Meryl Streep

Mary Louise Streep was born on 22 June 1949 in Summit, New Jersey. She studied at Vassar College and the Yale School of Drama, then worked on the New York stage before film roles in Julia (1977) and The Deer Hunter (1978). Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) brought her a first Academy Award; Sophie’s Choice (1982) a second. She later won for The Iron Lady (2011). Her other widely seen films include Out of Africa, Silkwood, A Cry in the Dark, The Bridges of Madison County, Adaptation, The Devil Wears Prada, Doubt, Julie & Julia, and Into the Woods.

She holds the record for the most acting Oscar nominations. She has also worked in television, including Angels in America and Big Little Lies. She has spoken publicly on arts funding and women’s pay, and has returned to the New York stage. A late-career run of studio comedies and dramas kept her in wide release after 2000. The site’s Chinese New Year for 1949 is 29 January, so 22 June is Ox/Cancer.

No photograph of a living person is used on this biography.