Meryl Streep is an American actress born in 1949 in New Jersey. She began her career performing in theater productions in New York in the 1970s. Her breakout film role was in Julia in 1977. In the 1980s she won acclaim for her roles in films like Kramer vs. Kramer and Silkwood, winning a BAFTA for the latter. In the 1990s and 2000s she continued to take on diverse roles, earning many award nominations including 14 Oscar nominations, winning Best Supporting Actress for Kramer vs. Kramer and Best Actress for Sophie's Choice. One of her most commercially successful films was 2008's Mamma Mia!, in which she played a single mother and