Actress Meryl Streep, who won an Oscar for her role as Margaret Thatcher in the 2011 film “The Iron Lady,” praised the former British prime minister on Monday as a pioneer for the role of women in politics.

    Thatcher, Britain’s first and only female prime minister, died on Monday, aged 87, after suffering a stroke*.

    Streep, 63, described Thatcher as a trailblazer*, “willingly or unwillingly,” for female political leaders. “To me she was a figure of awe for her personal strength and grit*,” the American actress said in a statement.

    “To have given women and girls around the world reason to supplant* fantasies of being princesses with a different dream: the real-life option of leading their nation; this was groundbreaking and admirable.”

    Streep said she was honored to try to imagine Thatcher’s late life journey in playing her in “The Iron Lady” but only really had a “glancing understanding” of Thatcher’s struggles.

    “I wish to convey my respectful condolences* to her family and many friends,” she said.(SD-Agencies)