7 Essential Meryl Streep Performances You Have to See

She's so routinely nominated for Oscars (19 times so far, more than any actor in history) that it's almost shocking when she's not. In recent years, she's taken on more musical parts, proving to us that, not only can she sing beautifully, but she can even shred on rhythm guitar -- a skill the 66-year-old learned for her latest film, "Ricki and the Flash" (opening August 7).

In honor of her latest film, we look back at her 40-year career to find her seven best performances that any movie fan needs to see.

Article by Gary Susman

Freelance Writer

Gary Susman has been covering movies and TV for more than 25 years and has been a Moviefone columnist since 2009. He is a former senior writer at Entertainment Weekly, where he helped launch the award-winning PopWatch blog. He has written about entertainment for such outlets as Time, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, People, CNN, MSNBC, Life, The Village Voice, The Guardian, The Chicago Sun-Times, and The Boston Phoenix. He has been a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics since 1993. He is one of the authors of the 2011 book "LIFE 75 Years: The Very Best of LIFE."