Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Louis-Dreyfus in May 2010
Born	Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus January 13, 1961 (1961-01-13) (age 50) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress/Comedienne
Years active	1982–present
Spouse	Brad Hall (1987–present) 2 children

Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus^[1] (born January 13, 1961) is an American actress and comedienne, widely known for her sitcom roles in Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine.

She rose to prominence as one of the regular cast members of Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s. In 1990 she was cast in the role of Elaine Benes on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. Her performance over nine seasons earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and five Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2002, she and her husband developed the series Watching Ellie, which lasted two short seasons. After playing recurring roles on programs such as Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development, she earned her second Emmy Award as Christine Campbell in the sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine, which lasted for five seasons on CBS. Louis-Dreyfus recently received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame due to her contribution to the broadcast television industry.

Contents 1 Personal life 2 Career 3 Recurring characters on Saturday Night Live 4 Credits 5 Filmography 5.1 Music 6 Awards and nominations 7 References 8 External links

Personal life

Louis-Dreyfus was born in New York City, to Judith, a writer and special-needs tutor, and Gérard Louis-Dreyfus (also known as William Louis-Dreyfus), a French attorney and business executive.^[1][2] Her paternal grandfather was Pierre Louis-Dreyfus, a French Jew who fought in the French Resistance during World War II.^[3] Her parents divorced a year after her birth in 1961. After relocating to Washington, D.C., when Julia was eight,^[4] her mother married L. Thompson Bowles, Dean of the George Washington University Medical School.^[1][5]

Louis-Dreyfus has two half-sisters on her Louis-Dreyfus side, Emma and Phoebe.^[6] Through her father, a billionaire heir to the Louis Dreyfus Group, one of the world's largest commodities trading and merchandising firms,^[2] she had a cousin, Robert Louis-Dreyfus (1946–2009), former CEO of Adidas and owner of the Olympique de Marseille soccer team.^[7]

Louis-Dreyfus' maternal half-sister, Lauren Bowles, is also an actress, appearing with her on Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine, as well as on Veronica Mars and in the film Ghost World.

Louis-Dreyfus spent her childhood in several states and countries in connection with her stepfather's work with Project HOPE, including Sri Lanka, Colombia and Tunisia.^[8] She graduated from the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, MD in 1979, and attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she studied theater, appeared in the Mee-Ow Show, and was a member of the Delta Gamma sorority. After three years she left to begin work on Saturday Night Live;^[1] later receiving (2007) an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Northwestern.^[9]

While at Northwestern, Louis-Dreyfus met future husband and Saturday Night Live comedian Brad Hall.^[1] She, Hall, and future SNL writer Paul Barrosse all were members of the community's storefront theater troupe, the Practical Theatre Company.^[10]

Louis-Dreyfus campaigned for Al Gore during the 2000 U.S. presidential election. She speaks French fluently.

Career

Louis-Dreyfus was a cast member on NBC's Saturday Night Live from 1982 to 1985, tying with current cast member Abby Elliot as the youngest female cast member in the show's history at the age of 21.^[1] While on SNL, she met writer Larry David, who would later co-create Seinfeld.^[1] Louis-Dreyfus also appeared in a few sitcoms and films over the years, and is widely known for her nine-season role as "Elaine Benes" on NBC's Seinfeld from 1990 to 1998, appearing in all but three episodes.^[1] On the "Notes About Nothing" featurette on the Season 1-2 DVD, Jerry Seinfeld says that Louis-Dreyfus' ability to eat a peanut M&M without cracking the peanut aptly describes the actress: "She cracks you up without breaking your nuts".

After Seinfeld, Louis-Dreyfus began a new NBC sitcom, Watching Ellie, which was canceled after two abbreviated seasons. Louis-Dreyfus came to be seen as a victim of the "Seinfeld Curse", a term applied to typecast actors who, after appearing in an enormously popular television series or movie, have trouble finding popularity in other roles.

Her mid- to late-2000s series, The New Adventures of Old Christine, received high ratings. Louis-Dreyfus won the Outstanding Actress Emmy Award for her work on the show's first season, exactly 10 years after her fifth Seinfeld win. Referring to the curse, she stated in her acceptance speech, "I'm not somebody who really believes in curses, but curse this, baby!"^[1]

She had a recurring guest role as the deceitful prosecutor and love interest of Michael Bluth, Maggie Lizer, on Arrested Development. She has also appeared on The Simpsons, providing the voice for Snake's girlfriend Gloria on three episodes.

