Meryl Streep: The Oscar Winner Through the Years

Credit: Jack Mitchell/Getty Images; Dan MacMedan/WireImage.com; Ron Sachs - Pool/Getty Images; Steve Azzara/Corbis via Getty Images

Meryl Streep: The Oscar Winner Through the Years

Meryl Streep has built a career in Hollywood that most celebrities can only dream of, and the actress, who has been in the business for more than 40 years, shows no signs of stopping — or even slowing down.

In January 2018, she broke her own Oscars record as the most-nominated actor of all time when she nabbed her 21st Academy Award nod for her role as Katharine Graham in The Post. (The trophy ultimately was awarded to Frances McDormand for her role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.)

“I am honored beyond measure by this nomination for a film I love, a film that stands in defense of press freedom, and inclusion of women’s voices in the movement of history,” Streep said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times at the time. “Proud of the film, and all her filmmakers. Thank you from a full heart.”

In her personal life, Streep married Don Gummer in 1978 before they welcomed four children: Henry, Mamie, Grace and Louisa. Us Weekly confirmed in October 2023 that Streep and Gummer “have been separated for more than six years.”

Scroll through to relive some of Streep’s biggest moments throughout the years:

Credit: Jack Mitchell/Getty Images; Dan MacMedan/WireImage.com; Ron Sachs - Pool/Getty Images; Steve Azzara/Corbis via Getty Images

Meryl Streep: The Oscar Winner Through the Years

Meryl Streep has built a career in Hollywood that most celebrities can only dream of, and the actress, who has been in the business for more than 40 years, shows no signs of stopping — or even slowing down.

In January 2018, she broke her own Oscars record as the most-nominated actor of all time when she nabbed her 21st Academy Award nod for her role as Katharine Graham in The Post. (The trophy ultimately was awarded to Frances McDormand for her role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.)

“I am honored beyond measure by this nomination for a film I love, a film that stands in defense of press freedom, and inclusion of women’s voices in the movement of history,” Streep said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times at the time. “Proud of the film, and all her filmmakers. Thank you from a full heart.”

In her personal life, Streep married Don Gummer in 1978 before they welcomed four children: Henry, Mamie, Grace and Louisa. Us Weekly confirmed in October 2023 that Streep and Gummer “have been separated for more than six years.”

Scroll through to relive some of Streep’s biggest moments throughout the years:

Credit: Jack Mitchell/Getty Images

1976

Streep was photographed as an up-and-coming actress in August 1976 when she was just 27 years old. At that time, the Vassar College and Yale School of Drama grad's acting credits were largely from smaller stage productions.

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1978

The New Jersey native earned one of her first feature film credits for her role in the Oscar-winning drama The Deer Hunter, which hit theaters in 1978. She starred as a bridesmaid named Linda, acting alongside John Cazale, Chuck Aspegren and Robert de Niro.

Credit: Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/Getty Images

1980

Golden Girl! Streep was honored at the 52nd Academy Awards, taking home the statue for Best Supporting Actress for her role opposite Dustin Hoffman in 1979's Kramer vs. Kramer.

Credit: Ted Thai/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

1981

Just a girl about town! Streep was snapped taking a subway train in New York City in August 1981. She looked casual and chic in the picture, which showed her in an off-the-shoulder floral dress with her hair pulled back. 

Credit: Fotos International/Getty Images

1983

The Big Little Lies star had to make more room in her trophy cabinet after the 55th Academy Awards, where she took home the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in 1982's drama Sophie's Choice. She accepted the honor while pregnant with her daughter Mamie Gummer. 

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1985

The acclaimed actress perfected yet another foreign accent alongside Robert Redford in 1985's Out of Africa. She sported brunette locks for the role and captivated viewers onscreen. The film earned seven Academy Awards.

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1989

Streep was red carpet-ready at the 46th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills in 1989, where she was nominated for her "Dingo got my baby" role in 1988's A Cry in the Dark.

Credit: Courtesy of Everett Collection

1992

Death truly does become her! Streep looked gorgeous in the 1992 dark comedy Death Becomes Her. She starred in the gothic comedy alongside Bruce Willis and Goldie Hawn.

Credit: Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage.com

1994

Streep got her hands dirty in Hollywood in September 1994. The beloved star—who has four kids with husband Don Gummer—made footprints and handprints in the cement outside of the famous Mann's Chinese Theatre. "People say, 'When you have children, everything changes,'" she told USA Today in 2002. "But maybe things are awakened that were already there."

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1998

Too cool for school! The icon was '90s perfection when she received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in September 1998. She sported shades and a taupe suit for the occasion, which she dressed down with a pair of white sneakers.

