Meryl Streep and Don Gummer have not been together for six years

Meryl Streep and Don Gummer have not been together for six years
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After 45 years of marriage, Meryl Streep and Don Gummer have divorced.

The three-time Oscar winner, 74, and Gummer, 76, secretly stopped the romantic component of their partnership six years ago, according to a PEOPLE confirmation on Saturday.

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Meryl Streep’s representative told PEOPLE in a statement that she and Don Gummer have been separated for more than 6 years and “have chosen lives apart” despite their continued love for one another.

Even though they haven’t been photographed together since the Oscars in 2018, the Only Murders in the Building actress was spotted on Friday wearing her wedding band at the 2023 Princesa de Asturias Awards in Spain.

They celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary on September 30 with Gummer.

In 1978, Streep and Gummer, a sculptor from Louisville, Kentucky, got to know each other. Her then-boyfriend, fellow actor John Cazale, had passed away from lung cancer, and she was in grief.

Streep and Gummer hit it up right away after meeting. Just six months later, they got married at her parents’ house.

Although Streep and Gummer haven’t spoken much about their romantic relationships over the years, they have occasionally been pictured together.

Gummer achieved success in the area of art, whereas Streep started out on the big screen.

He studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and then earned an MFA from Yale University. Since the early 1970s, his work has been shown in exhibitions all around the world.

Streep provided a rare look inside her relationship with Gummer in a 2002 Vogue interview.

The Devil Wears Prada actor claimed that their tenacity was due to their “goodwill and ability to bend — as well as to shut up every once in a while.”

“There’s no road map concerning how to raise a family: It’s usually an enormous negotiation,” she added.

“But I have a strong need to work and to have strong love ties in my life. I can’t imagine choosing one over the other.

Henry, Mamie, Grace, and Louisa are the four children that Streep and Gummer have together.

Streep admitted to The Washington Post in 1998 that being a mother was her most difficult part to date.

“Mothering. Definitely. Acting is rewarding and financially rewarding. They don’t even say “Thank you” when mothering. If you don’t say, “Excuse me,” they won’t even clear the table. Acting cannot be compared to real life. Acting is so much joy that I can’t really call it a job. Even challenging tasks are rewarding when completed successfully.

Acting isn’t like real life, she said. Is this the best school for this child? Life is about not knowing. All those unknowns.

Gummer was the first person Streep thanked when she accepted the Best Actress Oscar in 2012 for her performance in The Iron Lady, despite the fact that her private life is rarely shown to the public.

“First, I’m going to appreciate Don because when you appreciate your husband at the completion of the speech they bring him out with the music, and I wish him to know all that I value most in our lives, you’ve provided me,” she continued.

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