Three new clips have been added to the video archive. First, a new public service announcement for the Center for Reproductive Rights. You can learn more about their recent campaign at their official website. Then, a report by CBS Evening News on the Charlie Foundation benefit, featuring an interview with Meryl. Thanks to the Charlie Foundation for the upload. The third clip is a blast from the past – a 1998 report on the Los Angeles premiere of “One True Thing”, including an interview with Meryl, and her first meeting with Reba McEntire, in which she thanks the singer for stepping in to sing “I’m Checking Out” at the Academy Awards 1991, when Meryl was pregnant and couldn’t attend. Credit for the clip goes to kegel80. Enjoy the new clips.

As we’ve covered Meryl’s motion picture debut last week, this Sunday we spotlight her first television appearance – in the 1977 drama “The Deadliest Season”. New screencaptures have been added to the gallery and a clip can be found in the video archive. Production notes and review after the cut. As always, please share your thoughts on “The Deadliest Season” in the comments.

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Meryl Streep has made a surprise visit at yesterday’s Hamptons International Film Festival to join Mike Nichols and others to honor costume designer Ann Roth. At the festival, Roth was presented with the fest’s Golden Starfish Award for lifetime achievement in costume design, co-presented by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Meryl Streep and Ann Roth are long time collaborators. Since their first time working together on “Silkwood”, Roth has made costumes for eleven more Streep films, including “Postcards from the Edge”, “The Hours”, “Mamma Mia!” and most recently “Julie & Julia”. A four-time Oscar nominee, Roth has won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for “The English Patient” in 1997. Pictures from the event can be found in the image library.

According to the New York Times, at a reception on Thursday night to mark the completion of the Public Theater’s $40 million renovation of its Astor Place home, the theater was scheduled to announce another reason to celebrate: the actress Meryl Streep has donated $1 million to be put toward the cost of the reconfiguration. “I give this gift, “ Ms. Streep said in a statement, “in honor of the founder of the Public Theater, my friend and mentor Joseph Papp, and in remembrance of one of the theater’s Board members and greatest supporters, my friend Nora Ephron.” (Papp died in 1991; Ephron died in June.) Ms. Streep’s association with the company goes back to her 1975 Broadway debut in Papp’s staging of “Trelawny of the Wells” (the cast also included Mandy Patinkin and John Lithgow). She has also appeared in Shakespeare in the Park productions of “Henry V” and “Measure for Measure,” and more recently, “The Seagull” and “Mother Courage and Her Children.” The Public Theater’s renovation includes an expanded lobby, a new mezzanine-level cocktail lounge called the Library, a lobby snack bar meant to encourage theatergoers to congregate, a new entrance to Joe’s Pub and an expanded box office. Many thanks to Glenn for the news.

Meryl Streep and Susan Sarandon will lead the luminaries honoring William McDonough at a fundraising gala for the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute on November 14, 2012. McDonough is a globally recognized leader in sustainable development. Along with Dr. Michael Braungart, he is the co-author of the landmark book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute is a nonprofit organization that was co-founded by William McDonough and Michael Braungart based on 30 years of work with industry. Its mission is to bring about a large-scale transformation in the way we make things. Through Cradle to Cradle certification, the Institute provides a continuous improvement quality standard to guide product manufacturers and designers toward making safe and healthy things for our world. Many thanks to Frank for the heads-up.

According to BroadwayWorld, Rob Marshall has made Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” his next project at Warner Bros/Disney – and a starry reading just has kicked the project off. BW has confirmed that the cast of the screenplay reading included Nina Arianda, Christine Baranski, James Corden, Allison Janney, Anna Kendrick, Donna Murphy and Patrick Wilson, among others. The cast for the film has not yet been announced, but BroadwayWorld has learned that Meryl Streep is in talks to join the film as the Witch, but was unable to make the reading. What’s interesting about this news is that Meryl has been already in talks to play the witch, when “Into the Woods” had a revival this year at the Public Theater. These news have never been confirmed back then, so let’s see if there’s more to the story this time. Thanks to everybody for the heads-up.

This week we cover “Julia”, Meryl’s 1977 motion picture debut. Since the role is really brief, not much material is available, but the image library has been updated with new DVD screencaptures (with many thanks to Katrin for guiding the film to me), a nice picture from the set (many thanks to Alvaro) and two stills from deleted scenes. The clips in the video archive have been updated in better quality as well. Production notes and review after the cut. As always, please share your thoughts on “Julia” in the comments.

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