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Actress Meryl Streep has been in show business for more than five decades, but despite being a public figure, she has generally kept her personal life private — and that includes her relationships.
Streep, born in 1949 in New Jersey, began her acting career by appearing in several theater productions. She moved to New York City in 1975 where she was cast in several shows. It was in one of those productions where she met a fellow actor who would be her boyfriend.
John Cazale
John Cazale, like Streep, had a background in theater and had appeared in a few movies including The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974), The Conversation (1974), and Dog Day Afternoon (1974). In the summer of 1976, he played the role of Angelo in the theater production Measure for Measure based on William Shakespeare’s play. It was there that he met Meryl Streep who portrayed Isabella.
The two had an instant connection despite Streep being 14 years Cazale’s junior. They started a romantic relationship and moved in together in a loft in Tribeca. At that time, Cazale was more famous than Streep, but still, he wasn’t a big star. He told Streep that he would marry her when he got his big break. Things were going well, both in their professional and personal lives. That changed, however, when Cazale was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
Cazale had been cast in Deer Hunter alongside Robert De Niro, but the studio wanted to replace the former due to his diagnosis and the insurance costs that came with it. De Niro insisted that Cazale be in the movie and paid for the actor’s insurance himself. Streep also had a role in the movie. Theater director, Joe Papp, witnessed the love between the two and said, “She took care of him like there was nobody else on Earth.” Actor Al Pacino, who was close friends with Cazale, also saw Streep’s devotion throughout Cazale’s health struggles. “When I saw that girl there with him like that I thought, ‘There’s nothing like that…’ As great as she is in all her work, that’s what I think of when I think of her.”
After shooting Deer Hunter, Streep flew to Austria to shoot a miniseries titled Holocaust, a job she accepted just to help pay for her partner’s mounting medical bills. Afterward, she went back home to New York and focused on taking care of Cazale, whose health was rapidly declining. The 42-year-old actor died on Mar. 12, 1978, in a hospital with Streep by his side.
Don Gummer
Streep spent time in Canada with a friend to grieve after Cazale’s passing. Upon her return to New York, she found herself evicted from the place she shared with Cazale. Streep’s brother, Harry, helped her sister pack and brought a friend with him, sculptor Don Gummer. Streep and Gummer had met in passing a few times before, but the actress hadn’t paid him much attention. Gummer was scheduled to be overseas and offered for Streep to stay in his New York apartment in his absence, and she accepted.
The love between the two wasn’t instant. Instead, they got to know each other through letters. Streep soon discovered that Gummer wanted to be more than friends, but the former was still grieving the loss of Cazale and wasn’t confident that entering a new relationship was the best. With the urging of a friend, however, she spent more time with Gummer and after dating, they married on Sept. 30, 1978, six months after Cazale’s death.
Some of the people close to Streep were skeptical about the union, including her mother and friends who wondered whether Gummer was just a rebound. However, that was proven not to be the case. Streep and Gummer have been photographed over the years, enjoying date nights and attending red-carpet events. Together, they have four children: Henry, Mamie, Grace, and Louisa. In 2023, Streep, via her representative, announced that she and her husband had been separated for six years. Beyond these, there have been no other confirmed romantic relationships involving Streep.