Trivia
Early life Trivia
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Born at 8:05 a.m. EDT, and raised in suburban New Jersey. Her father was a drug company exec; her mother, an artist-turned-housewife who kept an art studio behind the house. Her father loved to play the piano and her mother to sing. She took serious singing lessons. At age 12, she studied to become an opera singer.
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Her mother died in 2001 and her father in 2004. Daughter of Mary Streep and Harry Streep (a pharmaceutical executive). Sister of Dana Streep and Harry Streep.
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She was a cheerleader and homecoming queen in high school. Had carried out a series of serious singing lessons. Graduated from Bernards High School. She attended Harding Township Middle School, in Harding, New Jersey for 1 or 2 years. Then she went to Vassar College and graduated in 1971. Spent a year as a transfer student at Dartmouth College where she participated in theater.
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She applied originallyto Law School but slept in on the morning of her interview and took it as a sign she was destined for other things. Before making it big, she was a waitress at The Hotel Somerset in Somerville, New Jersey, USA. She is educated at Yale University. Studied Drama. Was a classmate of Christine Estabrook and Sigourney Weaver at Yale Drama School. Back at the Drama school, she and Sigourney Weaver appeared in a play staged in a swimming pool together. The play is called The Frogs. Once underwent a job as a waitress at The Hotel Somerset in Somerville, New Jersey before her acting career took off. Once engaged to actor John Cazale.
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Fun Trivia
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According to Katharine Hepburns official biographer A. Scott Berg, Meryl Streep was her least favorite modern actress on screen: “Click, click, click,” she said, referring to the wheels turning inside Streep’s head.
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Early in her career, Streep received a letter from Bette Davis, whom most critics and cinema historians ranks as the greatest American movie actress ever. Davis told Streep that she felt that she was her successor as the premier American actress. Davis, a double winner who was nominated 10 times for an Academy Award, all of them Best Actress nods, set the record for most acting nominations with her tenth in 1963 for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), a record later surpassed by Hepburn with her 11th nomination (and 3rd win) for Lion in Winter, The (1968). Hepburn extended her record with her 12th nomination (and fourth win) for On Golden Pond (1981), a record ironically eclipsed by by Streep–the actress anointed Davis successor–with her own 13th nod for Adaptation. (2002).
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She left her just-claimed Oscar for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) on the back of a toilet during the 1979 festivities.
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Robert De Niro said she is his favorite actress to work with.
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Diane Keaton calls her “my generation’s genius.”-
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Friend of Jill Clayburgh. First met in their roles as mothers.
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Has a deviated septum, which she refuses to have fixed. Directors work around it by avoiding straight-on close-ups.
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Has a fear of helicopters.
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Is known to be a perfectionist when preparing for roles and a skilled the spian in speaking with almost any accent.
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Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
Uses music, most often Classical, to get into character.
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Occasionally mistaken for friend Glenn Close, Streep was pregnant with her fourth child while shopping in a Los Angeles baby store where the staff lavished her with huge amounts of baby paraphernalia. Just as she was about to leave they whispered, “We loved you in Fatal Attraction (1987)”. The children’s TV series “Sesame Street” (1969) has featured a character named “Meryl Sheep” in her honor.
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Has named her favourite actresses working today as Cate Blanchett, Emily Blunt, Dame Helen Mirren and Nicole Kidman.. She often works with Academy award-winning director Mike Nichols.
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Career Trivia
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Reached the 37th in Entertainment Weekly’s list of the Greatest Movie Star of All Time and the 46th in that of Premiere Magazine’s. She was voted the 37th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Week .
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Was included in the list of Promising New Actors of 1977 together with other 11 actors in John Willis’ Screen World, Vol. 29. Mentioned by first name only (with two-time co-star Jack Nicholson) in Michael Crichtons 2004 novel “State of Fear.”
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Acting career began on the stage. As a young actor, she performed at the Yale Repertory Theater with Christopher Lloyd. Joined a traveling theater company in Vermont called Green Mountain Guild during her younger years. Was turned down for the role of Patsy Cline in “Sweet Dreams” (1985) and Miss Kenton in “The Remains of the Day” (1993).
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Originally was plotted to play the role of Blanche Dubois in a planned ’80s film version of “A Streetcar Named Desire” by the play’s author, Tennessee Williams, but when she proved unavailable, the project later was turned into a TV feature.
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Her enactment as Sophie Zawistowska in “Sophie’s Choice” (1982) ranked the 3rd on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time while another as Karen Silkwood in “Silkwood” (1983) ranked the 71st.
