Meryl Streep on screen and stage Deer Hunter" (1978) proved to be a breakthrough for Streep and she received her first Academy Award nomination for it. She won the award the following year for playing a troubled wife in the top-grossing drama "Kramer vs. Kramer" (1979). Also in 1978, Streep played a German married to a Jew in Nazi Germany in the television miniseries "Holocaust", which earned her the Emmy Award for Best Actress. Streep established herself as a leading Hollywood actress in the 1980s. She played dual roles in the period drama "The French Lieutenant's Woman" (1981), and starred as a Polish Holocaust survivor in
Meryl Streep on screen and stage "Sophie's Choice" (1982). She was awarded the Best Actress Oscar for the latter. Streep portrayed the real-life character of Karen Silkwood in Mike Nichols' drama "Silkwood" (1983), before starring in her most financially successful release of the decade, the romantic drama "Out of Africa" (1985), in which she played the Danish writer Karen Blixen. Despite intermittent successes, Streep's career went through a period of decline post-1985, with several commentators criticizing her for her inclination towards melodramatic roles. The criticism continued despite her attempts to actively star in commercial comedies, films that parodied women's beauty and aging, "She-Devil" (1989) and "Death