All About Meryl Streep’s Estranged Husband, Don Gummer
Iconic actress Meryl Streep has been married to her husband Don Gummer for over four decades. Streep has an incredible career spanning even longer than her marriage, and Gummer has been by her side almost the entire time. Most people don’t necessarily have a lot of info about the artist and father of Streep’s four children, despite how long they have been together.
In October, the pair revealed that they have been separated for six years and living completely apart. A spokesperson told Page Six, “Don Gummer and Meryl Streep have been separated for more than 6 years, and while they will always care for each other, they have chosen lives apart.”
That same month, Streep was seen at the Princesa de Asturias Awards 2023 wearing her wedding band, however, they have not made a joint appearance since 2018 at the Oscars
Here’s everything to know about Meryl Streep’s estranged husband Don Gummer.
Who is Don Gummer?
Gummer is an accomplished artist with a bachelor’s degree from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and an MFA from Yale University. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and primarily works as a contemporary sculptor with a number of both solo and group exhibitions appearing around the world throughout his career.
How did Streep and Gummer meet?
In March 1978, Streep’s then-boyfriend John Cazale passed away from lung cancer. The pair had dated for two years, and appeared in The Deer Hunter together. Gummer met Streep while she was still mourning her loss, according to Michael Schulman’s biography Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep.
She’d decided to move out of the apartment she once shared with Cazale. When her brother came to help, he brought his friend Don Gummer. Streep and Gummer hit it off as friends themselves, and she ended up subletting his apartment as he was traveling. They corresponded while he was away through letters and began a romance upon his return.
How long have they been together?
The couple were married in September 1978, not long after their romance commenced. They separated sometime in 2018, but there's no report that they are divorced.
Does Meryl Streep have children?
The former couple share four children, the youngest of whom was born in 1991. Henry, Mamie, Grace, and Louisa all have various artistic pursuits, though they were raised out of the public eye in Connecticut.
“They got their legs from their dad, thank God,” Streep joked 2006. “[They got] my sense of humor and a love of a bargain.”
They’re also grandparents. In 2019, Mamie welcomed her son with Mehar Sethi. Henry and his wife, Tamryn, welcomed their daughter Ida June in 2020 and their son Quinn William in 2022. Grace and husband Mark Ronson gave birth to their first child in early 2023, a little girl.
How did they maintain such a long marriage up until their split?
While talking to Vogue in 2002, Streep said her and Gummer’s secret to a healthy relationship is “goodwill and willingness to bend—and to shut up every once in a while.”
“There’s no road map on how to raise a family: It’s always an enormous negotiation,” she added. “But I have a holistic need to work and to have huge ties of love in my life. I can’t imagine eschewing one for the other.”
About raising kids, she told the Sydney Morning Herald, “Teamwork is everything. My husband Don was … very involved. He was a little more relaxed when it comes to raising kids. I was more of a tiger mom.”
And she said Gummer was “always happy to look after the children” while she traveled for her work. During her Academy Award winner speech in 2017 for The Iron Lady, Streep said, “First, I’m going to thank Don because when you thank your husband at the end of the speech, they play him out with music. I want him to know that everything I value most in our lives you’ve given me.”
The pair own a Connecticut farm, and had a Tribeca loft in New York City that they sold in January 2020 for $15.8 million. A few months later, Streep bought a $4 million home in Pasadena, California.
Did Gummer attend any awards season events with Streep?
No, understandably given their separation, Streep attended the Screen Actors Guild Awards and Golden Globes on her own.
She supported her son-in-law Mark Ronson at the Grammys, attending with her daughter Grace Gummer.
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