Meryl Streep
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, although Streep is not Jewish. 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 won again, for Sophie’s Choice (”Best Actress”), 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.
Credit : Wikipedia
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