Congratulations - America's best screen actress BY FAR - for ages & ages at the very least

My Goodness ! Nobody else wishing to sing the praises of Melyl  Streep ?

I've been going to the cinema ever since talking films started and I honestly can't think of a better movie actress during the whole of those 81+ years - can you ?  Film STARS mabe , but film ACTRESSES, NONE IMHO !.

She  turns herself into a completely different person in every role she plays - voice & all !

She has been nominated for the greatest number of Oscars ever - 17, and just now WON her 3rd Oscar !  I may be wrong but the only other atress to win 3 was Bette Davis.

Meryl Street has now won two best actress awards and one best supporting actress.

Betty Davis only won two.

p.s Katherine Hepburn won four Best Actress Oscars (nominated 12 times)

p.p.s Viola Davis should have won this year for "The Help" it is a better performance.

great performance as Margaret Thatcher, too bad the movie wasn't nearly as good as i hoped it would be.

Too much focus on her Alzheimer Disease.

I prefer the bitchy Meryl Streep, like her performance in The Devil Wears Prada 

Lucien21

Many thanks for updating, and adding info - and particularly for correcting some erroneous facts of mine (which , believe it or not, I ALWAYS appreciate.)

I think I fiat saw Meryl Streep in :The French Lieutenant's Woman in 1981 - that's 31 years ago,,, t=exactly twice her present age ! It was based omen the 1969 novel by John Fowls - always pretty deep & philosophical, I don't remember being impressed at the time by either the film or Meryl Streep - but since then I've seen many movies in which she has appeared.

Streep is a fine actress and can do both drama and comedy so well.  I remember her gut-wrenching performance in Sophie's Choice and her great sense of timing in Death Becomes Her.  I saw The Iron Lady when I was in London last month and was very impressed with with her performance.  She has a wonderful ear for accents and has done so many different ones flawlessly.  I admire her very much.

I favored Meryl Streep over Viola Davis for Best Actress. Viola Davis is an astounding actress given her starring role in The Help and the few minutes as a supporting actress in Doubt which was like a Master Class in acting.

However, Streep had more screen time (as the main character) in Iron Lady and what's more, had to perform her impression of Margaret Thatcher in 3different age periods, particulary the 'elderly' period which meant changing one's voice, mannerisms and gait for all 3 which she did about as accurately (or perhaps a better word is believably) as I think is possible. Meryl Streep's range as an actress isincredible. Even if you just look at the last few years, the difference among the roles in Devil Wears Prada, Julie & Julia (as Julia Childs), Doubt and Iron Lady is marked and at no point do you (IMO) feel that Streep is playing Streep. (On the other hand, to some extent, I always felt that Katharine Hepburn was always playing Katharine Hepburn.)

AI c0mletely agree with both Lady Kestrel and SirDave.

What SirDave wrote about Katharine Hepburn applies equally to another 'historic' film lady – Bette Davis.

I have said something similar before – whereas Hepburn & Davis were GREAT film *STARS*  Streep is a GREAT film *ACTRESS!*  !

Now lets see her get one for playing a male like Linda Hunt

"Stiler ----- Now lets see her get one for playing a male like Linda Hunt ".

Heeheehee... that would be very much a TALL order - *PUN INTENDED*.

However I think I remember Meryl Streep acting 4 different parts in "Angels in America". 

In that film was a very  short cameo performance of an elderly American (male) rabbi. 

At the end of the film I wondered who was the actor who played that very authentic part. 

When examining the Credits I was stunned to find that the (female) Meryl Streep played that part to perfection.

What other film actress would &or could do that. ??

I don't know if Meryl Streep is the best actress, but Naomi Watts and Nicole Kidman are a lot better to look at

Hehehe Walsh – you're right of course.

Meryl Strteep is not a ravishing breathy. But in some films she plays the part of a 'plain' &/orb even unpleasant female- with looks to go with them !

On the other hand we saw her recently "live" for 15 or 20 minutes or so being interviewed I think it was "60 Minutes" – not on-screen.

She had a very attractive appearance and a fabulous personality.

She is certainly much better looking than Bette David and IMO than Katharine Hepburn whose looks never stunned me !

For a woman of 62 who has given birth to 4 children (one only husband) in the midst of a splendid career, I think she looks fantastic.

Streep has been a real powerhouse in Hollywood for a long time now and it will be interesting to see which of today's serious, young film actresses carries that torch for the next 30 years or so. 

Natalie Portman (Jerusalem-born but moved to Washington, DC at a very early age) was stunningly good in her first major role as a very smart, tough little girl (in The Professional) and astonishing in The Black Swan.  

Her character in the more recent Star Wars movies was far too one dimensional, but I chalk that up mostly to poor writing and directing. Otherwise, she has been quite good in several other films like Where The Heart Is, Closer, V for Vendetta and The Other Boleyn Girl.

Winona Ryder had an amazing run at an early age too. But her career got sidetracked by personal / legal problems. Hope she gets it all back together, because that woman really is extremely talented.

In the meantime, Streep is still the standard bearer of major American female movie stars for versatility and screen presence. 

Not too far behind are Glenn Close and Australian-born Cate Blanchett. Both have incredible range. 

There are of course many other fine actresses from across the world. But the above have consistently done great work.  

Cheers, Terry

I've only seen Meryl Streep in one movie: Silkwood (I don't get out much). I think she's great in the title role.

Terry, I agree with you about Natalie Portman. I think she's amazing.

The first DVD I ever bought was Leon, which is the overseas title of The Professional. It contains 25 minutes' worth of scenes that are missing from the US version.

Hi Terry,

[size= small] I hardly go to the cinema these days - mainly since I can hardly see the screen – so I miss out on most of the budding movie actresses you have mentioned and so can't assess their talents.

But the terrific talent of Meryl Streep is her ability to change her voice.

Her voice-acting of  Margaret Thatcher is impeccable. Imitating her original Northern England voice trained to a bit strangulated speech is amazing, and even more so for a native American – superb.

I always thought Tilda Swinton was a great underrated actress. She still looks so young for her age.

Emma Thompson is probably the most equal to Streep imo as far as older actresses goes.

Just watched Death Becomes Her th eother day, such a fun movie of hers, she plays that part so well.

Yes Stiler,

I agree that Emma Thompson is certainly a very fine actress.

The first time we saw her was in one of her first appearances with her then husband Kenneth Branagh as a young couple in Bucharest (Rumania) in the very early days of WWII. 

It was a 7-part BBC TV mini-series based on a novel by Olivia Manning.  It was shown in 1987, and since she was born in 1959 she must have been 28 and at the beginning of an illustrious career.

Another brilliant British  film & stage actress is Joan Plowright.

She was married to Sir Laurence Olivier for the last 28 years of his life but was a actress both before & after her marriage to him.

Legally she became "Lady Olivier" & Baroness Olivier" but NEVER used those titles professionally.

She has brilliantly played dozens & dozens of classical roles and many others. We first saw her on stage many years ago and before she became attached to Olivier !

We were amazed to happen to stumble on a film on TV some time ago where she played (quite convincingly) a Polish immigrant Jewish housewife in America in the early 20^th century .