Meryl Streep and husband Don Gummer ‘have been separated for more than six years’

Meryl Streep and her husband of 45 years, American sculptor Don Gummer, have reportedly “been separated for more than six years”.

The Oscar-winner, 74, and Gummer, 76, tied the knot during a ceremony in the garden of Streep’s parents’ home in Connecticut, US. They have four children – son Henry Wolfe Gummer, 43, and daughters, Marmie Gummer, 40, Grace Gummer, 37, and 32-year-old Louisa Jacobson – as well as five grandchildren.

After 45 years of marriage, Streep and Gummer “have chosen lives apart”, a spokesperson for The Devil Wears Prada star said in a statement to Page Six on Friday (20 October).

“Don Gummer and Meryl Streep have been separated for more than six years, and while they will always care for each other, they have chosen lives apart,” the statement read.

The Independent has contacted Streep’s representatives for comment.

Streep and Gummer were first introduced by the critically acclaimed actor’s brother, Harry, in 1978.

At the time, she was mourning the death of her late partner and Deer Hunter co-star, the actor John Cazale, who died from lung cancer earlier that year.

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After his death, Streep moved out of the New York apartment she had shared with Cazale – a decision that would ultimately lead her to Gummer. The sculptor was a friend of Harry’s and offered Streep a room in his temporarily vacant home since he was heading leaving the country for a trip to Europe.

When he returned to the US, Gummer invited Streep to continue staying with him and, within six months, they were married. Henry Wolfe was born on 13 November 1979.

In a 2009 interview with The Independent, Streep said her personal life “has mitigated how I chose scripts”, and that she refused work that would “take me too far away” from her husband and children for a long time.

“I always think about my family life in relation to my career – it has mitigated how I chose scripts,” Streep shared. “I turned down things that would take me too far away for a long time. But I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve been with my family much more than a job which might give me two weeks off in August.”

Today, all of Streep and Gummer’s children are in show business. While Henry Wolfe is a singer-songwriter, Marmie, Grace and Louisa are pursuing acting careers.

Marmie is best known for playing the role of Nancy Crozier on The Good Wife, and Broadway star Grace has appeared on shows such as Mr Robot and American Horror Story: Freak Show. Louisa currently stars as Marion Brook on HBO’s The Gilded Age.

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News of their separation came the same day that Streep was honoured at Spain’s prestigious Princess of Asturias Arts Award ceremony in Oviedo, presided over by the Spanish royal family.

In her acceptance speech, Streep underscored the importance of empathy in “our increasingly hostile, volatile world”, adding: “I hope we might take to heart another rule every actor is taught, that is: it is all about listening.”

Earlier this month, Jada Pinkett Smith revealed that she and her husband, Oscar-winner Will Smith have been living separately since 2016.

The Girls Trip star, 52, also said she was “really shocked” when Smith referred to her as his wife before infamously slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony, considering they had been separated for six years at the time.