Credit: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

2000

 What's an awards show without Streep? The then-50-year-old star waved to the crowd at the 57th Annual Golden Globe Awards in January 2000. That year, she was nominated for Best Actress for her part in 1999's Music of the Heart. 

Credit: AP Photo/Reed Saxon

2003

Just palling around! Streep rubbed shoulders with another beautiful blonde at the 60th Annual Golden Globes, posing with HBO costar Nicole Kidman. Both women took home awards at the 2003 ceremony, with Streep earning her honor for Best Supporting Actress in 2002's Adaptation and Kidman nabbing Best Actress in a Leading Role for The Hours. 

Credit: Albert L. Ortega/WireImage.com

2004

Picture perfect! The famed starlet added to her collection of statues with an Emmy award in September 2004. She earned the statue for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for 2003's Angels in America. 

Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection

2006

That's all! Streep went high-fashion by channeling Vogue's Anna Wintour for 2006's The Devil Wears Prada, in which she played the high-powered Editor-in-Chief of a glossy magazine. She won the Golden Globe for Best Actress for her portrayal of Miranda Priestly. It was an ironic win for Streep, who once said that she didn't quite "get" style. "For me, clothes are kind of character. I don't follow fashion or understand trends."

Credit: Venturelli/WireImage.com

2009

Streep was the picture of elegance at the 4th International Rome Film Festival in October 2009. She was honored at the worldwide event by receiving the Golden Marc'Aurelio Acting Award.

Credit: Ron Sachs - Pool/Getty Images

2012

Selfie! Streep snapped a now-famous photo with political heavyweight Hillary Clinton at the Kennedy Center's Gala Dinner in December 2012. The photo quickly went viral.

Credit: Gregg DeGuire/WireImage.com

2014

The Hollywood icon made one of her many trips to the Academy Awards in March 2014, attending the 86th annual ceremony. She was nominated for her role in August: Osage County, a drama that also featured Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney and Chris Cooper, among others. 

Credit: Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

2017

The Florence Foster Jenkins actress — wearing a bejeweled Givenchy gown — racked up a whopping four nominations at the 2017 Golden Globes on January 8. While accepting the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award, she gave an impassioned speech supporting immigrants. "I was born and raised and created in the public schools of New Jersey. Viola was born in a sharecropper's cabin in South Carolina, grew up in Central Falls, Rhode Island," she said. "Sarah Paulson was raised by a single mom in Brooklyn. Sarah Jessica Parker was one of seven or eight kids from Ohio. Amy Adams was born in Italy. Natalie Portman was born in Jerusalem. Where are their birth certificates? And the beautiful Ruth Negga was born in Ethiopia, raised in — no, in Ireland, I do believe — and she's here nominated for playing a small-town girl from Virginia. Ryan Gosling, like all the nicest people, is Canadian. And Dev Patel was born in Kenya, raised in London, is here for playing an Indian raised in Tasmania. Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners. If you kick 'em all out, you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts." 

Credit: ABC/Rick Rowell

2018

It was a big year for the Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again star, who stunned on the 2018 Oscars carpet in a red Christian Dior Haute Couture gown. Not only was she nominated for Best Actress for The Post, she broke her own record of 20 Academy Award nods with her 21st nomination for the role. A major TV role was also announced for Streep in January 2018, with the award-winner taking on the part of Mary Louise Wright, the mother of Alexander Skarsgard’s late character, Perry Wright.

Credit: Monica Schipper/FilmMagic

2019

Streep became a first-time grandmother in February 2019 at the age of 69 when daughter Mamie Gummer gave birth to a baby boy. She also made her debut as Mary Louise Wright for season 2 of the HBO hit Big Little Lies and received critical acclaim for her role in the 2019 adaptation of Little Women.

Credit: Apple TV+; Inset: Shutterstock

2020

After narrating AppleTV+’s Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth in April 2020, Streep was set to star in two more streaming-only projects in 2020: Netflix’s The Prom and HBO Max’s Let Them All Talk. However, production was delayed on both due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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2021

The Vassar alum played President Orlean in the apocalyptic Adam McKay film Don't Look Up. McKay revealed in an interview with Variety that Streep's character's death was inspired by a bit of improvisation she did.

Credit: Patrick Harbron/Hulu

2023

Streep landed a role in the third season of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, playing aspiring actress Loretta.

“Working with [Meryl], for any actor I would assume, it takes your breath away to be around someone who is a part of history, who has paved the way for so many actresses and told so many powerful stories and is recognized for that,” OMITB star Selena Gomez told The Wrap in June. “And she couldn’t have been more humble, more nice, more, just, adorable. I don’t know how to explain it. She was so sweet to everyone and on time and never looked at her script. It was really inspiring.”