 Author Karina Longworth notes that despite her " high level of stardom " for decades , Streep has managed to maintain a relatively normal personal life . Streep lived with actor John Cazale for three years until his death from lung cancer in March 1978 . Al Pacino remarked that " 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 . " Streep said of his death , " I didn 't get over it . I don 't want to get over it . No matter what you do , the pain is always there in some recess of your mind , and it affects everything that happens afterwards . I think you can assimilate the pain and go on without making an obsession of it " . 
