Ranking Every Meryl Streep Oscar Win
Oscar history has plenty of great winners, yet few careers feel as woven into the ceremony as Meryl Streep’s.
Three wins sit on the record, but the real fascination lives in how different each victory is, almost like a mini tour of what makes her work so hard to pin down.
Even the years that ended without a trophy helped build the legend, turning her nominations into a kind of annual checkpoint for serious acting.
A ranking can’t sum up a career like this, but it can spotlight how wildly the winning roles differ, and why the Academy kept circling back.
Disclaimer: Details about awards reflect widely documented Academy Awards results, while any ranking or interpretation is editorial and may vary by viewer taste, era, and criteria.
The Streep Standard At The Oscars
Three Oscar wins can look like a neat little set on paper, yet Meryl Streep’s trophies trace a much bigger story.
One arrives early, announcing a new kind of screen intelligence. Another lands decades later, built on craft so precise it becomes its own headline.
In between sits a performance that still defines “all-timer” acting conversations.
Add a record-setting 21 nominations, and the Oscars start to feel less like a finish line and more like Streep’s recurring stage.
3. Best Supporting Actress — Kramer vs. Kramer (1980)
Early-career electricity runs through this performance, especially in how much emotion gets communicated in tight, realistic scenes.
Subtle choices do the heavy lifting, and the work still feels modern in its restraint.
Winning in the supporting category for this film also set the tone for how quickly she became must-watch in serious adult dramas.
Though she had limited screen time compared to Dustin Hoffman, every moment counted.
This win launched her into the stratosphere and proved she could hold her own against Hollywood’s biggest names.
2. Best Actress — The Iron Lady (2012)
Transformation is the headline, but the real win comes in the quieter human beats – moments that keep the portrayal from becoming a straight imitation.
Awards-season context matters too: taking Best Actress here marked a rare late-career Oscar win.
It felt like both a specific performance victory and a reminder of long-term dominance. However, some critics argued the film itself was weaker than the performance, which sparked debate.
Still, watching her embody Thatcher’s voice, posture, and iron will remains absolutely mesmerizing, even if you’ve seen it a dozen times.
1. Best Actress — Sophie’s Choice (1983)
Nothing else in the win column hits with the same lasting punch. Emotional range, technical control, and sheer nerve all show up on screen without feeling showy.
Cultural memory has kept this performance at the center of all-time acting conversations for decades, and the Oscar result tracks that legacy.
If you’ve never watched it, prepare to be emotionally wrecked.
The famous choice scene remains one of cinema’s most devastating moments, and Streep’s Polish accent work became the gold standard for dialect coaching in Hollywood forever.
The Losses That Still Sting — Postcards from the Edge and The Devil Wears Prada
Oscar nights also reveal how wide Streep’s range stretches beyond the wins.
Postcards from the Edge showed razor-sharp comedic timing with real emotional bite, while The Devil Wears Prada turned a cool, controlled boss into a pop-culture landmark.
Neither performance ended with a statue, but both became reference points people still quote, imitate, and study.
Put those alongside the three victories, and the picture gets clearer: Oscars may mark moments, but Streep’s legacy keeps moving.
