Meryl Streep | Biography, Age, Movies, Awards and Family
BIOGRAPHY | UPDATED OCTOBER 2026
Meryl Streep is an American actor known for her wide range, careful character work, and command of accents. Born Mary Louise Streep in New Jersey, she built a career across film, television, and theater, earning three Academy Awards and a record 21 Oscar nominations. Her roles span serious drama, comedy, musicals, and television.
Who Is Meryl Streep?
Meryl Streep is an American actor whose performances have made her one of the most recognized figures in modern screen acting. She is known for portraying both real people and fictional characters, from Sophie in Sophie’s Choice to Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada and Julia Child in Julie & Julia.
| Full name | Mary Louise Streep |
| Known as | Meryl Streep |
| Date of birth | June 22, 1949 |
| Age | 77 as of 2026 |
| Birthplace | Summit, New Jersey, United States |
| Education | Vassar College, BA in 1971; Yale School of Drama, MFA in 1975 |
| Profession | Actor |
| Children | Henry Wolfe, Mamie, Grace, and Louisa |
| Spouse | Don Gummer; married in 1978 and later separated |
| Major honors | Three Academy Awards, eight competitive Golden Globe Awards, and three Primetime Emmy Awards |
How Old Is Meryl Streep?
Meryl Streep was born on June 22, 1949, which makes her 77 years old as of 2026. Her career has lasted more than five decades, and she has continued to take on roles across film and television well into her seventies.
Her long career is marked by changes in genre, character type, and performance style rather than one signature role.
What Was Meryl Streep Like When She Was Young?
Streep was born in Summit, New Jersey, and grew up in the state. Her father, Harry William Streep Jr., worked in the pharmaceutical business, while her mother, Mary Wilkinson, was a commercial artist. Streep began singing lessons at age 12, including opera training, before acting became her main focus.
At Bernards High School in Bernardsville, New Jersey, she took part in school musicals and became known for her outgoing personality. She later described her teenage years as a period when she learned how to present herself in different ways.
That early experience with performance became a small but telling part of her path toward acting.
How Did Meryl Streep Build Her Acting Career?
Streep earned a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College in 1971 and a Master of Fine Arts from Yale School of Drama in 1975. She started in theater, taking roles in New York productions before making her Broadway debut in the 1970s.
Stage work helped her build the discipline and range that later became hallmarks of her screen performances.
Her first feature film was Julia in 1977. The following year, she appeared in The Deer Hunter, a Vietnam War drama that brought her first Academy Award nomination, and in the television miniseries Holocaust, which earned her an Emmy.
Kramer vs. Kramer, released in 1979, brought her first Oscar win for supporting actress. She won her second Oscar for Sophie’s Choice in 1983.
Which Meryl Streep Movies Are Most Famous?
Streep’s best-known movies show how comfortably she moves between drama, comedy, musicals, and stories based on real lives. These films are useful starting points for viewers exploring her work:
- The Deer Hunter (1978) and Kramer vs. Kramer (1979). These early films established her as a major dramatic actor and earned her first Academy Award nomination and win.
- Sophie’s Choice (1982) and Out of Africa (1985). Both roles showed her ability to build emotionally complex characters in historical and literary dramas.
- The Bridges of Madison County (1995) and The Hours (2002). These films placed her in intimate dramas about love, family, and difficult personal choices.
- The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Mamma Mia! (2008), and Julie & Julia (2009). These popular films introduced her to broad audiences through comedy, music, and a warm portrayal of chef Julia Child.
- The Iron Lady (2011), The Post (2017), Little Women (2019), and Don’t Look Up (2021). These later projects include a second biographical Oscar-winning role, a newsroom drama, a literary adaptation, and political satire.
How Many Oscars Has Meryl Streep Won?
Streep has won three competitive Academy Awards from 21 nominations, the highest nomination total for any actor. Her wins recognize three different performances and show how her career has crossed both supporting and lead roles.
- Kramer vs. Kramer (1980 ceremony). Best Supporting Actress for her role as Joanna Kramer.
