I first thought this was a screen test for “The Iron Lady” :-), but it’s Meryl Streep in 1991 presenting the first part of the documentary “Age 7 in America”. An adaption of a British TV series, this documentary chronicles the lives of a group of economically, racially & socially diverse 7-year olds living throughout America in 1990. The filmmakers have returned every seven years to chronicle the children’s growth. The first part has been uploaded to Vimeo, a clip and captures of Meryl’s opening can be found in Simply Streep’s image and video archives. Enjoy! Thanks to Tina for originally finding it!

Here are some fantastic video additions that help to complete the archives big time :-) First is a segment from the 1982 Academy Awards, when Meryl received her first Best Actress nomination for “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”. With this being added, all her Oscar appearances are now complete :-) Then, with many thanks to DVDGuy there are two clips of Meryl attending the 1986 People’s Choice Awards, winning as Best Actress and Best Allround Entertainer. And finally, with many thanks to Daniel, two clips of Meryl presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award to Paul McCartney at the 1990 Grammy Awards. Thanks both for these teriffic finds! Screencaps from these appearances have been added to the Image Library as well. Edit: The People’s Choice Awards videos have been re-uploaded, see this update for more information.

Both the audio and video archives have been updated with lots of new findings. First, clips of Meryl’s more recent appearances to the premiere of “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and the “A Magical Evening” Gala Benefit, a behind-the-scenes look at Meryl recording her “Fox” lines as well as a clip of Film 2009’s report on the UK release of “Julie & Julia”, with thanks to Alvaro for contributing the latter.

Then, older clips have been added as well – ranging from films and televised stage productions (Dark Matter, Secret Service, Alice at the Palace), making ofs (Lemony Snicket, with thanks to Tina), more promotional interviews for A Cry in the Dark, Postcards from the Edge and Death Becomes Her to various television programmes, including reports on Mother Courage in 2006, the Theater of War documentary as well as Meryl’s appearance at the 9/11 Memorial tribute in Central Park in 2002. Again, thanks to Tina for these rare finds.

Last but not least, the audio archive has been updated with many new soundbites, including the MoMa Conversation with Mike Nichols, also featuring Streep, Elaine May and Nora Ephron, various stage readings from A Prairie Home Companion and public speeches to support charity events. Everything can be found in the audio archive. Enjoy the new additions!

Here comes a real blast from the past – Meryl’s very first appearance at the Golden Globe Awards. The year is 1989 and Meryl was nominated as Best Actress in a Drama for “A Cry in the Dark” – my personal favorite performance.  1989 marked the first and so far only three way tie in the history of the Golden Globes in the Lead Actress – Drama category, unfortunately Meryl was not among the winners. Nevertheless, this is a wonderful addition to the archives, so enjoy the clip!

The video archive has been modified for the new layout and has been made more functionable and easier on the eye. Also, two new clips from the 1990s have been added with many thanks to Bruno for finding them and letting me add them to the archives. First, a report from the British film programme “The Big Picture” on “She-Devil”. Then, a French report on Meryl leaving her handprints at the Mann’s Chinese Theatre in 1994.