Mary Louise Streep, mostly known as Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an Academy Award-winning American actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville and her screen debut came in 1977's made-for-television movie The Deadliest Season. Streep made her film debut in 1977's Julia opposite Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave. Both critical and commercial success came quickly with roles in The Deer Hunter with Robert De Niro and Kramer vs. Kramer with Dustin Hoffman, the former giving Streep her first Oscar nomination and the latter her first win. Streep's work has earned her two Academy Awards, six Golden Globes, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Grammy Award nomination, and a BAFTA award. She is the most nominated actor (both male and female) in Academy Award history with 14 nominations. Streep is widely considered one of the most respected and talented actresses of all time. She is also one of the select actors that has won all three major motion picture acting awards (Oscars, Golden Globes, SAG Awards).
Streep was born Mary Louise Streep in Summit, New Jersey, the daughter of Harry William Streep, Jr., a pharmaceutical executive, and Mary W., a commercial artist. Streep's mother had Swiss, Irish and English ancestry and Streep's father's family was of Dutch descent, with distant Sephardic Jewish ancestors from Spain. She has two younger brothers, Dana and Harry. Streep was raised in Bernardsville, New Jersey, where she attended and graduated from Bernards High School. She received her B.A. in Drama at Vassar College and earned a M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama at Yale University.In her first feature film, Julia (1977), she had a small but pivotal role during a flashback scene. The Deer Hunter (1978) was her second feature film and it earned Streep her first Academy Award nomination, for Best Supporting Actress. The following year, she won an Academy Award for her role opposite Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer (Best Supporting Actress, 1979). In 1982, she would win again for Sophie's Choice (Best Actress, 1982), where she starred alongside Peter MacNicol and Kevin Kline.
In 1978, she won her first Emmy Award, for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie, for the miniseries Holocaust. A year later she appeared in her only Woody Allen film, Manhattan. Streep was engaged to The Deer Hunter co-star John Cazale ("Fredo" in The Godfather) until his death from bone cancer on March 12th, 1978. In September 1978, she married sculptor Don Gummer. They have four children: Henry W. (Hank) (born in 1979), Mary Willa (Mamie)(born in 1983), Grace Jane (born in 1986), and Louisa Jacobson (born in 1991). Mamie Gummer has chosen acting as a career, and made her off-Broadway debut as Lucy in a 2005 production of Mr. Marmalade at the Laura Pels Theatre.
