If you happened to type in “Meryl Streep birthday” into Google this morning, you’d likely have been overwhelmed with lists of Meryl Sreep movies and Meryl Streep quotes and basically anything else related to the legendary actress. That’s because today (June 22) is the Oscar-winning actress’s birthday. And, you won’t believe it, but the Meryl Streep age is 67 as of today!
In celebration of the Meryl Streep birthday today, we thought we’d give you a bit of a refresher course on the star’s life and career. Pretty much everyone knows the almost comically long time Streep went without winning an Academy Award, so it’s no surprise that terms like “Meryl Streep Oscars” are often searched. What a lot of people don’t know is that Streep has been happily married for years and has a handful of children, some of whom have established their own modest careers in Hollywood.
Professional Life
It seems silly to have an entire section devoted to Meryl Streep movies since there are so many of them, but at the same time it would seem silly not to have a section devoted to them because there are so many!
Streep began acting in theatre in the early ‘70s and never really aimed to become a film actress. It was only after she watched Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece, Taxi Driver, that she decided she would try dipping her toes in silver screen acting. Her initial attempts were both professionally and personally disheartening, and Streep kept to theatre until De Niro suggested she play a role in his upcoming movie.
The Deer Hunter was a war film about a group of small town steel workers who go on to fight in the Vietnam War. Streep played De Niro’s character’s girlfriend in the 1978 film, and it’s considered her breakthrough role and the role for which she received the first of her record-breaking 19 Academy Award nominations. Since then, she’s gone on to star in multiple award-winning films including Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie’s Choice, The Hours, The Iron Lady, Julie and Julia, and literally dozens more, plus has added to two more golden Oscar statues to her collection (for Kramer vs. Kramer and The Iron Lady).
Family Life
If you search the terms “Meryl Streep children” or, specifically, “Meryl Streep daughters,” you’ll find the names “Mamie Gummer” and “Grace Gummer” pop up. That’s because these two daughters of the award-winning actress are actresses in their own right.
Mamie Gummer has been the star of her own TV show, appeared in numerous (mostly indie) films, and has had recurring roles in some of the hottest TV shows around, most notably The Good Wife. Her younger sister, Grace Gummer, doesn’t yet have a career as reputable as her elder sister, but she’s getting there. Most notably seen in Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s beloved sleeper hit Frances Ha, Grace Gummer was also one of the ensemble cast of American Horror Story: Coven and plays Dom on the hit show Mr. Robot.
Henry Wolfe Gummer and Louisa Gummer are the first- and last-born (respectively) children of Meryl Streep and her artist husband, Don Gummer. Henry is an established musician, songwriter, singer, and actor while Louisa is an established model with IMG Models in New York.
