Meryl Streep was born in Summit, New Jersey on June 22, 1949 and in her early years she had designs on getting into the entertainment industry but her direction was much different that it ended up being. Meryl Streep originally pursued a career in opera but while attending the prestigious school Vassar she began to take drama classes and when she graduated from Vassar she decided to pursue acting at the Yale School of Drama where she excelled at the craft and soon developed a passion for it. By the time she was 30 years old she had given critically acclaimed performances in several movies, was nominated for at least two Academy Awards, and won one of them. By the time she reached the age of 58 Meryl Streep had been nominated for the Academy Award an amazing 14 times which included two wins. She has been in dramas and comedies and has excelled in both. She has been in box office hits and box office duds but has never failed to give her best performance. She a true professional and she has often been called one of the greatest actors of all time by many contemporary film critics. It is an honor she has earned and one that she is very proud of.

Meryl Streep started acting on film in 1977 when she appeared in a made for television movie called Secret Service. Her talent was easy to see and it did not take long for her to start landing significant roles in larger major motion pictures. It also did not take Meryl Streep long to establish herself as a Hollywood icon. In 1978 she landed the role of Linda in the critically acclaimed movie the Deer Hunter. For her work in her first major motion picture Meryl Streep was nominated for an Oscar as the best supporting actress. She lost that Oscar but it was a foreshadowing of things to come. The next year she starred along with Dustin Hoffman in the critical and financial smash hit Kramer Versus Kramer. Once again she was nominated for best supporting actress and this time she won the Oscar. After only two years of making movies Meryl Streep had already achieved Hollywood’s biggest honor and she was no where near done just yet.

In 1981 she starred in the French Lieutenant’s Woman and was nominated this time for an Oscar as best leading actress. Even though she lost the Oscar this time she established herself as an actress with impressive dramatic range and she was on the Hollywood A-list as a very serious actress. In 1982 she won her first Oscar as a leading lady for her role in Sophie’s Choice. Her Oscar for Sophie’s Choice would be the last Oscar she would win but it would certainly not be the last one she would be nominated for. After the 1982 Oscar winning performance Meryl Streep went on to be nominated for the best leading actress Oscar an astonishing 9 times and best supporting actress once and even though she has not one an Oscar since 1982 it should be noted that she received a nomination for the 2007 movie The Devil Wears Prada. Meryl Streep has played a Nazi in a very serious role and a melodramatic sleaze novel writer in a comedy. Her ability to parody her own public image has made her endearing to movie going audiences and her ability to consistently put forth some of the best performances ever captured on film continues to make her one of the most in demand actors in Hollywood and one of the most respected actors in the history of movies.