video life. Most of my fans are home with their children waiting for my films to come out on video. But I'm disappointed because certain things should be seen on the big screen. I was very proud of A Cry in the Dark (1988), but it wasn't distributed widely enough for people to have seen it on the big screen.

[1994, on career choices] What affects your career choices are the three interesting scripts you get in a year, two of which you're wrong for, one you think you might want to do if you're real lucky. You can't possibly plot what's going to be available, what's going to be written, who's going to think of it, and if it will come to you or not. [2008] One of the most important keys to acting is curiosity. I am curious to the point of being nosy. What that means is you want to devour lives. You're eager to put on their shoes and wear their clothes and have them become a part of you. All people contain mystery, and when you act, you want to plumb that mystery until everything is known to you. [on The Iron Lady (2011)] It was one of those rare, rare films where I was grateful to be an actor and grateful for the privilege of being able to look at a life deeply with empathy. It took a lot out of me, but it was a privilege to play her ( Margaret Thatcher ), it really was. I still don't agree with a lot of her policies.

But I feel she believed in them and that they came from an honest conviction, and that she wasn't a cosmetic politician just changing make-up to suit the times. [on Margaret Thatcher ] We on the Left didn't like her policies but secretly we were thrilled that a woman had made it, and we thought, "Wow, if it can happen there in England, it could happen here." But we're still waiting in America. [on Margaret Thatcher ] She's still an incredibly divisive figure, but you miss her clarity today. It was all very clear and up front, and I loved that eagerness to mix it up and to make it about ideas. Today it's all about feelings. You know, "How do I come off?" and, "Does this seem OK?" You want people who are willing to find a solution. I admire the fact that she was a "love-me-or-hate-me" kind of leader who said: "This is what I stand for." It's a hard thing to do and no one's doing that now. [on what appealed to her about playing Margaret Thatcher] Women and power, and diminishment of power, and loss of power.

And reconciliation with your life where you come to a point where you've lived most of it, and it's behind you. I have always liked and been intrigued by older people and the idea that behind them lives every human trauma, drama, glory, jokes, love. [on Margaret Thatcher ] I consider all the roles I play a privilege but this one was special because there are such vehement opinions about her. People seemed to look at her as an icon or a monster and I just wanted to locate the human being inside those caricatures that we've seen over so many years. And to investigate myself what it must have been like for her. [responding to those who have criticized the emphasis placed on Margaret Thatcher's frail and confused old age] Some people have said it's shameful to portray this part of a life. But the corollary of that is that, if you think that debility, delicacy, dementia are shameful, if you think that the ebbing of a life is something that should be shut away, if you think that people need to be defended from these images then - yes - then you'll think it's a shameful thing. I was never engaged to John Cazale . We lived together for three years until he died of bone cancer.

[on avoiding cosmetic surgery] I really understand the chagrin that accompanies aging, especially for a woman, but I think people look funny when they freeze their faces. In Los Angeles there's a lot of that. I pick up on the part that doesn't move on a face. I'm immediately drawn to it and that is the opposite of what you're intending. You pull focus on the area that's been worked on. I gotta thank everybody in England that let me come and trample over their history. [on her college life] A kid who had read only seven books in high school and was now face-to-face with class valedictorians and full time intellectuals, girls whose idea of a Saturday night was an extra chunk of free time to conduct a biology experiment. I'm curious about other people. That's the essence of my acting. I'm interested in what it would be like to be you. [her Cecil B. DeMille Award acceptance speech] Please sit down. Thank you. I love you all. You'll have to forgive me. I've lost my voice in screaming and lamentation this weekend. And I have lost my mind sometime earlier this year, so I have to read. Thank you, Hollywood Foreign Press.

Just to pick up on what Hugh Laurie said: You and all of us in this room really belong to the most vilified segments in American society right now. Think about it: Hollywood, foreigners and the press. But who are we, and what is Hollywood anyway? It's just a bunch of people from other places. I was born and raised and educated in the public schools of New Jersey. Viola was born in a sharecropper's cabin in South Carolina, came up in Central Falls, Rhode Island; Sarah Paulson was born in Florida, raised by a single mom in Brooklyn. Sarah Jessica Parker was one of seven or eight kids in Ohio. Amy Adams was born in Vicenza, Italy. And Natalie Portman was born in Jerusalem. Where are their birth certificates? And the beautiful Ruth Negga was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, raised in London no, in Ireland I do believe, and she's here nominated for playing a girl in small-town from Virginia. Ryan Gosling, like all of the nicest people, is Canadian, and Dev Patel was born in Kenya, raised in London, and is here playing an Indian raised in Tasmania. So, Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners.