She returned to host Saturday Night Live on May 13, 2006, becoming the first female former cast member to return as host. (Gilda Radner was supposed to host in the 1987-88 season, season 13, but the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike cut the season short, and Radner died of ovarian cancer a year later.) Louis-Dreyfus appeared with former Seinfeld mates Jason Alexander and Jerry Seinfeld in the opening monologue, parodying the so-called "Seinfeld Curse". She mocked the curse once again while accepting her Emmy award in 2006. She has also appeared on Seinfeld co-creator Larry David's show Curb Your Enthusiasm, playing herself fictionally trying to break the "curse" by planning to star in a show in which she would play an actress affected by a Seinfeld-like curse. She has currently been nominated for all the show's seasons for Emmys, but has lost to Tina Fey for 30 Rock, America Ferrera for Ugly Betty and most recently Toni Collette for The United States of Tara.

On June 21, 2009, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced Louis-Dreyfus would receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the upcoming year. Louis-Dreyfus received the 2,407th star on Tuesday May 4, 2010. Originally, the star was set with Louis-Dreyfus's name misspelled, missing the 'o' in Louis and the hyphen in her last name,^[11] Julia Luis Dreyfus.^[12] The star was corrected and the misspelled portion will be^[13] removed and presented to the actress.^[11]

In the fall of 2009, she appeared with rest of the cast of Seinfeld in the third, sixth, ninth, and tenth episodes of the seventh season of Larry David's sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm.

In the spring of 2010, Julia Louis-Dreyfus joined the cast of the web series Web Therapy, starring Lisa Kudrow as a self-involved mediocre therapist who gives her therapy online, and earned strong reviews. She joined in the third season, playing Shevaun, the sister of Kudrow's character Fiona, who is also a therapist. Web Therapy is to air on Showtime in 2011, though it is unknown if Dreyfus will continue to star on the series once it produces new episodes for television.

Recurring characters on Saturday Night Live

• April May June, a female televangelist
• Becky, El Dorko's (Gary Kroeger) date
• Consuela, Chi Chi's friend and co-host of Let's Watch TV
• Darla in SNL's parody of The Little Rascals
• Weather Woman, a female superhero who controls the weather
• Patti Lynn Hunnsucker, a teenage correspondent on Saturday Night News (Weekend Update)

Credits

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Saturday Night Live	Various	1982-1985 (57 episodes)
1986	Troll	Jeanette Cooper
	Hannah and Her Sisters	Mary
	Soul Man	Lisa Stimson
	The Art of Being Nick	Rachel	TV series
1988	Family Ties	Susan White	Episode: "Read It and Weep: Part 2"
	Day by Day	Eileen Swift	1988-1989 (33 episodes)
1989	Christmas Vacation	Margo Chester
1990	Seinfeld	Elaine Benes	1990-1998 (173 episodes)
1992	Dinosaurs	Heather Worthington (voice)	Episode: "Slave to Fashion"
1993	Jack the Bear	Peggy Etinger
1994	All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Streets Forever!	Kathy Lee Kathy	TV movie
	North	North's Mom
1995	The Single Guy	Tina	Episode: "Mugging"
1996	London Suite	Debra Dolby	TV movie
1997	Fathers' Day	Carrie Lawrence
	Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist	Julia (voice)	Episode: "Ben Treats"
	Deconstructing Harry	Leslie
	Hey Arnold!	Miss Felter (voice)	Episode: "Helga's Boyfriend/Crush on Teacher"
1998	A Bug's Life	Atta (voice)
1999	Animal Farm	Mollie (voice)
2000	Geppetto	Blue Fairy
	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Herself	2000-2001 (4 episodes)
2001	The Simpsons	Gloria (voice)	Episode: "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love"
2002	Watching Ellie	Eleanor 'Ellie' Riggs	2002-2003 (17 episodes)
2004	Arrested Development	Maggie Lizer	Episode: "Altar Egos" Episode: "Justice Is Blind"
2005			Episode: "Out on a Limb" Episode: "Hand to God"
2006	The New Adventures of Old Christine	Christine Campbell	2006-2010 (88 episdoes)
2007	The Simpsons	Gloria (voice)	Episode: "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"
2008			Episode: "Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes"
2009	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Herself	4 episodes
2010	Web Therapy	Shevaun Haig	3 episodes

Music

• "Nightshift" on Unexpected Dreams – Songs From the Stars (2006)
• "Wale - "The Vacation from Ourselves [Shout-Out]" on The Mixtape About Nothing (2008)

