Actress Meryl Streep arrives at the 84th Academy Awards nominees luncheon in Beverly Hills, Calif., Feb. 6, 2012.
Who knew that Meryl Streep was the Susan Lucci of the big screen?
Her Oscar promoters, for a start. An e-mail sent to Academy Awards voters this week underlined not only her "best-actress" chops in The Iron Lady, in which Streep portrays Margaret Thatcher , but the surprisingly long gap – that would be decades-long – between gold trophies.
It's become an awards-season cliché that any actress recognized by her peers should be happy with a nomination, because the trophy will always go to Streep. But if she's often touted as the best actress of her generation, the 62-year-old has not actually taken home an Oscar since 1983.
Yes, you read that right.
The "for your consideration" e-mail sent this week – allegedly from a third party contracted by the Weinstein Company, the studio behind The Iron Lady – put it a little more boldly in the form of a loud quote from critic Thelma Adams.
"It's been TWENTY-NINE YEARS SINCE MERYL STREEP WON AN OSCAR," she said, "and she certainly deserves to win for her performance in The Iron Lady."
True, Streep has been nominated 17 times – making her the most nominated actor or actress in Academy Awards history. But the sum of her Oscar glory amounts to two trophies: the last one for Sophie's Choice. Her only other trip to the podium was three years earlier for her work as best supporting actress in Kramer vs. Kramer.
The Weinstein Company certainly hopes this will finally change, even if its tactics reportedly raised the ire of some Oscar voters: Its e-mail, sent out Tuesday to The Hollywood Reporter's subscribers – many of whom are academy members – was seen by some as a way of skirting academy campaign rules.
Still, the Iron Lady herself might have taken forceful measures faced with two such daunting digits. Surely, after 29 years, her Streepness is due.
Dave McGinn
Dave McGinn