梅莉·史翠普本名 Mary Louise Streep，1949 年出生於紐澤西州 Summit，成長於 Bernardsville 一帶的中產家庭。她從小展現對表演的興趣，高中時原本熱衷歌劇演唱，後來才逐漸轉向戲劇。1971 年，她從瓦薩學院（Vassar College）取得戲劇學位，隨後進入耶魯大學戲劇學院攻讀 MFA，1975 年畢業。

Meryl Streep — born Mary Louise Streep — was born in Summit, New Jersey, in 1949, and raised in a middle-class family around Bernardsville. She showed an early interest in performance, initially leaning toward opera singing in high school before gravitating to acting. She earned a drama degree from Vassar College in 1971, then an MFA from the Yale School of Drama in 1975.

畢業後，她迅速在紐約舞台劇圈嶄露頭角，1977 年百老匯復排版《櫻桃園》讓她開始受到矚目，隔年便以電視劇《大屠殺》（Holocaust）拿下艾美獎，同年主演《越戰獵鹿人》，正式踏入電影生涯——這一系列早期作品奠定了她日後被視為「她那一代最嚴謹演員」的地位。

After graduating, she quickly made her mark on the New York stage, gaining attention with a 1977 Broadway revival of The Cherry Orchard. The following year she won an Emmy for the miniseries Holocaust and starred in The Deer Hunter, officially launching her film career — a run of early work that established her as the most rigorous actor of her generation.

1979 到 1982 年間，史翠普以《克拉瑪對克拉瑪》拿下第一座奧斯卡（最佳女配角），三年後又憑《蘇菲亞的選擇》拿下最佳女主角——這段時期確立了她「情感深度」與「語言/口音技術」雙重神級的表演風格。此後四十年，她幾乎每隔一兩年就會交出一次奧斯卡等級的演出，累積至今 21 次奧斯卡提名（17 次最佳女主角、4 次最佳女配角），是影史任何演員中提名次數最多的紀錄保持人。

Between 1979 and 1982, Streep won her first Oscar (Best Supporting Actress) for Kramer vs. Kramer, then Best Actress three years later for Sophie's Choice — cementing a dual reputation for emotional depth and technical mastery of accents and dialects. Over the following four decades she delivered an Oscar-caliber performance nearly every year or two, accumulating 21 Oscar nominations to date (17 Best Actress, 4 Best Supporting Actress) — more than any actor in history.

她的角色光譜極廣：從《遠離非洲》的丹麥莊園主，到《穿著Prada的惡魔》裡令人膽寒的時尚女魔頭，再到《美味關係》裡活力四射的傳奇廚師 Julia Child——史翠普從未被定型於單一類型，反而以「精準的口音、姿態、情感控制」成為她個人的招牌，也讓她成為好萊塢公認技術與情感兼具的演技標竿。

Her range is vast: from the Danish plantation owner of Out of Africa to the terrifying fashion tyrant of The Devil Wears Prada to the exuberant Julia Child of Julie & Julia — Streep was never boxed into one type, instead making precision of accent, physicality, and emotional control her personal signature, earning her recognition as Hollywood's benchmark for both craft and feeling.

2023 年，史翠普的發言人證實她與 Don Gummer 已分居超過六年，兩人並未正式離婚，但長期分開生活。她的四名子女皆活躍於演藝或音樂圈，其中 Mamie Gummer 更多次在螢幕上與母親同框飾演相似角色，被媒體稱為「母女表演基因的延續」。

In 2023, Streep's representative confirmed she and Don Gummer had been separated for more than six years, living apart without formally divorcing. All four of her children are active in acting or music, with Mamie Gummer frequently drawing media comparisons to her mother's screen presence.