Meryl Streep

    Meryl Streep cemented her reputation as one of Hollywood’s finest dramatic actresses in 2003 when she received an unprecedented 13th Academy Award nomination.

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    Meryl Streep

    Meryl Streep won Best Actress at the 2012 Oscars (Jason Merritt/TERM/Getty Images)

    Meryl Streep cemented her reputation as one of Hollywood’s finest dramatic actresses in 2003 when she received an unprecedented 13th Academy Award nomination.

    Streep started voice training at age 12 and took up acting in high school. In 1971 she graduated from Vassar College with a degree in drama and costume design.

    After working in summer stock theatre, Streep studied drama at Yale University. She then moved to New York City to begin a professional career as an actress. It worked for her and she made her Broadway debut in 1975 and appeared in Julia, her first feature film, two years later.

    It was her performance in The Deer Hunter (1978) that earned Streep widespread recognition. That same year she also starred in the television miniseries Holocaust, for which she won an Emmy Award.

    In 2010 she was elected an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

    The following year Streep received a Kennedy Center Honor and then, in 2017 she was given the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award for outstanding contributions in entertainment.

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