Meryl Streep Wins Third Academy Award

It was one of the nail-biters of the 2012 Oscars: would the already legendary actress Meryl Streep, 62, take away the Best Actress Academy Award for her transformation into Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, or would she be beaten out by contenders Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs), Viola Davis (The Help), Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)?

When last year's Best Actor winner Colin Firth announced Streep as the winner, there was a mixed bag of reactions about the victory — Streep's first since her Sophie's Choice win in 1982, three decades ago. In her acceptance speech last night, Streep acknowledged what the New York Daily News has since referred to as "Streep fatigue."

"When they called my name," Streep joked, "I had this feeling I could hear half of America going, 'Oh no! Oh come on, why her? Again?!" The audience laughed, before Streep dismissed "half of America's" concerns with a flippant wave of her hand, "But, whatever," she said.

After winning two Best Actress Academy Awards out of 17 nominations during her impressive career (for 1979's Kramer vs. Kramer, as well as the aforementioned Sophie's Choice), Streep has become the most-nominated actor in the history of the Oscars. Now her list of mere nods, which include films such as Julie & Julia, Silkwood, The Bridges of Madison County, and Doubt, has resulted in another trophy for her mantle.

Streep showed a touch of her trademark class by knowing whom to thank first. "First I want to thank Don [Gummer], because when you thank your husband at the end of the speech, they play him out with the music, and I want him to know that everything I value most in our lives, you've given me," she said, choking up for a moment. She also extended an all-encompassing thank you to "all my colleagues, all my friends," because, as she put it, "I really understand I'll never be up here again!"

We'll see Miss Streep. We'll see.

Check out Streep's speech here:

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