Meryl Streep’s international breakthrough came in the late 1970s with the TV series Holocaust and Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter (1978, first Oscar nomination) as well as the divorce drama Kramer vs. Kramer (1979, directed by Robert Benton), for which she received her first Oscar. She won a second Academy Award for her compelling performance in Sophie’s Choice (1982, directed by Alan J. Pakula).
She also starred in Woody Allen’s romantic comedy Manhattan (1979) and the historical drama The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981, directed by Karel Reisz). She portrayed a very committed union activist in Silkwood (1983) by Mike Nichols, as well as Tania Blixen in Sidney Pollack’s epic adaptation of Out of Africa (1985). With Susan Seidelman’s She-Devil (1989), Streep appeared in her first comedy; in 1992, she gave yet another brilliant comic performance in Death Becomes Her (directed by Robert Zemeckis). In the 1995 drama The Bridges of Madison County, she played the lead alongside Clint Eastwood, who also directed the film. In 2002, she performed in Stephen Daldry’s screen adaptation of the novel The Hours. Leading roles followed in the energetic satire The Devil Wears Prada (2006, directed by David Frankel), Robert Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion (2006), and the political thriller Lions for Lambs (2007, directed by Robert Redford). With the musical comedy Mamma Mia (2008, directed by Phyllida Lloyd), and Julie & Julia (2009, directed by Nora Ephron), Meryl Streep once again showed how versatile she is.
