Actress Meryl Streep, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in the 2011 film The Iron Lady, praised Britain's first and only female prime minister on Monday saying she was a pioneer for the role of women in politics.

The former right-wing political leader died on Monday, aged 87, after suffering a stroke.

Streep, 63, described Thatcher as "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."

The multi-Oscar-winning actress acknowledged that Thatcher divided opinion.

But Streep said Thatcher deserved credit for standing by her convictions despite the "special hatred and ridicule, unprecedented in my opinion, leveled in our time at a public figure who was not a mass murderer."

Streep said she was honored to try to imagine Thatcher's late life journey 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.

Reuters