She is one of the most renowned actresses of our time, from the iconic Devil Wears Prada, to the touching Bridges Over Madison County her presence lights up a screen. Here we look at the tragic romance that shaped Meryl Streep’s career, as she sobbed while losing her true love, John Cazale.
Meryl Streep is an icon, she has continuously been starring in hit movies across her career spanning over four decades. She’s received many accolades at award shows for this fabulous career, with 21 Academy Award nominations and 33 Golden Globe nominations. The celebrity is diverse, giving us the uptight Miranda Priestly in the Devil Wears Prada, the bold singing Donna Sheridan in Mamma Mia!, to the heartbreaking portrayal of Francesca Johnson in Bridges Over Madison County. Streep’s life has mirrored this movie, filled with love, loss, and grief. On her birthday, we take a look back at the moving story that shaped her into the fantastic actress Meryl Streep is today, and losing her love John Cazale.
The tragic love story that shaped Meryl Streep’s career
Meryl Streep had been married to partner Don Gummer for 45 years before they decided in 2017 to lead separate lives. A representative for Streep toldPeople “Don Gummer and Meryl Streep have been separated for more than 6 years, and while they will always care for each other, they have chosen lives apart.”
However, the lesser known tragedy of Meryl’s life is that of her first love, The Godfather actor John Cazale. The pair met in 1976 while starring together in the play Measure for Measure. It was love at first sight. According to actor Marvin Starkman “Once he was in that play, the only thing he talked about was her.” Their romance had them quickly living together in Cazale’s Tribeca loft.
Cazale began to feel ill in May 1977, and was rushed to an emergency doctor’s appointment. It was there Streep and Cazale learned the heartbreaking news – Cazale had terminal lung cancer, which had already spread throughout his whole body. The two showed great determination in not succumbing to despair. They continued acting, eating out and trying to live full lives as his health deteriorated.
During Cazale’s radiation treatment, Streep starred in an Emmy-winning role in Holocaust. Though Streep never let on to her internal turmoil, this must have been an incredibly challenging role. She was not only daily filming increasingly grim scenes, but she was separated from her dying love for the duration. During the same period, a terminally ill Cazale starred alongside Robert De Niro in The Deer Hunter.
Once returning from these shoots, the pair retreated into a cocoon where Streep cared for her fading lover. “I was so close,” she said, “that I didn’t notice the deterioration.”
A final tragic goodbye
In early March 1978, John Cazale was admitted to Memorial Sloan Kettering, then on March 12 at 3am doctor’s told Meryl Streep “He’s gone.”
“Meryl wasn’t ready to hear it, much less believe it,” Michael Schulman writes in his biography Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep.
“What happened next, by some accounts, was the culmination of all the tenacious hope Meryl had kept alive for the past 10 months. She pounded on his chest, sobbing, and for a brief, alarming moment, John opened his eyes. ‘It’s all right, Meryl,’ he said weakly. ‘It’s all right.’ ” Then he closed his eyes and died.
“She doesn’t talk about it much,” continues Schulman. “But that year was so wildly eventful and dramatic in her life. It was instrumental in shaping who she was as a person and an actor.”
In the US, contact Cancer Care at 800‑813‑HOPE (4673) or visit this link. You can also call the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-234 or visit their website.
In the UK, you can call Breast Cancer Now free on 0808 800 6000 or visit Cancer Research UK , or Macmillan Cancer Support.
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