20 fun facts about Meryl Streep that even she doesn’t remember

Like many showbiz monikers, Meryl Streep is not the actress’ actual birth name. However, relatively speaking, it’s not far off from the real thing. The legendary actress was born Mary Louise Streep on June 22, 1949 in Summit, New Jersey.

Meryl Streep may be a household name, but a few of her ancestors made some history of their own. As reported by PBS’ “Faces of America,” one of Streep’s great-grandparents was the mayor of Loffenau, Germany in the 1700s. Another great-grandfather was one of the first settlers of Rhode Island. Most notably, she is also a distant relative of William Penn, the founder of the State of Pennsylvania.

Although Streep is obviously extremely talented, her strong acting skills at a young age weren’t the result of a teacher. Noting her ability to quickly pick up accents and memorize lines, Clinton J. Atkinson, her former drama professor at Vassar College, once remarked, “I don't think anyone ever taught Meryl acting. She really taught herself.”

After graduating from Vassar with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1971, Streep attended the Yale School of Drama, where she earned an MFA. It wasn’t easy, however. While managing to appear in nearly a dozen productions a year in school, Meryl also had to work as a waitress and typist to pay her tuition. After developing ulcers from the stress, she contemplated pursuing a career as an attorney instead, but accidentally slept through a law exam and took it as a sign that she should continue her pursuit of acting.

After moving to New York City in 1975, Streep was cast in “Trelawny of the Wells” at the public theater. While working on the 1898 comedic Arthur Wing Pinero play, she acted opposite two other actors looking to break into show business: Mandy Patinkin and John Lithgow. Later that year, she also performed alongside Raúl Juliá, Sam Waterston, and her future partner, John Cazale.

One of Streep’s Yale School of Drama classmates was fellow acting legend Sigourney Weaver, who was constantly being overshadowed by Meryl and losing roles to her much-adored peer. Predictably, Streep found success quickly after graduating, but Weaver had to wait until 1979 to find her breakthrough role, when she starred as Ripley in the sci-fi classic “Alien.” Coincidentally, Streep was also considered for this role, but it was cast just after the death of Cazale, and producer Gordon Carroll decided not to bother the grieving actress.

After the untimely passing of Cazale from lung cancer in 1978, Streep married sculptor Don Gummer less than a year later. Fast forward four decades, and the two are still together. They also have four kids: Henry, Mamie, Grace and Louisa. The oldest is 38 and the youngest is 26.

Meryl and Don’s son, Henry Wolfe, is a musician, and Louisa is a model, but Mamie and Grace are both actresses like their mom. In fact, the latter appeared as a younger version of her mother in 1993’s “The House of the Spirits” and the former did the same in 1986’s “Heartburn” and 2007’s “Evening.” Mamie and her mom were also both cast in 2015’s “Ricki and the Flash.”

Streep’s first feature film credit was in 1977’s “Julia” opposite Jane Fonda, but it wasn’t a very big role. In fact, not only did Meryl only appear during a flashback, but most of her lines were cut... and that wasn’t even the worst of it. “I had a bad wig and they took the words from the scene I shot with Jane and put them in my mouth in a different scene,” Streep recalled. “I thought, I've made a terrible mistake, no more movies. I hate this business.”

Fortunately, Meryl was still busy on the New York stage, which would lead to her next feature film role. 

Meryl Streep was cast in 1978’s “The Deer Hunter” after someone involved in the film saw her performing in a stage production of “The Cherry Orchard.” That mystery individual? None other than acting legend Robert De Niro. 

In what might be her greatest cinematic performance, Streep shined in 1982’s “Sophie’s Choice,” in which she plays a Polish holocaust survivor. In addition to her raw emotion, Streep was praised for her authentic-sounding Polish accent. The latter can be attributed not only to her aforementioned uncanny ability to mimic accents, but also the fact that she actually learned how to speak both Polish and German in preparation for the role.

Most people are familiar with the line, “A dingo ate my baby,” or some variation of it, but many don’t know the origin of the phrase, falsely attributing it to “Seinfeld,” “The Simpsons,” or some other comedic work. The source is actually the 1988 film “A Cry in the Dark,” which tells the real-life story of an Australian mother who was tried and wrongfully convicted of murdering her infant daughter, who was snatched by a dingo during a holiday in Australia’s Northern Territory. However, the line in the film was actually, “The dingo’s got my baby.” Neither Streep nor the person her character was based on actually used the wording of the oft-misquoted line.

By 1990, Streep began to fear she was getting typecast strictly into roles that were dramatic and oftentimes depressing. In response, she actively sought and accepted several roles over the next five years that showed her comedic and action/adventure chops, including 1989’s “She-Devil,” 1990’s “Postcards from the Edge,” 1991’s “Defending Your Life,” 1992’s “Death Becomes Her,” 1994’s “The River Wild,” and even a voice acting part in a 1994 episode of “The Simpsons” as Bart’s crush, Jessica Lovejoy.

You might think the emotionally taxing roles would be the most difficult, but that distinction actually belongs to the comedic film “Death Becomes Her.” The seven-month shoot was one of the longest of Streep’s career, and because of her allergies to numerous cosmetics, special prosthetics had to be made when making her appear older. In order to play the bitter character, Meryl said she got into the mindset by “thinking about being slightly [ticked] off all of the time.” The work paid off, literally, as the film banked $15.1 million in its first five days.

Not only was 1996’s “Evita” in development nearly a decade prior to its release, but Meryl Streep was once the frontrunner for the lead, and she even managed to learn the entire score in a week. However, due to a combination of exhaustion and wanting a larger payday, Streep eventually dropped out and was replaced by Madonna. 

A few years later, Streep starred in Wes Craven’s “Music of the Heart,” and although he was her first pick, she initially turned down the director’s offer. The actress he temporarily cast in her stead was – you guessed it – Madonna, who eventually left the project due to creative differences.

Although Meryl was never averse to learning a new accent or language – or even singing – the idea of having to learn how to play the violin for “Music of the Heart” terrified her. And because she initially dropped out and rejoined the film just before director Wes Craven was ready to start shooting, she ended up having to pick up the instrument quickly. In the two months prior to filming, Streep practiced for five to six hours every day. This wouldn’t be the last instrument Meryl had to learn for a role; she also had to suddenly become a guitar player for 2015’s “Ricki and the Flash.”

Meryl Streep is a known philanthropist who donates to causes like The Public Theater (in honor of both Joseph Papp and Nora Ephron) and Gucci’s “Chime for Change” initiative, but her activism isn’t simply limited to money. In addition to donating her entire free for “The Iron Lady” ($1 million) to the National Women’s History Museum, she is also the institute’s spokesperson.

In another philanthropic effort, Streep held a special screening of “The Devil Wears Prada” in 2006, and as part of the event, she auctioned off her designer wardrobe from the film. The proceeds went to numerous charities, including Equality Now, a group that fights for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women and girls.

Meryl Streep isn’t just a three-time Academy Award winner, she is also the all-time leader for most Oscar nominations with 21 dating back to her first nod for 1978’s “The Deer Hunter.” Adding to that impressive feat, Streep is also the record holder for most Golden Globe wins (8) and nominations (31)... and that doesn’t include her non-competitive Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2016.

Although Meryl has earned countless honors in her lifetime, none is more prestigious than the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. She was given the medal in 2014 by President Barack Obama, who professed that he loves Streep and there is nothing her husband or his wife can do about it.