Meryl Streep to Receive the Golden Bear Award

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Oscar winner Meryl Streep, currently on screen in select theaters starring as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, has been named the winner of an Honorary Gold Bear at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival. Announcing Streep’s selection for the honor, Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick stated, “We are delighted to be able to award the Honorary Golden Bear to such a terrific artist and world star. Meryl Streep is a brilliant, versatile performer who moves with ease between dramatic and comedic roles.”

Streep will pick up the Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement award on February 14, 2012 at the Berlinale Palast in Berlin.

More on Meryl Streep [Courtesy of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival]:

Meryl Streep has appeared in over 40 films and is looked upon as one of the world’s most talented and popular actresses. She has received countless awards and nominations as an artist, including an unprecedented 16 nominations for the Oscar (two of these coveted prizes which she won) and 18 Golden Globe nominations and seven wins.

Meryl Streep’s international breakthrough came in the late 1970s with the TV series Holocaust and Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter (1978, first Oscar nomination) as well as the divorce drama Kramer vs. Kramer (1979, directed by Robert Benton), for which she received her first Oscar. She won a second Academy Award for her compelling performance in Sophie’s Choice (1982, directed by Alan J. Pakula).

She also starred in Woody Allen’s romantic comedy Manhattan (1979) and the historical drama The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981, directed by Karel Reisz). She portrayed a very committed union activist in Silkwood (1983) by Mike Nichols, as well as Tania Blixen in Sidney Pollack’s epic adaptation of Out of Africa (1985). With Susan Seidelman’s She-Devil (1989), Streep appeared in her first comedy; in 1992, she gave yet another brilliant comic performance in Death Becomes Her (directed by Robert Zemeckis). In the 1995 drama The Bridges of Madison County, she played the lead alongside Clint Eastwood, who also directed the film.

In 2002, she performed in Stephen Daldry’s screen adaptation of the novel The Hours. Leading roles followed in the energetic satire The Devil Wears Prada (2006, directed by David Frankel), Robert Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion (2006), and the political thriller Lions for Lambs (2007, directed by Robert Redford). With the musical comedy Mamma Mia (2008, directed by Phyllida Lloyd), and Julie & Julia (2009, directed by Nora Ephron), Meryl Streep once again showed how versatile she is. She has received her most recent Golden Globe nomination with her performance as Margaret Thatcher in the upcoming film The Iron Lady (2011, directed by Phyllida Lloyd).

Meryl Streep has been invited to the Berlin International Film Festival several times: in 1999, she was awarded the Berlinale Camera; and in 2003, Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman and she shared a Silver Bear for their performances in The Hours. In 2006, she could again be seen in the Berlinale Competition in Robert Altman’s ensemble comedy A Prairie Home Companion.