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Julia Louis-Dreyfus

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This article is about the American actress. For the French actress, see Julie Dreyfus.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Louis-Dreyfus at the 1994 Emmy Awards, September 11, 1994, Photo by Alan Light
Height5 ft 3 in (160 cm) [1]

Julia Elizabeth Scarlett Louis-Dreyfus (born January 13, 1961) is an Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award-winning American actress and comedian who gained popularity while playing the role of Elaine Benes on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld in the 1990s. She currently appears as divorced mom Christine Campbell on the popular CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Biography

Louis-Dreyfus was born in New York City. Her paternal grandparents were Dolores Neubauer and Pierre Louis-Dreyfus,[2] a French Jew who fought in the French Resistance during World War II. Julia was raised in Bethesda, MD, and graduated from the Holton-Arms School. Her mother is Judith Bowles, and her father is French billionaire Gérard Louis-Dreyfus (who changed his name to William in the 1940s).[3] Her cousin Robert Louis-Dreyfus is the former owner of Adidas (1993-2001) and the current owner of the French football club Olympique de Marseille. She claims to be related to the late Alfred Dreyfus[citation needed], a French army captain best known for being the focus of the Dreyfus affair.

Since 1987 she has been married to actor/writer Brad Hall, whom she met while they were students at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She graduated in 1982. Hall also worked on SNL. The couple have two sons, Henry (b. 1992) and Charles (b. 1997).

Career

Louis-Dreyfus was a cast member on NBC's Saturday Night Live from 1982 to 1985. While on SNL, she met writer Larry David, who would later co-create Seinfeld. Louis-Dreyfus also appeared in quite 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.

Post-Seinfeld career

After Seinfeld, Louis-Dreyfus began a new NBC sitcom, Watching Ellie, which was soon cancelled. She had a notable recurring guest role as the compulsively lying prosecutor Maggie Lizer on Arrested Development. 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. However, the impressive ratings for Old Christine have led some to believe that the "curse" is broken. She received a Lead Actress Emmy Award for her work on the first season of Old Christine. She was evidently surprised by her win, as she could barely utter her acceptance speech during the 2006 Emmy Awards.

She returned to host Saturday Night Live on May 13, 2006, becoming the first former female cast member to return as host (Gilda Radner was supposed to host in the 1987-88 season, 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"[4]. She mocked the curse once again while accepting her Emmy award in 2006.

The Michael Richards Incident

When asked by Channel 2 News in New York City about her reaction to Michael Richards' verbal tirade at a local comedy club, Louis-Dreyfus politely answered "I'm sure that it's not what it seems to be. I think Michael was having a rough night, and the situation just got out of hand."

Recurring Characters on SNL

  • 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
  • Patti Lynn Hunnsucker, a teenage correspondent on Saturday Night News (Weekend Update)

Celebrity Impersonations

File:Jerry Seinfeld Julia Dreyfus.jpg
Jerry Seinfeld and Julia-Louis Dreyfus at the 1997 Emmy Awards, photo by Alan Light

Selected filmography

Jerry Seinfeld and Julia-Louis Dreyfus at the 1997 Emmy Awards, photo by Alan Light

Awards & nominations

Emmy Awards

  • 2006: won for Best Actress in a Comedy Series -- The New Adventures of Old Christine
  • 1998: nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1997: nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1996: won for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1995: nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1994: nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1993: nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1992: nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld

Golden Globe Awards

  • 1995: nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a TV production -- Seinfeld
  • 1994: won for Best Supporting Actress in a TV production -- Seinfeld

Screen Actors Guild Awards

  • 1999: nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1998: won for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1997: won for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1996: nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
  • 1995: nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld

Trivia

References

  1. ^ http://www.celebheights.com/s/Julia-Louis-Dreyfus-2018.html
  2. ^ Worldconnect, Rootsweb
  3. ^ Forbes World's Richest People. Gérard Louis-Dreyfus & family
  4. ^ Saturday Night Live Transcripts
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