Before Meryl Streep found love with her husband of 45 years Don Gummer, the Oscar-winner was in a relationship with actor John Cazale.
Meryl, now 74, met John when she was in her 20s and they were both starring in a 1976 production of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure.
Although John was 14 years her senior, it is understood that romance blossomed between the pair quickly.
Meryl later said: “He wasn’t like anybody I’d ever met. It was the specifity of him, and his sort of humanity and his curiosity about people, his compassion,” as reported by New York Post.
By this time, John had already made a name for himself in the industry with roles in the first two Godfather films (1972 and 1974) as well as The Conversation (1974) and Dog Day Afternoon (1975).
They moved in together in New York and were both cast in the iconic war drama, The Deer Hunter.
But tragedy would soon strike when John was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
The couple largely kept John’s condition private with only close friends aware of how unwell he was. One of these friends was John’s Dog Day Afternoon co-star, Al Pacino, who reportedly took him to radiotherapy appointments.
The film’s director, Michael Cimino, knew about John’s illness but Universal Pictures didn’t, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
When the studio found out, it allegedly wanted the cancer-stricken star replaced. Luckily, insurance issues were resolved and the filming schedule was rearranged so John’s scenes could be shot first.
After filming was complete, the outlet reports that Meryl and John were struggling financially due to his medical bills.
As a result, she took on the lead role in NBC’s miniseries, Holocaust, which was shot in Austria and meant she would have to be away from her beloved John.
To add to her heartache, Meryl’s time in Austria was extended due to filming commitments. She’s reported to have said: “I was going crazy. John was sick and I wanted to be with him.”
She has admitted publicly that she only did the show for the money, and even refused the PrimeTime Emmy Award it would earn her.
She later told Horizon: “I did it for the money. I needed it very badly, and I make no bones about that.”
When Meryl returned to New York, John’s cancer had spread to his bones and she cared for him in his final months.
During this time Streep wrote to her old drama teacher Bobby Lewis saying: “I am worried all the time and pretending to be cheery all the time, which is more exhausting mentally, physically, emotionally than any work I’ve ever done.”
John went into hospital in March 1978 and died shortly after aged 42, with Meryl by his side. His death came nine months before The Deer Hunter was released.
Al Pacino said in a 2003 interview: “I’ve hardly ever seen a person so devoted to someone who is falling away like John was. To see her in that act of love for this man was overwhelming.”
She took care of him like there was nobody else on earth. She never betrayed him in his presence or out of his presence. Never betrayed any notion that he would not survive.»
Following John’s death, Meryl married sculptor Don Gummer and together they share four children.
