In Hollywood, there are a few different ways to gauge how successful an actor is. For example, since the movie industry is a business first and foremost, actors mainly are judged based on their ability to headline films that make money. On top of that, people judge movie stars on their acting ability which can be gauged on things like how many awards they’ve won over the years.
Unfortunately, there aren’t that many movie stars who’ve proven that they are great actors and that their movies tend to make a lot of money. Thankfully for fans of Meryl Streep’s work, it is abundantly clear that she is the total package. After all, a lot of her movies have done big business at the box office and she has often been cited as the single best actor of all-time. On top of all that, many actors have spoken about loving working with Streep.
Of course, just because Meryl Streep has enjoyed an awful lot of success in her career doesn’t mean that things have always gone her way in her personal life. Instead, when Steep’s career was still taking off she suffered a loss that devastated her. Amazingly enough, however, that tragedy led to Steep meeting one of the most important people in her life.
Lasting Love
During Meryl Steep’s lengthy career, she has managed to make every movie she has starred in better. For that reason, she has been nominated for a staggering amount of awards over the year. In fact, as of the time of this writing, Streep has been nominated for twenty-one Oscars and there is every reason to believe that number will continue to climb.
Whenever Meryl Streep’s name has been called from the Oscars stage over the last several decades, a man named Don Gummer has been beaming with pride beside her. Married for 42 years as of the time of this writing, Streep and Gummer seem to have led a near-perfect life together with their four children.
While Don Gummer hasn’t talked to the press much over the years, his wife Meryl Streep hasn’t been shy about singing the praises of her longtime husband. For example, when Streep won an Academy Award in 2012, she spoke about how much Gummer has meant to her life. "First, I'm going to thank Don because when you thank your husband at the end of the speech they play him out with the music, and I want him to know that everything I value most in our lives, you've given me."
Unorthodox Meeting
In the summer of 1976, Meryl Streep appeared in a Shakespeare in the Park production of “Measure for Measure”. While landing that role was a big moment in Streep’s young career at that time, it was an even bigger deal in her personal life as John Cazale also was cast in the play. After meeting during that summer, Streep and Cazale fell madly in love.
After moving in together months after they first met, Meryl Streep and John Cazale had begun to build a life together. Sadly, the couple’s happiness then took a major turn when Cazale was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. A little less than two years after Streep and Cazale became a couple, John succumbed to cancer with a devastated Meryl by his side.
In the years since John Cazale passed away, Meryl Streep has said that she has never gotten over his death. In the immediate aftermath of Cazale’s demise, a grief-stricken Streep concluded that she couldn’t handle living in the apartment she’d enjoyed with him. As a result, she decided to move out with the help of her brother. Amazingly enough, Streep’s brother asked his friend Don Gummer to help with the move, and when Don and Meryl met they fell in love. Even though there is no question that Streep took Cazale’s passing very hard, she wound up marrying Gummer six months after John’s death.
Amazing Actor
When John Cazale passed away in 1978, it left a hole in the lives of the people who cared about him most. While their loss means the most, it should also be noted that moviegoers everywhere missed out on seeing where Cazale’s career would have gone in the future.
While John Cazale never was a household name, his acting career is one of the most amazing in Hollywood history. Since Cazale passed away at a young age, he only appeared in five films. However, quality is a lot more important than quantity, and from that point of view, John had a perfect career. After all, all five of the films Cazale starred in were nominated for a Best Picture Oscar and three of them took home that award.
In 1972, moviegoers got their first glimpse of John Cazale when he made his big-screen debut as Fredo Corleone in The Godfather. While a lot of people have forgotten about the next film Cazale starred in, The Conversation was an incredible film that deserves to be talked about more. From there, Cazale played Fredo again in The Godfather Part II and then he shared the screen with Al Pacino again in Dog Day Afternoon.
Sadly, by the time it came for Cazale’s next project to be filmed, it was known that he had terminal cancer and the studio refused to pay for him to be insured. Since movie stars have to be insured to headline a film, Cazale nearly missed out on his final role. However, The Deer Hunter’s lead actor Robert De Niro respected Cazale so much that he personally paid for his insurance which allowed John to star in the film.
While John Cazale should be considered a Hollywood legend since he played a pivotal role in so many amazing movies, there is another reason he deserves a lifetime achievement award. From all accounts, everyone who shared the screen with Cazale deeply respected him as a man and actor. For example, Al Pacino worked with Cazale three times and he once said something amazing about his frequent co-star. “I learned more about acting from John than anybody. All I wanted to do was work with John for the rest of my life. He was my acting partner.”