Closer USA – September 02, 2019

athletic,”sheadmits.“I hada wayof imitat-

ing people’sspeechthatgotme anadvance

placement in French without really knowing

any grammar. I was not what you would call

a natural scholar.”

Her post-high school studies — she attend-

ed Vassar College and then moved on to earn

an MFA at Yale School of Drama — paved the

way for her relocation to New York City with

the goal of becoming a great theater actress.

ONE TRUE THING

At 27, Meryl was cast in Shakespeare’s Mea-

sure for Measure opposite John Cazale, the

actor best known for playing Fredo in The

Godfather saga. “He wasn’t like anybody I’d

ever met,” says Meryl, who fell in love with

John despite a 14-year age gap.

“They were great to look at, because they

were kind of funny-looking, both of them,”

says playwright Israel Horovitz. “It was a

reallyquirkycouple.”

Theirunlikelyromancethrived until

John fell ill in May 1977. Meryl, though not

yet 30, showed maturity beyond her years

by sticking by her love after John was diag-

nosed with terminal metastatic lung cancer.

“I am worried all the time and pretending

to be cheery all the time, which is more ex-

hausting mentally, physically, emotionally

than any work I’ve ever done,” Meryl wrote

to a former drama teacher. She was by John’s

side when he passed away at age 42.

John’s death, although an enormous

heartbreak, taught the actress an important

lesson. “Life is precious,” Meryl says. “When

you have lost a lot of people, you realize that

each day is a gift.”

Fate also proved to be as kind as it was cru-

el. In the aftermath of John’s death, Meryl

moved out of the apartment they shared and

sublet the home of Don Gummer, a friend of

“I think

you have to

embrace

getting

older and

celebrate

life.”

— Meryl

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A LOOK BACK

ATHERLIFE

Meryl, in 1967, was a

cheerleader and homecoming

queen during her senioryear

at Bernards High Schoolin

Bernardsville,N.J.

At Yale Repertory Theatre

she co-starred oppositefuture

Taxi actor Christopher Lloydin

ThePossessed.

She met John Cazaleon the

New York theater scene.“I

in stantly thought he wasso

interesting,”sherecalls.

In 1978 she married sculptor

Don Gummer, six monthsafter

they were introduced byher

brother Harry.

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18 September 2, 2019 CLOSER