@DanDare said:

With 20 Oscar nominations so far, I think she is.

Disagree vehemently

I don’t find her watchable at all and her choice of films is usually Oscar bait, she’s had that luxury to pick films since the late 70’s. Many of her contemporaries haven’t.

Glenn Close who’s never won an Oscar is a far better actress in my opinion and has starred in much more memorable films. For a long time Judi Dench and Helen Mirren never had such substantial leading roles as Streep, but have given better performances too.

The Oscars are meaningless and have been for decades.

@NotoriousRio said:

I don’t find her watchable at all and her choice of films is usually Oscar bait, she’s had that luxury to pick films since the late 70’s. Many of her contemporaries haven’t.

Glenn Close who’s never won an Oscar is a far better actress in my opinion and has starred in much more memorable films. For a long time Judi Dench and Helen Mirren never had such substantial leading roles as Streep, but have given better performances too.

The Oscars are meaningless and have been for decades.

this

Good actress? Yes

Overrated? Heck yeah

I love Meryl Streep and will proudly proclaim it, however Helen Mirren in RED?! Crazy kick-@$$ stuff she did. I'm sure Meryl could kick butt. But Helen can really kick butt. I'm scared of Helen. In a good way. She can cut you and you'd never suspect.

Not by a long shot! Streep is a superb actress, of course, but what she is particularly adept at is carefully selecting roles with mass appeal, and the sort which can vacuum up Oscar nominations (although in recent years her name turning up year after year has become more of a running joke for the hosts than an achievement to be celebrated) . To be such a huge box office name at her age is quite remarkable.

The OP calls for the best actress EVER - what about Barbara Stanwyck or Bette Davis or Katharine Hepburn or Myrna Loy or Wendy Hiller or Setsuko Hara or so many other greats?

Even if we restrict to actresses still living I'd argue that there are plenty on Streep's level. Isabelle Huppert takes risks that Streep would likely never consider, and always delivers. Then there are Helen Mirren, Juliette Binoche, Vanessa Redgrave, Sissy Spacek, Gong Li... etc etc.

In short, NO - Meryl Streep is not the best actress ever. She's a very good, occasionally great actress and a genuine star, but her reputation is as much due to smart (not necessarily bold) choices as it is to talent.

@rudely_murray said:

Not by a long shot! Streep is a superb actress, of course, but what she is particularly adept at is carefully selecting roles with mass appeal, and the sort which can vacuum up Oscar nominations (although in recent years her name turning up year after year has become more of a running joke for the hosts than an achievement to be celebrated) . To be such a huge box office name at her age is quite remarkable.

The OP calls for the best actress EVER - what about Barbara Stanwyck or Bette Davis or Katharine Hepburn or Myrna Loy or Wendy Hiller or Setsuko Hara or so many other greats?

Even if we restrict to actresses still living I'd argue that there are plenty on Streep's level. Isabelle Huppert takes risks that Streep would likely never consider, and always delivers. Then there are Helen Mirren, Juliette Binoche, Vanessa Redgrave, Sissy Spacek, Gong Li... etc etc.

In short, NO - Meryl Streep is not the best actress ever. She's a very good, occasionally great actress and a genuine star, but her reputation is as much due to smart (not necessarily bold) choices as it is to talent.

I was the OP. Of course stupid old me forgot to consider any other actresses living or dead when I expressed my opinion.

Thank you for pointing out the errors of my way.

By the way I have seen movies from all the actresses you have mentioned. Including Setsuko Hara in Tokyo Story. I still stand by my opinion.

Well it's your opinion and it's fine for you to have it - and you are certainly not alone, over the years many people have made the same claim. No insult was intended, and I certainly never meant to imply that you did not consider any other names when writing this post. As I said, I do like Streep, who at her best is VERY good. One of the best? Maybe. The best? I wouldn't like to single anyone out, regardless of nomination count.

@rudely_murray said:

Well it's your opinion and it's fine for you to have it - and you are certainly not alone, over the years many people have made the same claim. No insult was intended, and I certainly never meant to imply that you did not consider any other names when writing this post. As I said, I do like Streep, who at her best is VERY good. One of the best? Maybe. The best? I wouldn't like to single anyone out, regardless of nomination count.

I do agree with you, we should not go on Oscar counts or nominations.

Streep has shown variety, I have seen her movies since the late 1970s. I certainly would not consider Daniel Day Lewis as the greatest actor ever based on 3 Oscar wins. I always regarded him as a bit hammy. I always regarded Jack Nicholson also as a bit hammy, but then I saw some of his more subtle performances in lesser films from the 1970s and had to change my opinion.

Agree on Day-Lewis - who can be beautifully subtle or monstrously over the top - and Nicholson, who evolved from one of the most exciting and gifted of screen actors into pure ham in so many of his later roles (I personally feel that the Joker was the tipping point, although there are warning signs as early as Cuckoo's Nest).

Streep has versatility, that's for sure. Everybody will have their personal pick for her greatest performance (mine is A Cry in the Dark - she is extraordinary in that, with Kramer vs. Kramer and Defending Your Life as close runners-up). But she has failed performances on her cv, too. Personally I find a few of her more acclaimed 1980s roles - notably Sophie's Choice - too cold and technical, too much mannered touching of the cheek and gazing into space.

I admire her evolution as an actor, however, and have warmed to her more than ever in recent decades. I think much of her post-2000 work has been exemplary. Even here there are missteps, however - I found her dreadful in The Hours, and the less said about her appearance in The Giver, the better... But she has given more than enough fresh and exciting performances to overlook that. I simply wish that other great contemporary actresses were given the same options... I am sure there are any number who pick up scripts with Meryl's coffee stains all over them.