And if we kick them all out you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts. They gave me three seconds to say this, so: An actor's only job is to enter the lives of people who are different from us, and let you feel what that feels like. And there were many, many, many powerful performances this year that did exactly that. Breathtaking, compassionate work. But there was one performance this year that stunned me. It sank its hooks in my heart. Not because it was good; there was nothing good about it. But it was effective and it did its job. It made its intended audience laugh, and show their teeth. It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter. Someone he outranked in privilege, power and the capacity to fight back. It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can't get it out of my head, because it wasn't in a movie. It was real life.

And this instinct to humiliate, when it's modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody's life, because it kinda gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence. And when the powerful use their position to bully others we all lose. OK., this brings me to the press. We need the principled press to hold power to account, to call him on the carpet for every outrage. That's why our founders enshrined the press and its freedoms in our Constitution. So, I only ask the famously well-heeled Hollywood Foreign Press and all of us in our community to join me in supporting the Committee to Protect Journalists, because we're gonna need them going forward, and they'll need us to safeguard the truth. One more thing: Once, when I was standing around on the set one day, whining about something - you know we were gonna work through supper or the long hours or whatever, Tommy Lee Jones said to me, "Isn't it such a privilege, Meryl, just to be an actor?" Yeah, it is, and we have to remind each other of the privilege and the responsibility of the act of empathy.

We should all be proud of the work Hollywood honors here tonight. As my friend, the dear departed Princess Leia, said to me once, take your broken heart, make it into art. Salary (16) Meryl Streep - Photo 2 - Pictures - CBS News Meryl Streep Next HOLLYWOOD, CA - FEBRUARY 26: Actress Meryl Streep, winner of the Best Actress Award for 'The Iron Lady,' poses in the press room at the 84th Annual Academy Awards held at the Hollywood & Highland Center on February 26, 2012 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Credit: Jason Merritt Meryl Streep earned a best actress nomination in January 2012 for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady." This marks her 17th nomination. Throughout Oscar history, Streep previously received 16 nods and has only won two awards.

She has already won the best actress - drama Golden Globe award this year for "The Iron Lady." Credit: The Weinstein Company Meryl Streep poses with the award for best actress in a motion picture, comedy or musical for "Julie and Julia" backstage at the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Credit: AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill Meryl Streep arrives at the premiere of "Doubt" during the AFI Fest 2008 opening night gala in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008. Considered by many in the movie industry to be the greatest living film actress, Streep has been nominated for the Academy Award an astonishing 15 times (including for "Doubt"), and has won it twice. Credit: AP Photo/Matt Sayles Meryl Streep pauses for interviews as she arrives for the 1995 premiere of her film, "The Bridges of Madison County," in Burbank, Calif. Streep, who plays the wife of an Iowa farmer, received an Oscar nomination for her performance.

Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Vince Bucci Although Meryl Streep, seen here top right, did not win the Best Actress award for "The Bridges of Madison County" at the 1996 Oscars, the actress still has plenty of awards on her mantle -- including the two Academy Awards she won for her work in "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Sophie's Choice." Credit: GETTY IMAGES Meryl Streep poses for photographers as she receives a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood on Sept. 16, 1998. She holds the record for the most Academy Award nominations of any actor, having received 13 since her first for "The Deer Hunter" in 1979. Credit: GETTY IMAGES Meryl Streep walks the red carpet before the 71st Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles on March 21, 1999. Streep was nominated for Best Actress for her performance in "One True Thing." Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Vince Bucci Meryl Streep stands with Robert DeNiro and director Martin Scorsese at the launch of the first annual Tribeca Film Festival in New York city on Dec.

6, 2001. The festival, founded by DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal, was created to help revitalize lower Manhattan after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Darren McCollester Co-stars Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman pose for a photograph at premiere of their film "The Hours" in Westwood, Calif., on Dec. 18, 2002. The film is about three different women living in different time periods, and their connection to the book "Mrs. Dalloway." Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Robert Mora Meryl Streep poses with the Golden Globe award she won for her performance in the television series "Angels in America" in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 25, 2004. After receiving the award, Streep later told the press, "There are some days when even I think I'm overrated -- but not today!" Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Kevin Winter Meryl Streep turns the camera on photographers before the 32nd Annual AFI Lifetime Achievement Awards in Hollywood, Calif., on June 10, 2004.