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Her character in “Silkwood” (1983), Karen Silkwood, was placed in the 47th rank on the American Film Institute Heroes list of the 100 years of The Greatest Screen Heroes and Villians.
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Has only been turned down for three roles: Patsy Cline in Sweet Dreams (1985), Miss Kenton in Remains of the Day, The (1993), and Elizabeth I in Elizabeth (1998).
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Presented Paul McCartney with the 1990 Grammy Lifetime Achievement award. Attended the Beatles concert at Shea Stadium in 1965 with an “I love Paul” sign, which she mentioned when presenting the award to McCartney.
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The children’s TV series “Sesame Street” (1969) has featured a character named “Meryl Sheep” in her honor.
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Considered for the role of Evita Peron in Evita (1996).
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Gained the 24th rank in Empire Magazine’s list of Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time in 1997.
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Received her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (16 September 1998)
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Learned to play the violin, by practicing 6 hours a day for 8 weeks, for her role in Music of the Heart (1999).-
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Replaced Madonna for the lead in Music of the Heart (1999).
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Was chosen Best Modern Actress based on Entertainment Weekly on-line poll in 1999.
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Named Best Modern Actress in an Entertainment Weekly on-line poll, substantially beating out runner-up Michelle Pfeiffer.
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Received an honor of an Officer of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2000.
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Initially was billed to portray Iris Hineman in “Minority Report” (2002), but later had to give up the role and was replaced by Lois Smith.
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Received an honor from Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields in 2004 as she proclaimed May 27 to be the Meryl Streep Day.
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Was bestowed an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Middlebury College on her nephew’s graduation in 2004.
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Premiere Magazine ranked her as #46 on a list of the Greatest Movie Stars of All Time in their Stars in Our Constellation feature (2005).
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Donated her wardrobe from The Devil Wears Prada to a charity auction.
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Drives a Toyota Prius (September 2006).
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Makes the list of the Top Entertainers of 2006 compiled by U.S. magazine Entertainment Weekly in December 2006.
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Sold her New York City townhouse for $9.1 million in February 2006. She was forced to slash the asking price for the eight-bedroom Manhattan property from $12 million to secure a sale. Streep bought the house for $2.2 million in 1995, according to the New York Post.
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Nominated for a 2007 Drama Desk Award for her performance in “Mother Courage and Her Children” (Outstanding Actress in a Play).
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Ranked 10th on Mr. Blackwell’s 47th annual “Worst Dressed” list released on January 9, 2007.
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Ranked 6th in Entertainment Weekly’s list of 50 Smartest People in Hollywood (November 2007).
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She is nominated for the inaugural 2007 New Jersey Hall of Fame for her services to drama, film, and television. She was inducted in the 2007 New Jersey Hall of Fame for her services to arts and entertainment.
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Nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for “The One and Only Shrek” (Best Spoken Word Album For Children).
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Was nominated for Best Actress in 1987 along with Cher. When Cher was announced, just before the cameras cut away from the other four actresses, Streep could be seen springing to her feet in delight and applauding for Cher. During her acceptance speech, Cher thanked Streep personally, as they had worked together on Cher’s first film, “Silkwood”. As the camera briefly cut away to Streep sitting in the audience, she blew Cher a kiss. (She’s apparently a very good sport about losing.). Is the second of 4 consecutive winners of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar to have the initials “M.S.”. The others are: Maggie Smith – California Suite (1978), Mary Steenburgen – Melvin and Howard (1980), and Maureen Stapleton – Reds (1981).
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Currently holds the record for most Oscar nominations for acting (14 total), including both actors and actresses. Her accumulation of 12 Oscar nominations (2 wins) was accomplished over a period of only 21 years, with an additional 2 nominations by 2007 (11 leads/3 support). Bette Davis scored 11 nominations (2 wins) over 28 years (all leading roles). Katharine Hepburn garnered 12 nominations (4 wins) after a relatively lengthy 48 years (all leading roles). Holds the record as the female actor with the most Golden Globe wins, with six wins. Jack Nicholson is the male actor with the most wins, also at six. Holds the record for most Golden Globe nominations for acting, actresses only (19 total). The longest she has gone without an Oscar nomination is five years, between Postcards from the Edge (1990) and Bridges of Madison County, The (1995). Tony Nominee in 1976 as Best Actress (Featured Role – Play) for Tennessee Williams “27 Wagons Full of Cotton.”.
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