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Meryl Streep played ‘August: Osage’ matriarch on screen, but who played her onstage?

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By David Ng

Ill-tempered, shrewish and vindictive, Violet Weston in “August: Osage County” is the latest stage protagonist brought to life on screen by Meryl Streep.

In her career, Streep has played a number of heroines in high-profile screen adaptations of popular plays and musicals. But the three-time Oscar-winning actress didn’t originate any of these roles on stage. The theater actresses who played these roles -- some of whom won the Tony Award -- have had to cede these plum parts to the more bankable name.

Here’s a look back at some of Streep’s biggest roles, and the actresses who first played the characters in the theater.

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