3 time Oscar winner Meryl Streep honored for support of theatre

Veteran actress Meryl Streep adds one more award to her collection. The starlet received the 14th Annual Monte Cristo Award from the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in New York yesterday--She is honored for her continued support of the theater. Streep said receiving the award, which is given to those who continue to support American theater, was akin to a full-circle moment. "It’s nice to come back and support the places that gave you a break the first time out. And they’re still doing that for writers, actors and musicians today. And I never would have imagined 40 years ago when I spent six weeks there, first of all that the O’Neill would still be going, that I would be employed. All of that is a miracle," Meryl Streep said. The three-time Oscar winner attended the National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill in 1975 and acted in five plays. "It was a fantastic place. I met many, many people who are still friends and it was a really great experience. But more than that I think we need places that support the arts as the support is pulled out from under us at the governmental level," Meryl Streep said. Long-time friend and actor Joe Grifasi presented Streep with the award and said there is no secret behind her success. "I don’t know what to say, I never knew what to say. In a strange way, not in a strange way, I think you’ll find that Meryl doesn’t even know what to say to it herself,” Joe Grifasi said. Celebrating with Streep was last year’s honoree Michael Douglas, Judith Light and Kathy Baker who said Streep’s talent is two-fold. "She is a once in a lifetime, you know. I don’t know, I mean we all watch her and try to go, ’ok now, what is she doing and what can I learn?’ And you learn so much but there is a magic that you just, I think you’re born with it. She was born with it. And she knows how to use it," Kathy Baker said. The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, which is celebrating 50 years, is considered one of the premiere institutions for theater training.