Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Widely regarded by peers and critics as the greatest actress of her generation, and by many as the greatest of all time, she is recognized as one of the most versatile performers in cinema, noted for her technical precision, nuanced emotional depth, command of dialects, and professional longevity. Streep is an alumna of Vassar College and the Yale School of Drama, holding a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Fine Arts. Her artistic process often includes refining her characters' dialogue so that their motivations possess a psychological depth and agency that transcend traditional archetypes. Beyond her creative work, she is a prominent advocate for gender parity, labor protections, and challenging the influence of the male gaze in film criticism and production. Streep began her professional stage career in 1975 in Trelawny of the Wells and earned a Tony Award nomination the following year for 27 Wagons Full of Cotton. She transitioned to film in Julia (1977), followed by her first Academy Award nomination for The Deer Hunter (1978). For Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), she won her first Oscar after advocating to rewrite her character's courtroom testimony, shifting the role from a secondary antagonist to a portrayal focused on a woman's autonomy. She became a leading actress of the 1980s with performances in The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Sophie's Choice (1982), Out of Africa (1985), and A Cry in the Dark (1988), for which she received the Best Actress Award at Cannes. After expanding into various genres in the 1990s, Streep achieved a new level of commercial stardom in the 2000s. She transitioned from her established dramatic niche to lead high-grossing mainstream successes, portraying a formidable antagonist in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and a singing lead in the musical Mamma Mia! (2008). During this period, she continued to receive critical acclaim for her dramatic turns in Doubt (2008) and The Iron Lady (2011), the latter earning her a third Academy Award. Streep's career honors include eight Golden Globe Awards, three Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs), two Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, and one Children's and Family Emmy Award. She is a recipient of the American Film Institute (AFI) Life Achievement Award, the Honorary Palme d'Or, the Kennedy Center Honor, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, and an Honorary César. In 2014, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She holds the record for the most Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations of any performer, with and 34 and 21 respectively. A prolific artist, her career spans over 64 films, 18 television projects, 30 audiobooks and 20 musical recordings.