Meryl Streep: Beauty and brains
Meryl's film career reached its pinnacle in the 1980s. Between 1984-1990, Meryl bagged six People's Choice Awards for Favourite Motion Picture Actress and in 1990 was named 'World Favourite'. In a lighter vein, when she received her Emmy Award for Angels in America, she said, "There are some days when even I think I'm overrated...but not today!"
In the 1990s, Meryl broad based her roles, such as in the farce Death Becomes Her alongside Goldie Hawn, the movie version of Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits, The Bridges of Madison County, The River Wild (her first and only action film to date) and her noted comic turn in She-Devil. She also opted for serious roles as in Marvin's Room and Music of the Heart, for which she learned to play the violin.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Meryl has not hung up her boots. Among her recent works are guest voices in episodes of The Simpsons, and King of the Hill. She also voiced the Blue Mecha in the Steven Spielberg-Stanley Kubrick film, A.I and appeared along side Nicholas Cage in Adaptation. In addition, she stars along with Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore in The Hours and has taken on a role with Jim Carrey, Emily Browning and Jude Law in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.
In July 2001, Meryl went on stage for the first time after 20 years, playing the part of Arkadina in the Public Theatre's revival of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull. She is likely to return to the New York stage this month, starring in the Delacorte Theatre's production of Mother Courage and Her Children.
Meryl's most recent films are Prime in 2005, in which she has a comic role alongside Uma Thurman and Bryan Greenberg; Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion in June this year and The Devil Wears Prada, a comedy.
To Meryl goes the distinction of holding the record for most Academy Award nominations of any actor, having been nominated for 13 Academy Awards since her first nomination in 1979 for The Deer Hunter.
And--believe it or not--Meryl has a great personal life. She describes herself as "an actress who goes home to her family when I'm finished working."
Compiled by Cultural Correspondent