Meryl Streep's formidable performance as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady has earned her another prestigious recognition!

Her performance has fetched her Oscar nomination for the movie where co-star Jim Broadbent played her husband, Denis. If believe the sources, Meryl Streep and George Clooney are the bookmakers' favourites to win the top acting honours at the Oscars this year.

Streep is streets ahead with the bookies after she got nominated for her performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. For the Best Actor category, Gary Oldman, who has got nominated for his role as British spymaster George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, faces a tough challenge to beat Golden Globe winner George Clooney for The Descendants.

"There are some very strong favorites here and Meryl Streep is one of the strongest," Rupert Adams, spokesperson for the bookmakers William Hill, told the sources.

If goes by Williams Hill's Oscar odds, they are as: Best Actress: 1/3 Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady), 3/1 Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn), 7/2 Viola Davis (The Help), 20/1 Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs), 25/1 Rooney Mara (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo).

To know the final results, let’s wait for the 84th Academy Awards to take place on Sunday 26 February at the Kodak Theatre, Hollywood that is to be presented by actor and comedian Billy Crystal!

Source: TNN