Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person
Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; born January 13, 1961) is an American actress and comedian. She has gained acclaim for starring in a string of successful comedy series as well as several comedy films. She has received numerous accolades including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and 9 Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Louis-Dreyfus was born in New York City, the daughter of the French billionaire Gérard Louis-Dreyfus, and entered comedy as a performer with the Practical Theatre Company in Chicago. This led to her being cast in the sketch show Saturday Night Live. Her breakthrough came from 1990 to 1998 playing Elaine Benes on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, which became one of the most critically and commercially successful sitcoms. She earned acclaim for her roles as Christine Campbell on The New Adventures of Old Christine (2006–2010), and Selina Meyer on Veep (2012–2019). She has also made guest appearances on shows such as Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and 30 Rock.
On film, Louis-Dreyfus has had leading film roles in Enough Said (2013), Downhill (2020), You Hurt My Feelings (2023), and Tuesday (2023) with supporting film roles in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), Deconstructing Harry (1997), and You People (2023). Her voice acting work includes roles in the Disney Animated films A Bug's Life (1998), Planes (2013), and Onward (2020). Since 2021, she has played Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
She is one of the most award-winning actresses in American television history.Template:Efn<ref name=":1" /> She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010 and was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2014. She was named as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world in 2016.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> She also received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2018 and the National Medal of Arts in 2021.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Early life and education
[edit]Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus<ref name="actors">Template:Cite episode</ref> was born in New York City on January 13, 1961.<ref name=biography.com>Template:Cite web</ref> Her mother, Judith (Template:Née), is an American writer and special needs educator.<ref name="actors"/> Her father, Gérard Louis-Dreyfus (1932–2016), was a French billionaire who served as chairman of the Louis Dreyfus Company. Her paternal grandfather, Pierre Louis-Dreyfus (1908–2011), was president of the Louis Dreyfus Group commodities and shipping conglomerate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was a member of a Jewish family from Alsace,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and served as a cavalry officer and member of the French Resistance during World War II.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Louis-Dreyfus is the great-great-granddaughter of French businessman Léopold Louis-Dreyfus (1833–1915), founder of the Louis Dreyfus Group, which members of her family still control.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She is the fifth cousin four times removed of Alfred Dreyfus (1859–1935) of the infamous Dreyfus affair.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Gérard Louis-Dreyfus & family">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Robert Louis-Dreyfus (1946–2009), her father's second cousin, was the CEO of Adidas and owner of the soccer team Olympique de Marseille.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Julia's paternal grandmother was the daughter of a Brazilian-Jewish father (whose family was Dutch, English, and Polish).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1962, a year after her birth, Louis-Dreyfus's parents divorced. She has said that she first noticed her penchant for comedy after sticking raisins up her nose at the age of three, which first made her mother laugh but then led to an emergency hospital visit.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After moving to Washington, D.C., when Louis-Dreyfus was four, her mother married L. Thompson Bowles, dean of the George Washington University Medical School;<ref name="actors"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Louis-Dreyfus gained a half-sister, Lauren Bowles, also an actress. Due to her stepfather's work with Project HOPE, she spent her childhood in several U.S. states and countries such as Colombia, Sri Lanka, and Tunisia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1979, she graduated from the all-girls Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She later said of the school, "There were things I did in school that, had there been boys in the classroom, I would have been less motivated to do. For instance, I was president of the honor society."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Louis-Dreyfus graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois in 1983,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> where she was a member of the Delta Gamma sorority. She studied theatre and performed in the Mee-Ow Show, a student-run improv and sketch comedy revue, before dropping out during her junior year to take a job at Saturday Night Live.<ref>Template:Cite news]</ref> In 2007, she received an honorary doctor of arts degree from Northwestern University.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Career
[edit]1982–1989: Early career and Saturday Night Live
[edit].jpg){kind=link}
As part of her comedic training, Louis-Dreyfus appeared in The Second City, one of the best-known improvisational theatre groups. It was her performance with The Practical Theatre Company at their "Golden 50th Anniversary Jubilee" that led to her being asked to join the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live at the age of 21.
