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Meryl Streep's Four Children: A Closer Look at Henry, Mamie, Grace, and Louisa

by Tasha Mayberry

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Meryl Streep and her husband, Don Gummer, have always prioritized keeping their family life private, especially during their children’s early years. This approach was inspired by a valuable lesson Streep learned from none other than Robert Redford. “Robert Redford taught me that when they were babies: ‘They are not your props.’ I really admired the way he protected his family,” the Oscar-winning actress shared with Good Housekeeping in 2008. “It’s something I consciously emulated.”Since their marriage in 1978, Streep and Gummer have built a loving family, welcoming four children together: their son Henry and daughters Mamie, Grace, and Louisa.

Henry Wolfe Gummer, now 45 years old

Henry Wolfe Gummer, born on November 13, 1979, in New York, is the eldest child of Meryl Streep and Don Gummer. Unlike his siblings, Henry has chosen to keep a much lower profile and ultimately moved away from acting after two years at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Instead, Henry found his true passion in music. Speaking to The New York Daily News, he shared, “For me, music was more stimulating from day to day. It was something that I didn’t need to be working on a project to practice. I can do it whenever, and I get satisfaction from completing songs that I never really got from acting.”

Mamie Gummer, now 41 years old

Mamie Gummer, the eldest daughter of Meryl Streep and Don Gummer, was born Mary Gummer on August 3, 1983, in New York City. An accomplished actress, Mamie’s first role came early—at just 20 months old—when she appeared alongside her mother in the 1986 film Heartburn. She portrayed Annie and was credited as Natalie Stern to keep her connection to the Hollywood icon under wraps. In her early 20s, Mamie explored modeling before landing her first Broadway role in Mr. Marmalade. Reflecting on her famous mother in an April 2007 interview, she shared, “At home, she’s not Meryl Streep — she’s Mum; she’s great, and I love her a lot.”

Grace Gummer, now 38 years old

Grace Gummer, born on May 9, 1986, in New York City, shares more than a striking resemblance with her sister Mamie—she also followed a similar path into acting. Grace’s first role came in 1993 when she played a younger version of her mother’s character in The House of the Spirits. Like her sister, she was credited under a pseudonym, Jane Grey, to keep her identity as Meryl Streep’s daughter private. A graduate of Vassar College, her mother’s alma mater, Grace earned degrees in art history and Italian before pursuing her passion for acting. She began her career on stage with The Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents and transitioned to television with Nickelodeon’s Gigantic and a small role in Larry Crowne. In 2012, Grace appeared as Rachel in Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig’s Frances Ha and had a two-episode arc on NBC’s Smash.

Louisa Jacobson, now 33 years old

Louisa Jacobson, the youngest child of Meryl Streep and Don Gummer, was born Louisa Gummer on June 12, 1991, in Los Angeles. Following in the academic footsteps of her mother and older sister Grace, Louisa graduated from Vassar College in 2013 with a degree in psychology. She then honed her acting skills, earning a Master of Fine Arts in acting from the Yale School of Drama and attending the British American Drama Academy in Oxford. To distinguish herself professionally, Louisa adopted her middle name as her stage surname due to Screen Actors Guild rules (another actress already uses the name Louisa Gummer). She began her career in theater, including a standout performance in Member of the Wedding at the 2018 Williamstown Theatre Festival alongside Tavi Gevinson.