Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep paid tribute to Baroness
Margaret Thatcher following the news of the death of the former Prime
Minister, aged 87.
Streep told the Daily Mail: 'Margaret Thatcher was a pioneer, willingly or unwillingly, for the role of women in politics.
'To me she was a figure of awe for her personal strength and grit. To have come up, legitimately, through the ranks of the British political system, class bound and gender phobic as it was, in the time that she did and the way that she did, was a formidable achievement.'
A
pioneer: Actress Meryl Streep has paid tribute to Baroness Thatcher,
seen here in June 1987 with US President Ronald Reagan, after hearing
news of her death from a stroke
The former Conservative Prime Minister Lady Margaret Thatcher died on Monday after suffering a stroke. Her spokesman Lord Bell confirmed the news of her death in statement.
Meryl Streep described Thatcher as a role model: Baroness Thatcher seen campaigning during the 1987 General Election
He
said: 'It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced
that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke
this morning'.
Britain's
first and only female political leader to date passed away peacefully
aged 87, after suffering from poor health for more than a decade.
Lady Thatcher had been staying at the Ritz Hotel in Central London for several months, but it is not known if she died there.
Streep paid tribute to Lady Thatcher's achievement in ascending to the lofty position of Prime Minister from her humble roots as a grocer's daughter.
She noted: 'To have won it, not because she inherited position as the daughter of a great man, or the widow of an important man, but by dint of her own striving.
'It is hard to imagine a part of our current history that has not been affected by measures she put forward in the UK at the end of the 20th century.'
And while Lady Thatcher's tenure as Prime Minister certainly divided opinion, Streep acknowledged that her very presence as a female politician tasked with leading the nation gave 'women and girls around the world reason to supplant fantasies of being princesses with a different dream.'
She continued: 'To
have withstood the special hatred and ridicule, unprecedented in my
opinion, levelled in our time at a public figure who was not a mass
murderer; and to have managed to keep her convictions attached to
fervent ideals and ideas - wrong-headed or misguided as we might see
them now - without corruption - I see that as evidence of some kind of
greatness, worthy for the argument of history to settle.'
Formidable: Meryl Streep portrayed Lady Thatcher in The Iron Lady - winning her third Oscar
Streep's
portrayal of the Prime Minister was critically acclaimed, and swept the
board at the major awards shows - adding a third Best Actress Oscar to
her record haul thirteen months ago.
Meryl Streep presents the Best Actor award onstage during the Oscars held in February
Although the 63 year old actress's personal politics were to the left of the Baroness's she said:
'I was honored to try to imagine her late life journey, after power;
but I have only a glancing understanding of what her many struggles
were, and how she managed to sail through to the other side.
'I wish to convey my respectful condolences to her family and many friends.'
Lady Thatcher wasn't just a defining figure in politics. She became a towering cultural icon as well, whether being celebrated or vilified .
Andrea Riseborough played the young Mrs Thatcher in The Long Walk to Finchley , a BBC television film which charted her determination to become an MP.
On the small screen Spitting Image immortalised her in sketches where she was seen as a garish marionette .
The successful stage musical Billy Elliot caricatured her in the shape of a hideous giant puppet.
In the same show a song penned by Elton John and Lee Hall has striking miners singing how they were looking forward to her death.
Billy Elliot's director Stephen Daldry always said that he would consider what to do, as a mark of respect, about that number in the event of Mrs Thatcher's passing .
'Should I leave it in or take it out ? I just don't know', Daldry mused when discussing Billy Elliot, when it was running in New York. The show is still running in London
Helen Mirren is currently starring in hit play The Audience as the Queen with actress Haydn Gwynne starring as Margaret Thatcher.
Peter Morgan who wrote The Audience, told MailOnline that he would say a few words about Margaret Thatcher before the play starts at the Gielgud Theatre on Monday.
However, he said he would wait a few days before adding in a line about Margaret Thatcher's passing in the play rather than updating it immediately.
He told MailOnline: 'Not yet - too soon. Give it a few days. Too opportunistic - it would only get laughs - even if it were poignant.'
Streep told the Daily Mail: 'Margaret Thatcher was a pioneer, willingly or unwillingly, for the role of women in politics.
'To me she was a figure of awe for her personal strength and grit. To have come up, legitimately, through the ranks of the British political system, class bound and gender phobic as it was, in the time that she did and the way that she did, was a formidable achievement.'
A
pioneer: Actress Meryl Streep has paid tribute to Baroness Thatcher,
seen here in June 1987 with US President Ronald Reagan, after hearing
news of her death from a strokeThe former Conservative Prime Minister Lady Margaret Thatcher died on Monday after suffering a stroke. Her spokesman Lord Bell confirmed the news of her death in statement.
Meryl Streep described Thatcher as a role model: Baroness Thatcher seen campaigning during the 1987 General ElectionMore...
- Former prime minister Baroness Thatcher dies peacefully at the age of 87 after suffering a massive stroke
Lady Thatcher had been staying at the Ritz Hotel in Central London for several months, but it is not known if she died there.
Streep paid tribute to Lady Thatcher's achievement in ascending to the lofty position of Prime Minister from her humble roots as a grocer's daughter.
She noted: 'To have won it, not because she inherited position as the daughter of a great man, or the widow of an important man, but by dint of her own striving.
'It is hard to imagine a part of our current history that has not been affected by measures she put forward in the UK at the end of the 20th century.'
And while Lady Thatcher's tenure as Prime Minister certainly divided opinion, Streep acknowledged that her very presence as a female politician tasked with leading the nation gave 'women and girls around the world reason to supplant fantasies of being princesses with a different dream.'
Formidable: Meryl Streep portrayed Lady Thatcher in The Iron Lady - winning her third OscarMeryl Streep presents the Best Actor award onstage during the Oscars held in February'I wish to convey my respectful condolences to her family and many friends.'
Lady Thatcher wasn't just a defining figure in politics. She became a towering cultural icon as well, whether being celebrated or vilified .
Andrea Riseborough played the young Mrs Thatcher in The Long Walk to Finchley , a BBC television film which charted her determination to become an MP.
On the small screen Spitting Image immortalised her in sketches where she was seen as a garish marionette .
The successful stage musical Billy Elliot caricatured her in the shape of a hideous giant puppet.
In the same show a song penned by Elton John and Lee Hall has striking miners singing how they were looking forward to her death.
Billy Elliot's director Stephen Daldry always said that he would consider what to do, as a mark of respect, about that number in the event of Mrs Thatcher's passing .
'Should I leave it in or take it out ? I just don't know', Daldry mused when discussing Billy Elliot, when it was running in New York. The show is still running in London
Helen Mirren is currently starring in hit play The Audience as the Queen with actress Haydn Gwynne starring as Margaret Thatcher.
Peter Morgan who wrote The Audience, told MailOnline that he would say a few words about Margaret Thatcher before the play starts at the Gielgud Theatre on Monday.
However, he said he would wait a few days before adding in a line about Margaret Thatcher's passing in the play rather than updating it immediately.
He told MailOnline: 'Not yet - too soon. Give it a few days. Too opportunistic - it would only get laughs - even if it were poignant.'