Louis-Dreyfus subsequently became a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1982 to 1985, the youngest female cast member in the history of the program at that time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was during her third and final year on SNL that she met writer Larry David during his only year on the show.<ref name="Fresh Air" /> David later co-created Seinfeld.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Louis-Dreyfus has commented that her casting on SNL was a "Cinderella-getting-to-go-to-the-ball kind of experience";<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> however, she has also admitted that at times it was often quite tense, stating that she "didn't know how to navigate the waters of show business in general and specifically doing a live sketch-comedy show".<ref name="Coyle">Template:Cite news</ref>
Recurring characters on Saturday Night Live
- April May June, a televangelist
- Becky, El Dorko's (Gary Kroeger) date
- Consuela, Chi Chi's friend and co-host of Let's Watch TV
- Darla in SNLTemplate:'s parody of The Little Rascals
- Weather Woman, a superhero who controls the weather
- Patti Lynn Hunnsucker, a teenage correspondent on Weekend Update
Following her 1985 departure from SNL, Louis-Dreyfus appeared in several films, including Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) by Woody Allen, Soul Man (1986), and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), in which she starred alongside fellow SNL alumnus Chevy Chase. In 1987, Louis-Dreyfus appeared in the NBC sitcom pilot The Art of Being Nick, an intended spin-off from Family Ties starring Scott Valentine. When the pilot did not make it to series, Louis-Dreyfus was retained by producer Gary David Goldberg for a role on his new sitcom Day by Day, as the sarcastic and materialistic neighbor, Eileen Swift. Premiering in early 1988, Day by Day aired for two seasons on NBC before being cancelled.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1990–1998: Seinfeld and widespread recognition
[edit].jpg){kind=link}
In the early 1990s, Louis-Dreyfus became famous for the role of Elaine Benes on NBC's Seinfeld. She played the role for nine seasons, appearing in all but three episodes.<ref name="actors"/> One of the episodes that she did not appear in was the pilot episode, "The Seinfeld Chronicles", because her character was not initially intended to be a part of the series. It was only after the first episode that NBC executives felt the show was too male-centric and demanded that creators Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld add a woman to the cast. It was revealed in the commentary on the DVD package that the addition of a female character was the condition for commissioning the show. Louis-Dreyfus won the role over several other actresses who also eventually enjoyed TV success, including Patricia Heaton and Megan Mullally.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On the "Notes About Nothing" featurette on the DVD package, Seinfeld says that Louis-Dreyfus's ability to eat a peanut M&M without breaking the peanut described her: "She cracks you up without breaking your nuts."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Louis-Dreyfus garnered critical acclaim for her performance on the series, and she was a regular winner and nominee at television award shows throughout the 1990s. Her performance earned her two Golden Globe Award nominations, winning once in 1994, nine Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, winning one in 1995 and two in both 1997 and 1998, and seven American Comedy Awards, winning five times in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1998. In 1996, she won the Primetime Emmy Award<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, an award she was nominated for on seven occasions from 1992 to 1998. After receiving the award, Louis-Dreyfus said the win was a "shocker", and that after being in both positions, it was "much better to win than to lose."<ref>Bio Template:Webarchive Celebrity Central/Top 25 Celebs, People</ref>
In 1998, Jerry Seinfeld decided to end the series after nine seasons. The series finale aired on May 14 and was one of the most-watched TV events in history, with over 76 million viewers tuning in.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During her time on Seinfeld, she appeared in several films, including the comedy films Fathers' Day (1997), opposite Robin Williams and Billy Crystal, and Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry (1997).
1999–2004: Post-Seinfeld
[edit]Following a voice role in the highly successful Pixar film A Bug's Life (1998), Louis-Dreyfus lent her voice as Snake's girlfriend Gloria in The Simpsons episode "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love". In 2001, she made several special guest appearances 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.
