Julia Louis-Dreyfus

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Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Louis-Dreyfus in 2007
Born Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus
January 13, 1961 (1961-01-13) (age 48)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation Actress/Comedian
Years active 1982 – present
Spouse(s) Brad Hall (1987–present)

Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus[1] (born January 13, 1961) is an American actress and comedian best known for her roles as Elaine Benes on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld and as Christine Campbell on the current CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine.

She has won two Emmy Awards, five Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Golden Globe Award.

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[edit] 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-Jewish attorney and business executive.[1][2] Her parents divorced a year later. After relocating to Washington, D.C., when Julia was eight,[3] her mother married L. Thompson Bowles, Dean of the George Washington University Medical School.[1][4]

Julia has a half-sister on her Louis-Dreyfus side, Phoebe, a social worker.[5] Through her father, a billionaire heir to the Louis Dreyfus Group, one of the world's largest commodities trading and merchandising firms,[6] she had a late cousin, Robert Louis-Dreyfus, former CEO of Adidas and owner of the Olympique de Marseille soccer team.[7]

Julia's maternal half-sister, Lauren Bowles, is also an actress, appearing with Julia on Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine, as well as on Veronica Mars and in the film Ghost World.[8][9]

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.[10] She graduated from the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland 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] being rewarded by the University in 2007 with an honorary Doctor of Arts degree.[11]

While at Northwestern, Louis-Dreyfus met future husband and Saturday Night Live comedian Brad Hall.[1] She, Hall, and future SNL writer Paul Barosse all were members of the community's storefront theatre troupe, the Practical Theatre Company.[12]

Louis-Dreyfus and Hall have two sons, Henry (born June 1992) and Charles (born May 1997).[13]

[edit] Career

Julia Louis-Dreyfus at the 1994 Academy Awards

Louis-Dreyfus was a cast member on NBC's Saturday Night Live from 1982 to 1985.[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, but is best 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," on the Season 1-2 DVD, Jerry Seinfeld notes 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 current series, The New Adventures of Old Christine, receives high ratings. Louis-Dreyfus won the Lead Actress Emmy Award for her work on the show's first season, exactly 10 years after her 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 notable recurring guest role as the deceitful prosecutor 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 a writers' 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.

On June 21, 2009, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced Louis-Dreyfus will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the upcoming year.

[edit] 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)

[edit] Celebrity impersonations on Saturday Night Live

[edit] Filmography

Julia Louis-Dreyfus with Jerry Seinfeld at the 1997 Emmy Awards

[edit] Awards and nominations

Emmy Awards
Wins
  • 1996: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 2006: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series -- The New Adventures of Old Christine
Nominations
  • 1992: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1993: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1994: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1995: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1997: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1998: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 2007: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series -- The New Adventures of Old Christine
  • 2008: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series -- The New Adventures of Old Christine
Golden Globe Awards
Wins
  • 1994: Best Supporting Actress in a Series -- Seinfeld
Nominations
  • 1995: Best Supporting Actress in a Series -- Seinfeld
  • 2007: Best Leading Actress in a Comedy Series -- The New Adventures of Old Christine
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Wins
  • 1995: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1997: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1997: Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1998: Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1998: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
Nominations
  • 1995: Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1996: Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1996: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1999: Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 2006: Outstanding Performance By an Actress in a Comedy Series -- The New Adventures of Old Christine

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Joan Plowright
for Stalin
Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
1994
for Seinfeld
Succeeded by
Miranda Richardson
for Fatherland
Preceded by
Christine Baranski
for Cybill
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
1996
for Seinfeld
Succeeded by
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
for Seinfeld
Preceded by
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
for Seinfeld
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
1997
for Seinfeld
Succeeded by
Tracey Ullman
for Tracey Takes On...
Preceded by
No Award Ceremony
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
1994
for Seinfeld
Succeeded by
Jennifer Aniston; Courteney Cox; Lisa Kudrow; Matt LeBlanc; Matthew Perry; David Schwimmer
for Friends
Preceded by
Jennifer Aniston; Courteney Cox; Lisa Kudrow; Matt LeBlanc; Matthew Perry; David Schwimmer
for Friends
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
1996
for Seinfeld
Succeeded by
Jason Alexander; Julia Louis-Dreyfus; Michael Richards; Jerry Seinfeld
for Seinfeld
Preceded by
Jason Alexander; Julia Louis-Dreyfus; Michael Richards; Jerry Seinfeld
for Seinfeld
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
1997
for Seinfeld
Succeeded by
Gil Bellows; Lisa Nicole Carson; Portia de Rossi; Calista Flockhart; Greg Germann; Jane Krakowski; Lucy Liu; Peter MacNicol; Vonda Shepard; Courtney Thorne-Smith
for Ally McBeal
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