- Sophie’s Choice (1983 ceremony). Best Actress for her performance as Sophie Zawistowski.
- The Iron Lady (2012 ceremony). Best Actress for portraying former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
Streep has also won eight competitive Golden Globe Awards and three Primetime Emmy Awards. Her other major honors include the National Medal of Arts in 2010, a Kennedy Center Honor in 2011, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.
Who Are Meryl Streep’s Daughters and Children?
Streep has four children with sculptor Don Gummer: one son, Henry Wolfe, and three daughters, Mamie, Grace, and Louisa. All four have worked in creative fields, although each has followed a different path.
Henry Wolfe is a musician and actor. Mamie Gummer and Grace Gummer are actors, and Louisa Jacobson is an actor known for her work in television. Streep has generally kept family life private, so public details about her children are best understood through their own work and occasional public appearances rather than frequent family interviews.
Are Meryl Streep and Don Gummer Still Together?
Streep and sculptor Don Gummer married in 1978, but a representative confirmed in 2023 that they had been separated for more than six years. The statement said they continued to care for each other while choosing to live apart.
It did not announce a divorce, so it is more accurate to describe them as separated rather than divorced.
The couple share four children. They have rarely discussed their relationship in detail, and Streep’s public comments about Gummer have generally been brief and personal rather than part of a regular media narrative.
What Is the Connection Between Meryl Streep and Martin Short?
Streep and Martin Short play fellow performers whose characters develop a romantic storyline in the Hulu mystery comedy Only Murders in the Building. Streep joined the series in its third season as Loretta Durkin, an actor who becomes involved with Short’s character, Oliver Putnam.
Their on-screen relationship has drawn attention, but a fictional romance is not evidence of a real-life one. Publicly available information establishes their professional connection as co-stars; it does not establish that they are a couple off screen.
What Happened Between Meryl Streep and Donald Trump?
Streep and Donald Trump became linked in public discussion after her speech at the 2017 Golden Globe Awards.
While accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award, she criticized the public use of power to humiliate others and referred to a moment during the 2016 campaign when Trump appeared to mock a reporter with a disability. She did not name Trump in the speech.
Trump responded publicly by calling Streep overrated. The exchange became part of a wider debate about the role of artists in politics, press freedom, and public responsibility. It remains a documented public disagreement, not a personal relationship between the two.
Meryl Streep’s Acting Style and Public Influence
Streep’s lasting influence comes from her ability to change her voice, movement, and emotional approach to fit very different characters. She has portrayed public figures such as Julia Child, Margaret Thatcher, and Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, while also creating memorable fictional characters in comedies, musicals, and family dramas.
Her reputation rests on more than awards. Streep’s filmography includes work with directors across different styles, and she has moved between theater, television, and cinema without being defined by a single genre.
Her work in Only Murders in the Building and Big Little Lies also introduced her to audiences who know her through television as much as film.
Streep has used major award appearances to speak about empathy, artistic freedom, and the treatment of vulnerable people. Beyond her 2017 Golden Globes speech, she took part in the CNN Films documentary We Will Rise, which followed Michelle Obama’s efforts to promote girls’ education.
These public appearances sit alongside a career built primarily on acting rather than political office or campaigning.
These eight biographies celebrate actresses whose work has been honored at the Academy Awards. You can also read about Michelle Yeoh, who made Oscar history with Everything Everywhere All at Once, Kim Basinger, the L.A. Confidential Oscar winner, and Sissy Spacek, who won for Coal Miner’s Daughter. Also explore Rosie Perez, an Oscar nominee for Fearless, Debra Winger, a three-time Best Actress nominee, Tatum O’Neal, still the youngest competitive Oscar winner, and Lupita Nyong’o, who won for 12 Years a Slave.
Conclusion
Meryl Streep’s career stands out for its range, consistency, and record of recognition. From her early theater training to Oscar-winning performances and later television roles, she has built a body of work that reaches across generations and genres.
Her story is not only about awards. It is also about a performer who continues to take on contrasting characters, from real historical figures to sharp comic creations, while keeping much of her private life away from the spotlight.
