Snakkle Looks Back on Meryl Streep’s Amazing Career!

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Meryl Streep, Freshman Year at Bernards High School, Bernardsville, New Jersey (1964)

When this picture was taken, almost 50 years ago, did anyone know that a young freshman from New Jersey would become the greatest actor of her generation?

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Junior Year at Bernards High School (1966)

In her junior year of high school, Meryl played Daisy Mae in a production of Li'l Abner. She probably won whatever version of the Oscars her high school gave out.

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Senior Year at Bernards High School (1967)

If you told us that this picture of Meryl was taken last week, we would totally believe you. It is actually her high school senior photo. She was, and still is, gorgeous.
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The Deer Hunter (1978)

Meryl thought she was taking just a minor part as the “girl” in The Deer Hunter, but it was her first major film role, and she received her first Oscar nomination, so it couldn’t have been that bad!

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Husband Don Gummer (1979)

In 1978, Meryl married sculptor Don Gummer. His work has been exhibited in New York, Massachusetts, Japan, and other places around the world.

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Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

Meryl thought the script of Kramer vs. Kramer made her character seem evil, so she talked the director into letting her rewrite some of the dialogue. We don’t know how much exactly, but what we do know is that she created a complex character and won her first Oscar for it.

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Sophie’s Choice (1982)

It would be a real Sophie’s Choice to try to pick what Meryl’s best role was. Well, it’s probably Sophie’s Choice, which won her another Oscar in 1982.
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Out of Africa (1985)

In the '80s, Meryl became the queen of accents. For Sophie’s Choice, it was Polish, and in Out of Africa, she tried on Danish. Once again, she got an Oscar nomination out of it.

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Ironweed (1987)

If you liked Meryl’s singing in Mamma Mia!, you should check her out in Ironweed. She and Jack Nicholson play drunks in the film, so it’s a little less, um, fun than Mamma Mia! but worth seeing anyway. (And it scored Meryl her seventh Oscar nomination in 10 years!)

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The River Wild (1994)

At the start of the '90s, Meryl was probably tired of such serious characters, so she took on some lighter roles in movies like Death Becomes Her and The River Wild, where she is kidnapped by Kevin Bacon but fights back! No Oscars here, but there was lots of awesome suspense!

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The Bridges of Madison County (1995)

The Bridges of Madison County may not be Meryl’s best movie (hey, it’s a little sappy for our tastes!), but she’s still great in it opposite Clint Eastwood, who also directed. And once again, she nailed a perfect accent (this time Italian).

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Walk of Fame Star (1998)

How did it take 20 years for Meryl to get a star on the Walk of Fame? It’s at 7020 Hollywood Blvd., by the way, in case you want to visit her!

Columbia Pictures

Adaptation (2002)

Meryl played real-life journalist Susan Orlean in Adaptation. The movie was based on Orlean’s nonfiction book The Orchid Thief, but somehow we doubt that this is how it really happened. Our favorite scene is when Meryl samples some, ahem, substances and then tries to make a dial tone. (Just watch.)

Twentieth Century Fox

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Who is the scariest movie monster? Freddy? Jason? Nope: It’s Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada. That’s all.

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Meryl and the Family (2006)

Meryl and her husband have four children: Hank, Mamie, Grace, and Louisa. The three girls are pictured here with their mother at the premiere of The Devil Wears Prada. Mamie and Grace are both actors too. Mamie has been on The Good Wife, and Emily Owens M.D. and Grace was in the most recent season of HBO's The Newsroom.
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Julie & Julia (2009)

No one else could play Julia Child better than Meryl. The Julie parts of the movie may have dragged (we still love you, Amy Adams!), but the Julia scenes were so joyful that we could have watched this movie forever!

Alex Bailey/The Weinstein Company

The Iron Lady (2011)

Meryl has always excelled at playing real people, so we were not surprised to hear that she was cast as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. We’re also not surprised that she’s, again, awesome in it. The film gained Meryl her 17th Oscar nomination and she won the award.

The Weinstein Company

August: Osage County (2013)

Meryl's at it again, this time playing a dysfunctional matriarch of the troubled Weston family, in August: Osage County. Based on Tracy Letts' Pulitzer wining play, Meryl received tons of critical recognition for the role including an Oscar nomination.