The Top 10 Meryl Streep Performances
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Written by: Ryan McNally
Meryl Streep is considered by many to be the world's finest living actress. Recently, she scored her 13th Oscar nomination, an all-time record, for her performance in the acclaimed comedy Adaptation. Film Frat looks back at her illustrious career and counts down the 10 top performances of Streep's filmography (listed chronologically) -- the ones that cemented her reputation as one of the best in the biz. |
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| 1. |
Holocaust (1978)
A young Meryl Streep won an Emmy for Best Actress in a Limited Series for her portrayal of Inga Helms Weiss, a Christian woman married to a Jewish man during the Holocaust. As a woman helpless as her husband and his family are taken to the concentration camps, Streep delivers one of her first great performances. |
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| 2. |
The Deer Hunter (1978)
This shattering Vietnam epic and Best Picture winner scored Streep her first Academy Award nomination. It's a memorable supporting role in which Streep plays the wife of one of the men leaving for Vietnam -- and must cope with the scars that this brutal war brings. |
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| 3. |
Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979)
In this hot-button issue film, Meryl Streep faces off with Dustin Hoffman as parents battling for the custody of their child. Streep's powerhouse performance scored her the first Oscar win of her career. |
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| 4. |
Sophie's Choice (1982)
Streep gives another devastating (and Oscar-winning) performance as a prisoner in a concentration camp who must make the most brutal of decisions regarding her two children. As heartbreaking as they come. |
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| 5. |
Silkwood (1983)
Streep plays Karen Silkwood, an Oklahoma nuclear power plant worker who leaves for a meeting with a New York reporter and never reaches her destination. Was she killed to prevent her from exposing corruption at the plant? Oscar nomination #5 for Streep. |
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| 6. |
Out Of Africa (1985)
In this romance and Best Picture winner, Streep plays Karen Blixen, a woman who has established a plantation in Africa and is in love with one man (Robert Redford) but married to another. Scored Streep her sixth Oscar nomination. |
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| 7. |
A Cry In The Dark (1988)
In this film, based on a true story, Streep plays Lindy Chamberlain, a woman whose baby daughter disappears one night during a camping trip. Lindy claims a dingo may have taken her baby, but inconsistencies in her story and her lack of emotion combine to make her a suspect. The verdict? An eighth Oscar nomination. | |
| 8. |
The Bridges Of Madison County (1995)
Streep delivers one of her greatest performances as Francesca Johnson, a farmer's wife who falls in love with a photojournalist (Clint Eastwood, who also directed) while her husband is out of town. For this landmark performance, Streep nabbed her 10th Oscar nomination. |
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| 9. |
One True Thing (1998)
Carl Franklin's film focuses on a career woman (Renee Zellweger) who comes home to care for her dying mother (Meryl Streep). As usual, Streep avoids cheap sentiment and cuts deeper to earn the audience's tears, and the result is her 11th Oscar nomination. |
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| 10. |
The Hours (2002)
Although Nicole Kidman won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in this film, Streep more than holds her own as a lesbian editor re-examining her life as she plans a birthday party for her ex-lover and dying friend (Ed Harris).Honorable mention: Manhattan (1979), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Ironweed (1987), Postcards From The Edge (1990), Defending Your Life (1991), Music Of The Heart (1999), Adaptation (2002) Don't forget to check out Film Frat's other actor showcases, the Top 10 Eastwood, the Top 10 Deniro, the Top 10 Pacino and the Top 10 Nicholson. For buying info on any of the Top 10 Meryl Streep films, click on the images above. Did we overlook your favorite Streep flick? Drop us a line and tell us which selections you agreed with, and which classic Streep you think we missed. |
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