Streep was given the Lifetime Achievement award. Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Kevin Winter Meryl Streep poses with co-stars Liam Aiken and Emily Browning at a screening of "Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events" in New York on Dec. 13, 2004. In the film, Streep plays Aunt Josephine, a woman who is afraid of just about everything -- including realtors. Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Peter Kramer Actress Meryl Streep, right, arrives with her daughter Grace Gummer to the premiere of "A Prairie Home Companion" at the Directors Guild of America theatre, Sunday, June 4, 2006, in New York. Streep and husband Don Gummer have four children, including Mamie Gummer, who is also an actress. Credit: AP Members of the cast of "The Devil Wears Prada," left to right, Stanley Tucci, Meryl Streep, Adrian Grenier, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Daniel Sunjata pose for photographers at the premiere of the film in New York on June 19, 2006.

Streep plays the "Devil" herself -- a mean editor at a fashion magazine. Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Evan Agostini Two-time Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep, who was voted the 37th Greatest Movie Star of all-time by Entertainment Weekly, arrives with her husband Don Gummer for the Whitney Gala at the Whitney Museum of American Art Monday, Oct. 22, 2007, in New York. Credit: AP Photo Two-time Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep attends the premiere of New Line Cinema's "Rendition" at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Oct. 10, 2007, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Credit: GETTY Actress Meryl Streep arrives at the 35th Annual Lincoln Center Film Society Tribute where she was honored on Monday, April 14, 2008, in New York. Credit: AP Photo Actress Meryl Streep poses during a photo opportunity for the movie Mama Mia at the Lagonissi Grand Resort, south of Athens, Greece, on Saturday, June 28, 2008.

Credit: AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis Meryl Streep gestures as she poses during a press conference at the 56th San Sebastian Film Festival in San Sebastian, northern Spain, Friday, Sept. 26, 2008. Credit: AP Actress Meryl Streep attends a premiere for "Doubt" at the Paris Theatre on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008, in New York. Steep is nominated for an Oscar for her role. The movie is based on an award-winning Broadway play. Credit: AP Photo Actress Meryl Streep waves during a promotion of the movie "Mamma Mia!" in Tokyo, Japan, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009. Credit: AP Meryl Streep Wins Best Actress: 2012 Oscars - YouTube Meryl Streep Wins Best Actress: 2012 Oscars Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Uploaded on Feb 26, 2012 Colin Firth presenting Meryl Streep with the Oscar® for Best Actress for her performance in The Iron Lady at the 84th Academy Awards. See more 2012 Oscar highlights: Become an Oscar Insider: Check out our Academy Originals: ABOUT THE ACADEMY The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world's preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards—in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners—the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies.

Category Meryl Streep Is Queen of the Oscars: See Her Through the Years - Us Weekly By Allison Takeda Meryl Streep has received a record 19 Oscar nominations in the last 37 years -- and she shows no signs of slowing down! Check out her many red carpet appearances at the Academy Awards from 1979 to 2014 Credit: Steve Granitz/WireImage When it comes to the Oscars, it's Meryl Streep 's world and everyone else is just living in it. The Into the Woods star (who's nominated again at the 2015 Academy Awards) has earned 19 acting nominations in the last 37 years, more than any other actor or actress in the history of the show. At this point, if she's in a movie, it's more newsworthy when she doesn't get a nomination than when she does. Of those 19 nominations, 15 have been for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and four for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Somewhat surprisingly, she has just three wins: for Kramer vs.

Kramer in 1980, Sophie's Choice in 1983, and The Iron Lady in 2012 (above). PHOTOS: Oscars' most unforgettable moments Win or lose, though, Ms. Streep is always a welcome sight on the red carpet. No doubt she'll charm again on Sunday, Feb. 22, at the 2015 Academy Awards, but in the meantime, check out some of her many Oscars appearances from 1979 to now! 1979: The Vassar College and Yale School of Drama alum made her debut at the Oscars at age 29, when she was nominated for her supporting role in The Deer Hunter, which racked up five wins, including Best Picture and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (for Christopher Walken). Her date for the evening was her husband, sculptor Don Gummer, whom she had married just six months earlier. Over 35 years later, the spouses share four kids, singer Henry Wolfe, 35; actresses Mamie, 31, and Grace, 28; and model Louisa, 23.

