Meryl Streep is an American actress who has had an extensive career in film, television, and stage. [1] [2] She made her stage debut in 1975 with The Public Theater production of Trelawny of the 'Wells' . [3] She went on to perform several roles on stage in the 1970s, gaining a Tony Award nomination for her role in 27 Wagons Full of Cotton (1976). [4] In 1977, Streep made her film debut with a brief role alongside Jane Fonda in Julia . [5] A supporting role in the war drama The Deer Hunter (1978) proved to be a breakthrough for Streep; she received her first Academy Award nomination for it. [6] She won the award the following year for playing a troubled wife in the top-grossing drama Kramer vs. Kramer (1979). [7] In 1978, Streep played a German, "Aryan" woman married to a Jewish man in Nazi Germany in the television miniseries Holocaust , which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award. [8]
Streep established herself as a leading Hollywood actress in the 1980s. [9] [10] She played dual roles in the period drama The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), [10] and starred as a Polish Holocaust survivor in Sophie's Choice (1982). [11] She was awarded the Best Actress Oscar for the latter. [8] Streep portrayed the real-life character of Karen Silkwood in Mike Nichols' drama Silkwood (1983), [12] before starring in her most financially successful release of the decade, the romantic drama Out of Africa (1985), in which she played the Danish writer Karen Blixen. [13] [14] With intermittent successes, Streep's career went through a period of relative decline post-1985, with several commentators criticizing her inclination towards melodramatic roles, [15] despite her attempt at playing against-type in the comedies She-Devil (1989) and Death Becomes Her (1992). [16]
In 1995, Streep starred opposite Clint Eastwood as an unhappily married woman in The Bridges of Madison County , her biggest critical and commercial success of the decade. [14] [17] Although her dramas of the late 1990s received a mixed reception overall, [18] [19] she was praised for her role as a cancer patient in One True Thing (1998). [20] She had acclaimed roles in the 2002 films Adaptation. and The Hours , and won a second Emmy Award for the television miniseries Angels in America a year later. [21] [22] Greater success returned to Streep in 2006, with an Academy Award-nominated role as a ruthless fashion magazine editor in the comedy-drama The Devil Wears Prada . [23] This led to starring roles in several high-profile films, including the US$609 million-grossing romantic comedy Mamma Mia! (2008), her highest-grossing release, and the comedy-drama Julie & Julia (2009), in which she played Julia Child. [24] [25] These roles re-established Streep's stardom. [26] Her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in the biopic The Iron Lady (2011) earned her another Academy Award for Best Actress. [27] Further Oscar nominations came for her starring roles in August: Osage County (2013), Into the Woods (2014), Florence Foster Jenkins (2016), and The Post (2017), setting a record for more nominations than any actor or actress in history. [28]
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1977 | Julia | Anne Marie | [29] | |
1978 | The Deer Hunter | Linda | [30] | |
1979 | Manhattan | Jill Davis | [31] | |
The Seduction of Joe Tynan | Karen Traynor | [32] | ||
Kramer vs. Kramer | Joanna Kramer | [33] | ||
1981 | The French Lieutenant's Woman | Sarah / Anna [a] | [34] | |
1982 | Still of the Night | Brooke Reynolds | [35] | |
Sophie's Choice | Sophie Zawistowski | [36] | ||
1983 | Silkwood | Karen Silkwood | [37] | |
1984 | Falling in Love | Molly Gilmore | [38] | |
1985 | Plenty | Susan Traherne | [39] | |
Out of Africa | Karen Blixen | [40] | ||
1986 | Heartburn | Rachel Samstat | [41] | |
1987 | Ironweed | Helen Archer | [42] | |
1988 | Evil Angels | Lindy Chamberlain | aka A Cry in the Dark | [43] |
1989 | She-Devil | Mary Fisher | [44] | |
1990 | Postcards from the Edge | Suzanne Vale | [45] | |
1991 | Defending Your Life | Julia | [46] | |
Age 7 in America | Narrator | Documentary | [47] | |
1992 | Death Becomes Her | Madeline Ashton | [48] | |
1993 | The House of the Spirits | Clara del Valle Trueba | [49] | |
1994 | The River Wild | Gail Hartman | [50] | |
1995 | The Living Sea | Narrator | Documentary | [51] |
The Bridges of Madison County | Francesca Johnson | [17] | ||
1996 | Before and After | Dr. Carolyn Ryan | [49] | |
Marvin's Room | Lee | [52] | ||
1998 | One True Thing | Kate Gulden | [53] | |
Dancing at Lughnasa | Kate Mundy | [54] | ||
1999 | Music of the Heart | Roberta Guaspari | [55] | |
Ginevra's Story | Narrator | Documentary | [56] | |
2001 | A.I. Artificial Intelligence | Blue Mecha | Voice | [57] |
2002 | Adaptation. | Susan Orlean | [58] | |
The Hours | Clarissa Vaughan | [59] | ||
2003 | Stuck on You | Herself | Uncredited cameo | [60] |
2004 | The Manchurian Candidate | Sen. Eleanor Prentiss Shaw | [61] | |
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events | Aunt Josephine | [62] | ||
2005 | Prime | Lisa Metzger | [63] | |
Stolen Childhoods | Narrator | Documentary | [64] | |
2006 | A Prairie Home Companion | Yolanda Johnson | [65] | |
The Music of Regret | The Woman | Short film | [66] | |
