Meryl Streep Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Meryl Streep
Streep in 2018
Born	Mary Louise Streep (1949-06-22) June 22, 1949 (age 75) Summit, New Jersey, U.S.
Education	Vassar College (AB) Yale University (MFA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1975–present
Works	Full list
Spouse(s)	Don Gummer (m. 1978; separated 2017)
Partner(s)	John Cazale (1976–1978)
Children	Henry Mamie Grace Louisa
Parent(s)	Mary Wilkinson Streep (mother)
Awards	Full list
Signature

Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is a famous American actress. She is known for being able to play many different kinds of characters. She can also speak with different accents very well for her roles. Many people say she is one of the "best actresses of her generation."

During her long career, she has been nominated for 21 Academy Awards (also known as the Oscars). She has won three of these awards. She also holds a record for 33 Golden Globe Award nominations, winning eight of them.

Growing Up and School
Her Acting Career
Other Activities
Her Family Life
Awards and Honors
Famous Quotes from Meryl Streep
Fun Facts About Meryl Streep
Images for kids
See also

Growing Up and School

Streep as a senior in high school, 1966

Meryl Streep was born Mary Louise Streep on June 22, 1949. Her hometown was Summit, New Jersey. Her mother, Mary Wilkinson Streep, was an artist. Her father, Harry William Streep, Jr., worked in the medicine business. Meryl has two younger brothers, Harry and Dana, who are also actors.

Meryl's mother always encouraged her and helped her feel confident. Meryl grew up in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. She started acting when she was in junior high school.

In 1963, her family moved to Bernardsville, New Jersey. Meryl went to Bernards High School there. She was a cheerleader for her school team. She was also chosen as the homecoming queen in her last year of high school.

In 1969, while at Vassar College, Meryl acted in a play. Her performance caught the attention of many people. She kept acting throughout her college years. After finishing Vassar in 1971, she went to Yale School of Drama. She earned a special degree there in 1975.

Her Acting Career

Streep in 1977

Meryl Streep moved to New York City in 1975. She started her career as a stage actress. In 1976, she began trying out for movie roles. She acted in many plays, both in smaller theaters and on Broadway.

Streep at the 32nd Grammy Awards in 1990

Meryl's big break in movies came in 1977. She had a small role in the film Julia. Many of her movies were based on books or plays. Some of her most famous films from the 1970s to the 1990s include:

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Sophie's Choice (1982)
Out of Africa (1985)
The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
Music of the Heart (1999)

In the 2000s, Meryl returned to stage acting. She also continued her film career. Some of her well-known movies from this time are:

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
A Prairie Home Companion (2006)
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Mamma Mia! (2008)
Doubt (2008)
Julie & Julia (2009)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

In the 2010s, Streep kept starring in movies. Many of these were also based on plays or books. For example:

August: Osage County (2013)
The Giver (2014)
Into the Woods (2014)
Little Women (2019)

Since 2020, Streep has continued acting. She has appeared in movies and documentaries shown on streaming services like Apple TV+ and Netflix.

Other Activities

Meryl Streep is a spokesperson for the National Women's History Museum. This means she helps represent them and share their message. She supports many projects and events for women. She believes that women's voices in Hollywood should be heard more. She also takes part in politics and supports the Democratic Party.

Her Family Life

In the 1970s, Streep lived with actor John Cazale. After he passed away in March 1978, Meryl married sculptor Don Gummer. This was six months later.

Meryl and Don have four children:

Henry Wolfe Gummer (born 1979), who is a musician.
Mary Willa "Mamie" Gummer (born 1983).
Grace Jane Gummer (born 1986).
Louisa Jacobson Gummer (born 1991).

Mamie and Grace are also actresses. Louisa is a model.

The family lived in Connecticut for some time. Later, they moved to Brentwood, Los Angeles, and then moved back to Connecticut. In 2023, it was shared that Streep and Gummer had been separated for more than six years. They were last seen together in public in 2018.

Awards and Honors

Streep at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival

Meryl Streep has received many awards. She has been nominated for 21 Academy Awards. She won three of them: two for Best Actress and one for Best Supporting Actress.

She has also been nominated for 33 Golden Globe Awards. She has won six Grammy Award nominations. She has five Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning three. She also has one Tony Award nomination.

Famous Quotes from Meryl Streep

"It's important to me to work with good people that are not worried about how they look."
"I try to lead as ordinary a life as I can. You can't get spoiled if you do your own ironing."
"Listening is everything. Listening is the whole deal."
"I'm curious about other people. That's the essence of my acting. I'm interested in what it would be like to be you."

Fun Facts About Meryl Streep

Her father made up the name "Meryl." She was always called Meryl, not Mary Louise.
One of her ancestors, Lawrence Wilkinson, was among the first Europeans to live in Rhode Island.
She is a distant cousin of William Penn, who founded Pennsylvania.
When she was 12, she sang at a school event. After that, she took opera lessons from a famous vocal coach.
The actress Sigourney Weaver was her friend and classmate at Yale School of Drama.
In 1989, she decided not to take the main role in the movie Evita. This was because she disagreed about how much she would be paid.
When she was first offered the role of Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada, she felt the pay was too low. The movie studio then offered her double the amount. She was paid $5 million for the movie.
Mamma Mia! is still Meryl Streep's highest-earning film. It made over $600 million around the world.
In 2014, she started two scholarships at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.