Meryl Streep and husband Don Gummer at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for the Academy Awards in 1979. Ron Galella/WireImage 1980: The 1980 Academy Awards were all about Kramer vs. Kramer. Both Streep and costar Dustin Hoffman earned acting trophies, and the divorce drama itself won Best Picture (among other things). Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman in 1980. Getty Images PHOTOS: Oscar stars' most embarrassing roles 1983: Streep's second win came just three years after her first, for the holocaust tearjerker Sophie's Choice. She beat out Frances star Jessica Lange in the Best Actress in a Leading Role category — but Lange ended up winning in the Supporting Role category for Tootsie. Jessica Lange wins Best Supporting Actress for Toosie alongside Meryl Streep who won Best Actress for Sophie's Choice in 1983. ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images 1989: Between 1979 and 1989, Streep was nominated every year except 1981, 1985, and 1987.

She was nominated in 1989 for her role in A Cry in the Dark ("A dingo's got my baby!"), but lost to The Accused actress Jodie Foster. Meryl Streep and Don Gummer during 61st Annual Academy Awards - Governor's Ball in 1989. Barry King/WireImage 1996: After losing the 1991 Oscar to Misery's Kathy Bates, the Postcards From the Edge actress went four years without another nomination — her longest blank stretch to date. She returned as a nominee in 1996, after an acclaimed turn in the romantic drama The Bridges of Madison County. Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, and Meryl Streep in 1996. Barry King/WireImage 1999: The One True Thing star upped the glamour at the 71st Academy Awards, where she lost the best actress Oscar to Shakespeare in Love star Gwyneth Paltrow . Meryl Street at the 71st Annual Academy Awards in 1999.

SGranitz/WireImage 2003: The Adaptation actress wasn't just nominated at the 75th awards show; she also had the honor of presenting the honorary Oscar to the late Lawrence of Arabia star Peter O'Toole, who holds the records for most nominations without a competitive win. Actress Meryl Streep hugs Honorary Oscar winner Irish actor Peter O'Toole during the 75th Academy Awards in 2003. TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images 2007: Streep's memorable turn as the impossibly demanding editor-in-chief of a Vogue-like fashion publication in The Devil Wears Prada earned her yet another lead actress nomination. She lost to The Queen's Helen Mirren. Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman at the 79th Annual Academy Awards. Steve Granitz/WireImage 2010: Streep perfectly channeled famed chef Julia Child in the Amy Adams-costarring Julie & Julia, but it was The Blind Side's Sandra Bullock who took home the Oscar. Meryl Streep arrives at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards in 2010.

Jason Merritt/Getty Images 2014: Streep's most recent nomination was for the ensemble dysfunctional family dramedy August: Osage County, based on Tracy Letts' Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name. It costarred, among others, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dermot Mulroney, Juliette Lewis, and Julia Roberts , who was also nominated for an Oscar. Meryl Streep attends the Oscars held at Hollywood & Highland Center in 2014. Christopher Polk/Getty Images Meryl Streep’s Past Oscar Wins Meryl Streep’s Past Oscar Wins Claudine Zap Coverage of The 84th Annual Academy Awards®• February 27, 2012 More Meryl Streep picked up her third Oscar at the Academy Awards ceremony for her starring role in " The Iron Lady ." The celebrated performer has received no fewer than 17 Oscar nominations, but she hasn't actually won a gold statuette in three decades. News of the star's Oscar win had fans heading to the Web to search out "meryl streep oscars" to find out just which were her Oscar-winning roles.

The celebrated thespian first picked up an Oscar for best-supporting actress in the wrenching family drama, " Kramer vs. Kramer ," in 1979. And the accolades only grew. Streep's ability to pick up an accent, evident in her role as the British prime minister, was first showcased in the movie that won her much acclaim closer to the start of her career: " Sophie's Choice ." The 1982 film, based on the book by William Styron, tells of the character of a Polish Holocaust survivor, played by Streep. For her haunting performance, she received the Academy Award for best actress. Since then, Streep has walked the red carpet and sat in the front row at the Academy Awards multiple times, and left those ceremonies empty-handed. In the past, the multi-talented actress has been nominated in the best actress category for her roles in "Silkwood," "Out of Africa," and "Postcards from the Edge" and "The Bridges of Madison County." Even so, the acting veteran knows that she's not exactly an underdog.

In her acceptance speech for best actress in "The Iron Lady," the actress joked, "When they called my name, I had this feeling I could hear half of America going, 'Oh no ... her again.'" But many may simply have been wondering about her past awards. The 62-year-old has long been a familiar face in films for decades, but as Streep herself pointed out, many fans weren't even conceived when she received her first Oscars. The star finally broke her 30-year losing streak at last night's ceremony. Reblog Oscars 2015: Is Meryl Streep any match for Katharine Hepburn? - Telegraph Oscars Oscars 2015: Is Meryl Streep any match for Katharine Hepburn? Katharine Hepburn or Meryl Streep - which Oscar-winning legend is the greatest?