After several years away from a regular TV job, Louis-Dreyfus began a new single-camera sitcom, Watching Ellie, which premiered on NBC in February 2002. The series was created by husband Brad Hall and co-starred Steve Carell and Louis-Dreyfus's half-sister Lauren Bowles. The initial premise of the show was to present viewers with a "slice of life" from the goings-on and happenings of the life of Ellie Riggs, a Southern California jazz singer. The first season included a 22-minute countdown kept digitally in the lower left-hand corner of the screen, which many critics panned, claiming it was useless and "did nothing for the show."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Overall, the show received mixed reviews but debuted strongly with over 16 million viewers tuning in for the series premiere, and maintained an average audience of about 10 million viewers per week.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
When the series returned for a second season in the spring of 2003, it suffered a decline in viewership, averaging around eight million viewers per week. The show had undergone a drastic stylistic change between the production of seasons one and two. The first season was filmed in the single-camera format, but the second season was presented as a traditional multicamera sitcom filmed in front of a live studio audience.<ref name=op>"TV Review: NBC's retooled 'Ellie' vastly more watchable" Template:Webarchive April 14, 2003, Post Gazette</ref> With dwindling viewership and failing to retain the numbers from its Frasier lead-in, the series was cancelled by NBC in May 2003.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Following NBC's cancellation of Watching Ellie, the media began circulating rumors of a so-called "Seinfeld curse", which claimed that none of the former Seinfeld actors could ever achieve success again in the television industry. Louis-Dreyfus dismissed the rumor as "a made-up thing by the media",<ref name=op/> while Seinfeld co-creator Larry David asserted that the curse was "completely idiotic."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Louis-Dreyfus was interested in the role of Susan Mayer on Desperate Housewives, the role that ultimately went to Teri Hatcher.<ref>"Desperate Networks is a must-read for TV fans" Template:Webarchive May 4, 2006, The Huffington Post</ref> Instead, Louis-Dreyfus scored a recurring guest role as Maggie Lizer, the deceitful prosecutor and love interest of Michael Bluth on the Emmy-winning comedy Arrested Development, from 2004 to 2005.
2005–2010: The New Adventures of Old Christine
[edit]
In 2005, Louis-Dreyfus was cast in the title role of a new CBS sitcom, The New Adventures of Old Christine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The series and its concept were created by writer and producer of Will & Grace, Kari Lizer. The series told the story of Christine Campbell, a single mother who manages to maintain a fantastic relationship with her ex-husband while running a women's gym. The series debuted on CBS in March 2006 to an audience of 15 million and was initially a ratings winner for the network.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Louis-Dreyfus received considerable critical acclaim for her performance on the show, with Brian Lowry of Variety stating that Louis-Dreyfus broke the so-called "Seinfeld curse [...] with one of the best conventional half-hours to come along in a while."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Alessandra Stanley from The New York Times asserted that Louis-Dreyfus's performance on the series proved she is "one of the funniest women on network television."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Louis-Dreyfus also earned the 2006 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in the first season. Referring to the curse, she stated in her acceptance speech, "I'm not somebody who really believes in curses, but curse this, baby!"<ref name="actors"/> Throughout the course of the series, she received five consecutive Emmy Award nominations, three consecutive Satellite Award nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, and a nomination for a Golden Globe Award. In 2007, she also received two nominations for a People's Choice Award due to her return to popularity, thanks to the success of Old Christine.