Awards and nominations

^[14]

References

External links

• Julia Louis-Dreyfus at the Internet Movie Database
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus at Yahoo! Movies
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus at TV.com

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
1992	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Seinfeld	Nominated
	Viewers for Quality Television Award	Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Comedy Series		Won
1993	American Comedy Award	Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series		Won
	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	Viewers for Quality Television Award	Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Comedy Series		Won
1994	American Comedy Award	Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series		Won
	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Film		Won
	Viewers for Quality Television Award	Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Comedy Series		Won
1995	American Comedy Award	Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series		Won
	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Film		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Won
1996	American Comedy Award	Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series		Nominated
	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series		Won
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Nominated
1997	American Comedy Award	Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series		Won
	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series		Won
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Won
1998	American Comedy Award	Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series		Won
	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series		Won
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Won
1999	American Comedy Award	Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2001	American Comedy Award	Funniest Female Guest Appearance in a TV Series	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Nominated
2006	Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	The New Adventures of Old Christine	Won
	Satellite Award	Best Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical		Nominated
2007	Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	Golden Globe Award	Best Actress in a TV Series - Musical or Comedy		Nominated
	People's Choice Award	Favorite Female TV Star		Nominated
		Favorite Funny Female Star		Nominated
	Satellite Award	Best Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical	The New Adventures of Old Christine	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2008	Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	Satellite Award	Best Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical		Nominated
2009	Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	TV Land Award	Legacy of Laughter Award		Awarded
2010	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series	rowspan=2The New Adventures of Old Christine	Nominated
	Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	Nominated
	Hollywood Walk of Fame Star	Contribution to the broadcast television industry		Awarded
Awards for Julia Louis-Dreyfus Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Comedy Series Betty White (1976) · Mary Kay Place (1977) · Julie Kavner (1978) · Sally Struthers (1979) · Loretta Swit (1980) · Eileen Brennan (1981) · Loretta Swit (1982) · Carol Kane (1983) · Rhea Perlman (1984) · Rhea Perlman (1985) · Rhea Perlman (1986) · Jackée Harry (1987) · Estelle Getty (1988) · Rhea Perlman (1989) · Bebe Neuwirth (1990) · Bebe Neuwirth (1991) · Laurie Metcalf (1992) · Laurie Metcalf (1993) · Laurie Metcalf (1994) · Christine Baranski (1995) · Julia Louis-Dreyfus (1996) · Kristen Johnston (1997) · Lisa Kudrow (1998) · Kristen Johnston (1999) · Megan Mullally (2000) (1953–1975) · (1976–2000) · (2001–present) Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series Patricia Heaton (2001) · Jennifer Aniston (2002) · Debra Messing (2003) · Sarah Jessica Parker (2004) · Felicity Huffman (2005) · Julia Louis-Dreyfus (2006) · America Ferrera (2007) · Tina Fey (2008) · Toni Collette (2009) · Edie Falco (2010) (1950–1975) · (1976–2000) · (2001–present) Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Piper Laurie (1990) · Amanda Donohoe (1991) · Joan Plowright (1992) · Julia Louis-Dreyfus (1993) · Miranda Richardson (1994) · Shirley Knight (1995) · Kathy Bates (1996) · Angelina Jolie (1997) · Faye Dunaway/Camryn Manheim (1998) · Nancy Marchand (1999) · Vanessa Redgrave (2000) · Rachel Griffiths (2001) · Kim Cattrall (2002) · Mary-Louise Parker (2003) · Anjelica Huston (2004) · Sandra Oh (2005) · Emily Blunt (2006) · Samantha Morton (2007) · Laura Dern (2008) · Chloë Sevigny (2009)  · (1970–1989) · (1990–2009) Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Helen Hunt (1994) · Christine Baranski (1995) · Julia Louis-Dreyfus (1996) · Julia Louis-Dreyfus (1997) · Tracey Ullman (1998) · Lisa Kudrow (1999) · Sarah Jessica Parker (2000) · Megan Mullally (2001) · Megan Mullally (2002) · Megan Mullally (2003) · Teri Hatcher (2004) · Felicity Huffman (2005) · America Ferrera (2006) · Tina Fey (2007) · Tina Fey (2008) · Tina Fey (2009)

Persondata
Name	Louis-Dreyfus, Julia
Alternative names	Louis-Dreyfus, Julia Elizabeth Scarlett
Short description	Actress, comedian
Date of birth	January 13, 1961
Place of birth	New York City, New York, United States
Date of death
Place of death