Two Telegraph writers explain why Hepburn and Streep deserve all the plaudits Meryl Streep could equal Katharine Hepburn's 4 Oscars this weekend if she wins for Into the Woods Photo: Rex Features/Getty Images By Hannah Betts , and Tim Robey 7:05AM GMT 21 Feb 2015 Comments If Meryl Streep is named Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards on Sunday – for her heavily made-up turn as a singing witch in Into the Woods , no less – she will match Katharine Hepburn’s record haul of four Oscars. But which one deserves the title of our greatest actress? KATHARINE HEPBURN by Hannah Betts Anyone who imagines that Katharine Hepburn could ever be eclipsed is – to use Hepburn-esque language – a fool. She was simply awesome, as the thousands currently flocking to the BFI Southbank’s Hepburn season would passionately endorse. Hepburn may have won four Oscars over her 60-year career, but attended the ceremony only once, to present a gong to someone else – a typically Hepburnian gesture.

In 1999, she was named the greatest star in Hollywood history by the American Film Institute, and so she remains. Meryls may come and go, but Kate towers immortal. Related Articles Miriam Margolyes: 'Look, nobody likes Jews...' 21 Feb 2015 A class act as an actor and a human being, Hepburn was a born grafter. When her career took a nose in the late Thirties, she engineered her own triumphant return in The Philadelphia Story (1940), designed to reveal the tender side of her patrician persona. Her on-screen wrangling with her partner of 26 years, Spencer Tracy, introduced a new kind of woman into the world: the “modern woman”, no less – spirited, assertive, proto-feminist. At an age when her peers were going into retirement, she took on epic professional challenges: Shakespeare seasons, performing her own stunts, and the near-death experience that was The African Queen (1951). As an individual, she was no less bold. The public was forced to learn to love her for her bluntness, standoffishness, and boyish style, and love her they did.

Hepburn was the woman who wore the trousers, literally and metaphorically. Even if Streep does win her fourth Oscar, she will not – and could never – come near. HB First screen role The melodrama A Bill of Divorcement (1932). Breakthrough film See above. Variety declared: “She has a vital something that sets her apart from the picture galaxy.” Her performance secured her instant stardom and a contract with RKO. First Oscar nod Morning Glory (1934), the story of a naive young actress’s journey to stardom. Greatest Oscar moment Didn’t pick up her own gongs, only attending in 1974 to present an award to MGM producer Lawrence Weingarten. Flew in the face of convention by winning three of her four Oscars in her sixties and seventies. Should have won for Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Philadelphia Story (1940) and The African Queen (1951), according to BFI curator Hannah McGill. Hepburn herself would have said she deserved a gong for Sidney Lumet’s version of O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1962).

Little girls of all ages would cry: “Jo March in Little Women (1933)”. Most iconic role The Philadelphia Story, the vehicle she devised to win back America’s heart, in which haughty heiress Tracy Lord auditions a pack of admirers while revealing her softer side. Best on-screen chemistry Sparring with real-life love Spencer Tracy, with whom she made nine films, including Woman of the Year (1942) and Adam’s Rib (1949). Greatest scene Her Oscar-winning performance as Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter (1968) – an icon embodied by an icon. Greatest look Looking divine in a virginal white robe as Cary Grant deems her a chill goddess in The Philadelphia Story. That said, as McGill notes: “Her best look was off-screen – slacks, mannish shoes and a big smile – and always utterly elegant nonetheless.” Unlikeliest moment The closing scene of Woman of the Year (1942), rewritten to her immense disapproval to make her character seem submissive to her husband.

Closely followed by turns as an uneducated mountain girl, Chinese peasant, comedic Soviet pilot, and the lead in a musical life of Coco Chanel. Greatest off-screen line On being introduced to Jane Fonda on the set of On Golden Pond (1981), Hepburn declared: “I don’t like you.” Fonda recalled: “It was a terrible moment… someone only a notch below God was damning me.” Most feminist moment Not only did she regularly kick male co-star ass, she played a female aviator, a suffragist (like her mother), dressed in boy-drag and kissed a woman. When a studio had her slacks confiscated in an effort to persuade her into a skirt, she stalked the set in her underwear until they were returned.