Hurricane on the Bayou | Narrator | Documentary short film | ||
The Devil Wears Prada | Miranda Priestly | [67] | ||
The Ant Bully | Queen Ant | Voice; animated film | [68] | |
2007 | Dark Matter | Joanna Silver | [69] | |
Evening | Lila Ross | [70] | ||
Rendition | Corrine Whitman | [71] | ||
Lions for Lambs | Janine Roth | [72] | ||
2008 | Mamma Mia! | Donna Sheridan | [73] | |
Doubt | Sister Aloysius Beauvier | [74] | ||
2009 | Julie & Julia | Julia Child | [75] | |
Fantastic Mr. Fox | Felicity Fox | Voice; animated film | [76] | |
It's Complicated | Jane Adler | [77] | ||
2010 | Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life | Jennie | Voice; short film | [78] |
2011 | The Iron Lady | Margaret Thatcher | [79] | |
2012 | To the Arctic 3D | Narrator | Documentary | [80] |
Hope Springs | Kay Soames | [81] | ||
2013 | Wings of Life | Narrator | Documentary | [82] |
Girl Rising | [83] | |||
A Fierce Green Fire | [84] | |||
Out of Print | [85] | |||
August: Osage County | Violet Weston | [86] | ||
2014 | The Giver | Chief Elder | [87] | |
The Homesman | Altha Carter | [88] | ||
Into the Woods | The Witch | [89] | ||
2015 | Ricki and the Flash | Ricki Rendazzo | [90] | |
Suffragette | Emmeline Pankhurst | [91] | ||
Shout Gladi Gladi | Narrator | Documentary | [92] | |
2016 | Florence Foster Jenkins | Florence Foster Jenkins | [93] | |
2017 | We Rise | Narrator | Documentary | [94] |
Little Door Gods | Narrator | Voice (English dub); animated film; aka The Guardian Brothers | [95] | |
The Post | Katharine Graham | [96] | ||
2018 | Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again | Donna Sheridan | [97] | |
This Changes Everything | Herself | Documentary | [98] | |
Mary Poppins Returns | Topsy | [99] | ||
2019 | The Laundromat | Ellen Martin / Elena / Herself | [100] | |
Little Women | Aunt March | [101] | ||
2020 | Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth | Narrator | Voice; animated short film | [102] |
Let Them All Talk | Alice Hughes | [103] | ||
The Prom | Dee Dee Allen | [104] | ||
2021 | Don't Look Up | President Janie Orlean | [105] | |
2022 | Sell/Buy/Date | — | Executive producer | [106] [107] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1976 | Everybody Rides the Carousel | Lover | Voice; animated film | [108] |
1977 | The Deadliest Season | Sharon Miller | Television film | [109] |
1977–1979 | Great Performances | Edith Varney | Episode: "Secret Service" | [109] |
Leilah | Episode: "Uncommon Women and Others" | [109] | ||
1978 | Holocaust | Inga Helms Weiss | Miniseries; 4 episodes | [109] |
1981 | Kiss Me, Petruchio | Katherine | Documentary | [109] |
1982 | Alice at the Palace | Alice | Television film | [110] |
1990 | The Earth Day Special | Concerned Citizen | Television special | [111] |
1994 | The Simpsons | Jessica Lovejoy | Voice; Episode: "Bart's Girlfriend" | [112] |
1997 | ...First Do No Harm | Lori Reimuller | Television film; also producer | [49] |
1999 | King of the Hill | Aunt Esme Dauterive | Voice; Episode: "A Beer Can Named Desire" | [113] |
2003 | Angels in America | Hannah Pitt / Ethel Rosenberg / The Rabbi / The Angel Australia [b] | Miniseries; 6 episodes | [114] |
Freedom: A History of US | Abigail Adams / Mary Eastey / Mother Jones / Margaret Chase Smith [c] | Documentary; 4 episodes | [114] [115] | |
2007 | Ocean Voyagers | Narrator | Documentary | [116] |
2010–2012 | Web Therapy | Camilla Bowner | Guest star; 5 episodes | [77] |
2013 | Makers: Women Who Make America | Narrator | Documentary; 3 episodes | [117] |
2014 | The Roosevelts | Eleanor Roosevelt | Voice; documentary; 7 episodes | [118] |
2017 | Five Came Back | Narrator | Documentary; 3 episodes | [119] |
2019 | Big Little Lies | Mary Louise Wright | Main role (season 2); 7 episodes | [120] |
2023 | Extrapolations | Eve Shearer | Episode: "2046: Whale Fall" | [121] |
2023–present | Only Murders in the Building | Loretta Durkin | Recurring role (seasons 3–4) | [122] [123] |
2025 | Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special | Herself / Colleen Rafferty Sr. | Television special | [124] |
† | Denotes series that have not yet been released |
Year | Title | Role | Venue | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1975 | Trelawny of the 'Wells' | Miss Imogen Parrott | Vivian Beaumont Theater | [125] |
1976 | A Memory of Two Mondays 27 Wagons Full of Cotton [d] | Patricia / Flora Meighan | Playhouse Theatre | [127] |
1976 | Secret Service | Edith Varney | [128] | |
Henry V | Catherine | Delacorte Theater | [129] [130] | |
Measure for Measure | Isabella | [129] [131] [132] | ||
1977 | The Cherry Orchard | Dunyasha | Vivian Beaumont Theater | [133] [134] |
Happy End | Lt. Lillian Holiday | Martin Beck Theatre | [135] | |
1978 | The Taming of the Shrew | Katharina | Delacorte Theater | [129] [136] |
1979 | Taken in Marriage | Andrea | Joseph Papp Public Theater & Newman Theater | [129] [137] |
1980–1981 | Alice in Concert | Alice | Joseph Papp Public Theater & Anspacher Theater | [129] [138] |
2001 | The Seagull | Arkadina | Delacorte Theater | [139] |
2004 | Bridge and Tunnel | — | Producer; Theatres at 45 Bleecker & Bleecker Street Theatre | [129] [140] |
2006 | Mother Courage and Her Children | Mother Courage | Delacorte Theater | [141] |