Meryl Streep

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Meryl Streep
Streep at the 2016 Berlinale
Born
Mary Louise Streep

(1949-06-22) June 22, 1949 (age 74)[1]
Alma materVassar College
Yale School of Drama
OccupationActress
Years active1975–present
TitleDoctor of Fine Arts (honorary) of Princeton University
Spouse
Don Gummer (m. 1978)
Partner(s)John Cazale
(1976–1978, his death)
ChildrenHenry Wolfe Gummer
Mamie Gummer
Grace Gummer
Louisa Gummer

Meryl Streep (born Mary Louise Streep; June 22, 1949) is an American actress. She has appeared in many movies, including Falling in Love, The Bridges of Madison County, and The House of Spirits. She was born in New Jersey. Streep is considered one of the best actresses of her time. She has won three Academy Awards and has been nominated for twenty-one in total. President Barack Obama awarded her the 2010 National Medal of Arts.

Early life[change | change source]

Streep was born in Summit, New Jersey.[2] Her mother, Mary Wolf (née Wilkinson; 1915–2001), was a commercial artist and an art editor, and her father, Harry William Streep, Jr. (1910–2003), was a pharmaceutical executive.[3][4][5] She has two brothers, Dana David and Harry William III.[6] Her patrilineal ancestry traces back to Loffenau, Germany, from where her second great-grandfather, Gottfried Streep, emigrated to the United States, and where one of her ancestors served as mayor. Another line of her father's family was from Giswil in the canton of Obwalden, a small town in Switzerland. Her mother had English, German, and Irish ancestry. Some of Streep's maternal ancestors lived in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, and were descended from 17th century immigrants from England.[5][7] Her eighth great-grandfather, Lawrence Wilkinson, was one of the first Europeans to settle Rhode Island. Streep is also a distant relative of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, and records show that her family is among the first purchasers of land in the state. One of Streep's maternal great-grandmothers, Grace Strain, was from Creeslough, County Donegal, Ireland.[7][8][9][10]

Personal life[change | change source]

Streep is married to Don Gummer since September 30, 1978. They have four children, son Henry Wolf Gummer (born November 13, 1979) and daughters Mary Willa Gummer (born August 3, 1983), Grace Jane Gummer (born May 9, 1986), and Louisa Jacobson Gummer (born June 12, 1991).

References[change | change source]

  1. "Monitor". Entertainment Weekly. No. 1212. Jun 22, 2012. p. 24.
  2. Robert Battle. "Meryl Streep". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2014-01-08.[permanent dead link]
  3. "Meryl Streep Biography (1949–)". Film Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
  4. ASSOCIATED PRESS (2001-10-03). "Artist Mary W. Streep, mother of actress Meryl, dies at 86". The Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on 2011-06-24. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Britten, Nick (2012-02-14). "Baftas: Meryl Streep's British ancestor 'helped start war with Native Americans'". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  6. "Meryl Streep Biography". Yahoo! Movies.
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Meryl Streep". Faces of America. 2010. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
  8. "Google".
  9. McKenzie, Joi-Marie (2010-02-04). "Henry Louis Gates Says He Broke Meryl Streep's Heart". Niteside. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
  10. "Faces of America: Meryl Streep", PBS, Faces of America series, with Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 2010.

Other websites[change | change source]