Harshest critic Dorothy Parker on Hepburn’s Broadway appearance in The Lake in 1934: “Katharine Hepburn runs the gamut of emotions from A to B.” When Hepburn vied for the role of Scarlett O’Hara, producer David O Selznick remarked: “I can’t see Rhett Butler chasing you for 12 years.” MERYL STREEP by Tim Robey Meryl Streep in Silkwood “‘Meryl Streep was nominated for a Golden Globe’ is a fancy way of saying ‘It’s December’,” quipped some wag on Twitter when her first awards attention for Into the Woods was noted. After 19 Oscar nominations, it’s easy to take Streep for granted: we all know the woman can act. Her genius for it is some kind of given, so much so that she faces an uphill struggle to prove each performance worthy of the latest laurel, rather than merely being an additional instalment of Streep-adulation in generalised form.

Around her nominations for Doubt (in 2008) and Julie & Julia (2009), the talk was all of whether and when Streep would take a third Oscar, adding to her existing trophies for Kramer vs Kramer (1979) and Sophie’s Choice (1982). She deserved a third, many agreed, but maybe not for those. Maybe not even for The Iron Lady (2011), though she got it. These are the standards Streep has set herself, by being one of the few film stars of modern times – Daniel Day-Lewis, Julianne Moore and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman are others – whose stardom feels built on a what-next quality in their acting, a serial flaunting of their formidable technique. Like the shark that has to swim constantly, Streep must keep transforming and outdoing herself, or her star may risk slipping in the firmament. In the UK, we have our dames, Helen Mirren and Judi Dench. Streep is Hollywood’s dame – legendary as the only woman over 60 with the box-office draw to commandeer vehicles and ring the tills.

Something like a Devil Wears Prada can be built around her, but only on the condition it lets her strut her stuff, whip up something next-level, add a vital new portrait to the gallery. Some complain of Streep “doing a Streep”, as if it only required a switch to be flipped. But there’s both wild largesse and minute calibration to her best acting. She can be subtle and monumental, powerhouse and pointillist, all at once. TR First screen role Streep appeared in a terrible wig and way down the bill of Julia (1977), a biopic about Hollywood radical Lillian Hellman, played by Jane Fonda. Most of Streep’s scenes were left on the cutting-room floor. Breakthrough film She played opposite Robert De Niro in the harrowing Vietnam epic, The Deer Hunter (1979). First Oscar nod She received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for The Deer Hunter, but lost out to Maggie Smith (in California Suite). She triumphed the following year, winning Best Supporting Actress for Kramer vs Kramer. Greatest Oscar moment In recent years, Streep – for four decades a hallowed presence at the Academy Awards – has been thanked in other people’s acceptance speeches more times than God.

She namechecked the Lord herself when she won Best Actress for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, saying: “I want to thank God – Harvey Weinstein.” Should have won for Well, take your pick - she’s been nominated a record 19 times: Silkwood (1983), Out of Africa (1985), Bridges of Madison County (1995). However, she was inexplicably overlooked for The Hours (2003), playing a modern-day Mrs Dalloway opposite Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman, who won for her Virginia Woolf. Most iconic role She wowed baby boomers with Sophie’s Choice (1982), about the trauma of Holocaust survival. Generation Y-ers, however, think fondly of her goofy performance in Death Becomes Her (1992), a black comedy about eternal life in which Streep ends up wearing her head back to front. Best on-screen chemistry Supremely comfortable in mid-life romantic comedies, she and Tommy Lee Jones sizzled (eventually) in Hope Springs (2012), about a long-married couple who seek marriage guidance to learn how to be intimate with each other again.

There were sparks between her and Alec Baldwin in It’s Complicated (2009). Greatest scene For all her serious roles, Streep was never more devastating than in the “blue sweater” scene in The Devil Wears Prada, when, as the demanding editor-in-chief of a high-fashion magazine, she delivers a deadly monologue about why the fashion industry is a serious business (“What you don’t know is that that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise, it’s not lapis, it’s actually cerulean…”). Greatest look The midnight grey cloak she wore to standson the Cobb in Lyme Regis, looking out to see, in The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981). That, or her Prada power-dressing in Devil Wears... Unlikeliest moment Her cliff-edge rendition of The Winner Takes It All in Mamma Mia: The Movie (2008) is unexpectedly affecting; she recorded her vocal in one take, too. Take that, Agnetha. Greatest off-screen line

Question: For her performance in which film did Meryl Streep win the Best Actress 'Oscar' earlier this year?
Answer: 'THE IRON LADY'