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When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

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#1

When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/22/07 at 4:56am

I was on a Meryl Streep kick this afternoon and rented KRAMER V. KRAMER and THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT WOMAN. Just finished watching KRAMER V. KRAMER (saving the latter for later) and was completely impressed by Streep's Oscar-winning performance. We hear so much about her turn in SOPHIE'S CHOICE that I forget about this performance that won her her first Oscar.
Now, I thought KRAMER was Streep's first Oscar nod, but then I realized she was nominated before that for THE DEER HUNTER. I also thought that she followed KRAMER's nod with SOPHIE'S CHOICE, but FRENCH LIEUTENANT came before SOPHIE'S.
So my question for the knowledgeable film buffs on the board is when did Streep become a name? How did she land such beefy roles in KRAMER and DEER HUNTER, or were those nominations (and award for KRAMER) unexpected?
Tonight I realized she is my favorite film actress but I know so little about her career.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"

Updated On: 12/22/07 at 04:56 AM

#2

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/22/07 at 5:59am

Meryl Streep became a "star" because of her incredible acting abilities. Her nomination for THE DEER HUNTER came before her performance in KRAMER VS. KRAMER but interestingly enough she wasn't the first choice to play the mom opposite Dustin Hoffman in that film. Kate Jackson (yes, that Kate Jackson a/k/a "Sabrina Duncan" of CHARLIE'S ANGELS) was the first choice. She actually had to bow out because Aaron Spelling would not accommodate her schedule so that she could be in the film. This infuriated Jackson and she left the show after the third season because of it. Streep was then cast and the rest is history.

I tend to think that it was directly after Streep's performance in SOPHIE'S CHOICE and her Oscar win for that role that solidified her status as a force to be reckoned with.
#3

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/22/07 at 8:10am

I think Kramer made her known. FRENCH LIEUTENANT was when she became known enough for them to start making fun of her ("IIIIII am the French Leftenants woooman!") Sophie's Choice was when she became a STAR
Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.
#4

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/22/07 at 8:44am

Actually, she got onto the national radar with her performance in the TV miniseries Holocaust.
The truly beautiful should be lawfully restricted from wearing clothing; and the truly butt-ugly should be lawfully mandated from going naked.
#5

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/22/07 at 9:04am

I believe her name became known in theater and critical circles while she was still at Yale. She was amazing and luminous in DEER HUNTER although the male cast members got most of the attention, and deserved to. I never thought KRAMER was Oscar worthy but I never understand the OScars (or the Tonys - lol). I think Streep "is" a star, and I watch her with pleasure no matter what the quality of movie.
#6

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/22/07 at 9:37am

Meryl became "known" with her first Oscar nomination for The Deer Hunter. She also had a small role the previous year in the movie "Julia." 1977 and '78 made her known in Hollywood circles as a very promising, up-and-coming actress.

But she did one big thing you've all left out prior to her Oscar win for Kramer Vs. Kramer that made everyone with a TV set start talking about this "really good actress with the funny name."

The hugely rated mini-series "Holocaust" which won her an Emmy Award for Best Actress in 1978.

By the time she won her first Oscar for 1979's Kramer, the "average folks" already knew who she was.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

Updated On: 12/22/07 at 09:37 AM

#8

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/22/07 at 11:12am

I've enjoyed a lot of her work and there is no doubt that she is a star but IMO in a number of performances she has not been a very natural actress. By that I mean there have been times when looking at her performance I was thinking, there she is ,"acting" again. That is not always the case and she has delivered some brilliant performances but sometimes . . . .
"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"
#10

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/22/07 at 1:21pm

Well that's obviously when she became a star, then.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#11

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/22/07 at 1:24pm

SNAP!

The earliest I remember seeing her is in A CRY IN THE DARK.
"Writing is like prostitution. First, you do it for love, then you do it for a few friends, and finally you do it for money." ~ Moliere
#13

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/22/07 at 2:23pm

it was with KRAMER that my mom (& by extension, our whole family) became a fan.

since then, mom refers to her as "merle", & talks about her like she's her best friend & co-worker.
#14

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/22/07 at 3:08pm

Thanks everyone. That's very interesting. I didn't know about HOLOCAUST. It's not on Region 1 DVD re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?
Interestingly enough she played Leila in Wendy Wasserstein's UNCOMMON WOMEN AND OTHERS with Swoozie Kurtz and Alma Cuervo, the production was filmed for PBS. I rented the DVD thinking she would have a major role (this was after her DEER HUNTER nod) but Leila is a rather small role.
I was just wondering when she became a name known to average audiences and producers'/directors' first choice.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#15

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/22/07 at 5:06pm

There was buzz about Streep while she was still at Yale, and a lot of people who saw her early stage appearances in New York (in some fairly small parts) said it was immediately clear that she was going to become a film actress.

You should post this question on ATC. You'll get some interesting stories about her early stage appearances.

I'd say it wasn't really until KRAMER VS. KRAMER that she became a bankable movie "star" - i.e. producers' first pick.
#16

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/22/07 at 7:11pm

In 1974, my friends at Yale went on and on about yet another performance by one of the graduate students in what turned out to be an extraordinary class.

The play was a farce that made fun of Russian theater called "The Idiots Karamazov," by two grad students, Christopher Durang and Albert Innaurato.

The leading role was that of Constance Garnett, the aged and wheelchair-ridden translator of all the early Chekhov plays, who was improbably pushed around in her wheelchair by her servant Ernest Hemingway.

The extraordinary actress, seen here with co-playwright Christopher Durang, was Meryl Streep.

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

To everyone at Yale, she was a star in 1974.
#17

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/22/07 at 8:03pm

Wow, thanks for that picture PalJoey.
Wasn't Streep part of Sondheim's THE FROGS at Yale too?

RE her Oscar for KRAMER V. KRAMER: I think her courtroom speech alone (which apparently she wrote since she disliked Benton's original speech) was worthy of the award. Her first and last scenes were great, but it was that courtroom scene that earned her the Oscar.
I just finished watching the FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN, awfully boring after she leaves the town but what a fantastic dual performance by Meryl.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#18

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/23/07 at 10:17am

"Wasn't Streep part of Sondheim's THE FROGS at Yale too?'

Yes, she and Sigourney Weaver, who was her classmate at the time, both were in that production.

I first remember her from The Deer Hunter and I think that in that same year, or the year before, she had a very small role in the film Julia.
"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"

Updated On: 12/23/07 at 10:17 AM

#19

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/23/07 at 10:35am

I just watched "A Series of Unfortunate Events" last night with Maryl. I love that movie, and I love her in it! She's so adorable with her shrieks!
#21

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/23/07 at 11:05am

She was the best in this film.
Nothing to hide behind.
Only her acting to prove it.
" ...the happiness in the tune convinces me that I'm not afraid."
#23

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/23/07 at 11:19am

Sophie, Mary Fisher, Angels in America, The Hours.
She's beyond brilliant.
" ...the happiness in the tune convinces me that I'm not afraid."
#25

re: When Did Meryl Streep Become A Star?

Posted: 12/23/07 at 11:29am

Thanks for that link, tazber! I cannot wait. I love 70s Streep!
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"

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