Pale Beauty: MerylStreep Trivia

Humbler Ambitions

Born in New Jersey in 1949, the young Mary (as she was originally named) received professional singing lessons before she was even in her teens. Thoughts of stardom were far from her mind, however. It was actually her ambition to become a cheerleader that led her, at 14, to dye her hair blonde – a look that would define her for decades to come.

Meryl rose to stardom in the late 70s, with roles in acclaimed dramas like "Holocaust" and "The Deer Hunter". Tragedy struck, however, when her boyfriend John Cazale – who had starred in the first two "Godfather" movies – was diagnosed with bone cancer. He died in 1978, just as Meryl was becoming an A-list superstar.

Like Marlon Brando and Robert de Niro , Meryl is a great Method actor, radically immersing herself in the characters she plays. Examples of this include mastering Polish and German for "Sophie's Choice", and learning the violin for her movie "Music of the Heart".

Regularly dubbed the greatest living Hollywood actress, Meryl has won two Oscars (for "Kramer vs Kramer" and "Sophie's Choice") and has been nominated for more Oscars than any performer in history. She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Meryl almost died during the making of her movie "The River Wild". It happened when the director decided to shoot one more scene before finishing for the day. Though Meryl warned she was too tired to act another action scene, the director insisted they go ahead. Swept off her raft and into a gushing river, she came close to drowning before being rescued. She later told the director, "When I say I can't do something, I think we should believe me."

She may be a fully-fledged movie goddess, but Meryl eschews the superficial glamour and disposable pleasures of the Hollywood universe. Despite being pressured to do so, she has always refused to have plastic surgery on her nose (which has a deviated septum). She's also been married to the same man since 1978, and regards being a mother her most demanding role. In her own words, "Home is where I really work."