Widely regarded as the finest actress of her generation, Meryl Streep has appeared in over 60 films in the course of an illustrious four-decade long career, and has received a record-setting 20 Academy Award nominations, winning three. Streep started out on stage at a very young age, appearing in several Broadway and Off-Broadway productions before eventually making her feature film debut in a minor role in the Jane Fonda starrer Julia (1977). In 1978, Streep landed the first in a long list of Oscar and Golden Globes nominations courtesy of her performance in the epic war drama The Deer Hunter, which featured Robert De Niro in the lead role.
In the following year, a stellar performance in the drama film Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) earned the actress her maiden Golden Globe and Academy Award, and she repeated the feat three years later courtesy of the 1982 film Sophie's Choice. By the early 1980s, Streep had established herself as both a bankable star and versatile actress, and she continued to underline her genius throughout the decade through films like The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Silkwood (1983), Out of Africa (1985), Ironweed (1987), Evil Angels (1988) and She-Devil (1989), as acclaim and accolades kept coming. The actress continued with her exceptional streak through the 1990s, earning as many as seven Golden Globe nominations and three Oscar nominations thanks to well-received films like Postcards from the Edge (1991) and The Bridges of Madison County (1996).
Notable among Streep's film credits post 2000 are the drama film The Hours (2002), the comedy-drama The Devil Wears Prada (2006), the biographical drama The Iron Lady (2011), the comedy-drama August: Osage County (2013) and the political thriller The Post (2017). Her 2018 releases include Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and Mary Poppins returns. Since the turn of the century, the veteran actress has received a staggering 16 Golden Globes nominations and 9 Oscar nominations, winning the latter for a third time for her portrayal of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 2011 biographical drama The Iron Lady. Besides her 31 Golden Globes nominations and 8 wins, Streep has also won three Primetime Emmy Awards and two BAFTA Film Awards, setting her apart from the rest - in a league of her own as the most venerated actress of our times.