It wasn’t until the 80s and 90s where Sarandon really became a household name. Her appearance in Tony Scott’s The Hunger in 1983 was extremely controversial due to the content of some scenes, but it was the 1987 flick Bull Durham opposite Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins which made her a real A-list star. Susan still acts but is also a very vocal activist and focuses her efforts of humanitarian work. She is a Goodwill Ambassador and has received recognition for her work.
An MFA theater graduate, Streep started on the stage and then launched her film career. She first appeared on our screens on the television movie The Deadliest Season and then earned an Emmy award for her part in the TV miniseries Holocaust. Her big breakthrough on the big screen wasn’t until The Deer Hunter with Robert De Niro in 1978. She earned an Oscar nomination for her role in that cult classic, the first of 19 nominations she would earn throughout her career.
Streep has won 19 Academy Award nominations, more than any other actress and is one of six elite actors who has won three or more awards for acting. She won Best Supporting Actress for Kramer vs Kramer in 1979, and then Best Actress for Sophie’s Choice in 1982 and The Iron Lady in 2011. Other notable roles include; The Devil Wears Prada (2003), Mamma Mia! (2008) and Doubt (2008). With over 157 awards across her career and the record for Academy Award Nominations, Meryl is truly a mega star.
Pam Grier is from North Carolina and was supposedly discovered by director Jack Hill while working as a receptionist for American International Pictures in 1967. She rose to fame in the 1970s for her parts in a series of successful movies such as The Big Bird Cage (1972), Coffy (1973), Foxy Brown (1974) and Sheba Baby (1975). She was type cast for playing strong, bold and assertive women and she is credited as being the first African-American woman to headline an action movie for her role in Coffy.
