Meryl Streep. - AP Photo.

NEW YORK: Meryl Streep may be considered one of the finest actresses around, yet she says she believed her career was over 20 years ago.    Streep, now 62, tells Vogue magazine she was offered three different roles to play a witch after turning 40. She believed it meant women in her age group were ''grotesque on some level,'' and told her husband ''It's over.''

Streep graces the January cover of Vogue magazine for the first time and jokes in the magazine she's the ''oldest person'' to do so. Next, she plays the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the new film ''Iron Lady.'' She'll portray Thatcher from age 49 to 85. The film opens January 13.    The January issue of Vogue goes on sale December 20.