In May 2006, Louis-Dreyfus hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live, becoming the first female former cast member to return to the show as a host.<ref name="Coyle"/> In the episode, she appeared with her Seinfeld co-stars Jason Alexander and Jerry Seinfeld in her opening monologue, parodying the so-called "Seinfeld curse".<ref>"Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Seinfeld Cast Reunites For Saturday Night Live" Template:Webarchive May 15, 2006, Contact Music</ref> After a successful reception of her 2006 episode, Louis-Dreyfus again hosted SNL on March 17, 2007, and April 17, 2016. Louis-Dreyfus reprised her role as Gloria in two Simpsons episodes: 2007's "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" and 2008's "Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes". In the fall of 2009, she appeared with the rest of the cast of Seinfeld in four episodes of the seventh season of Larry David's sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm. The reunion shows received much media attention, and the episode received strong ratings for the series.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2009, Louis-Dreyfus was granted the honorary award for Legacy of Laughter at the TV Land Awards. Previous winners had included Lucille Ball and Mike Myers. She was presented with the award by friend Amy Poehler. The following year, Louis-Dreyfus received the 2,407th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 4, 2010, for her remarkable contribution to the broadcast television industry as both an actress and a comedian. Originally, the star was set with Louis-Dreyfus's name spelled incorrectly. It was missing both the 'o' and the hyphen in her last name.<ref name="tv.msn.com">Template:Cite web</ref> The star was corrected and the misspelled portion was removed and presented to her.<ref name="cnnoops">Template:Cite news</ref> Celebrity guests at the event included past and current colleagues from throughout her career, including Clark Gregg, Larry David, Eric McCormack, and Jason Alexander.
Old Christine was cancelled by CBS on May 18, 2010, after 5 years.<ref>"No more adventures for Old Christine" Template:Webarchive May 18, 2010, IsMyShowCanceled.com</ref> Discussions were held with ABC to revive the show but the show was never revived.<ref>"ABC Could Revive Ghost Whisperer And Old Christine" Template:Webarchive May 19, 2010, Cinema Blend</ref> In the spring of 2010, Louis-Dreyfus guest-starred several times in the third season of the web series Web Therapy, starring Lisa Kudrow. Louis-Dreyfus played the sister of the main character, Fiona Wallice, who gives her therapy online. When the series made the transition to cable television on the Showtime network, Louis-Dreyfus's appearance from the web series was included in the second season, airing in July 2012.<ref>Lisa Kudrow on 'Web Therapy' character: 'Fiona is a terrible person' Template:Webarchive Digital Spy. (July 6, 2012).</ref> In fall 2010, Louis-Dreyfus made a guest appearance on the live episode of 30 Rock, playing Tina Fey's role of Liz Lemon in the cutaway shots. Louis-Dreyfus was among several Saturday Night Live alumni appearing in the episode, including Rachel Dratch, Bill Hader, and regulars Tracy Morgan and Fey herself. Louis-Dreyfus also starred in a "Women of SNL" special on November 1, 2010, on NBC.
2011–2019: Veep and acclaim
[edit]In May and June 2011, Louis-Dreyfus teamed up with husband Brad Hall for her first short film, Picture Paris. This was the first time the couple had collaborated since their early-2000s NBC comedy Watching Ellie. Hall wrote and directed the film, while Louis-Dreyfus played the lead role of an ordinary woman with an extraordinary obsession with the city of Paris. The film premiered on January 29, 2012, at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and has received considerable critical acclaim.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It made its television premiere on HBO on December 17, 2012.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
In early 2011, HBO confirmed that Louis-Dreyfus had been cast in the lead role of U.S. Vice President Selina Meyer in a new satirical comedy series titled Veep. The series was commissioned for a first season of eight episodes. In addition to her starring role, Louis-Dreyfus would also be a producer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In preparation for her role, Louis-Dreyfus spoke with Al Gore and another former vice president,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> senators, speechwriters, chiefs of staffs of various offices, and schedulers.<ref name="Fresh Air">Template:Cite news</ref> Louis-Dreyfus commended HBO for allowing the cast and crew to engage in a "protracted pre-production process", which included a six-week rehearsal period before filming began.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The first season was filmed in the fall of 2011, in Baltimore, and the series premiered on April 22, 2012.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The premiere episode was met with high praise from critics, particularly for Louis-Dreyfus's performance. The Hollywood Reporter asserted the character of Selina Meyer was her "best post-Seinfeld role" to date and claimed she gives "an Emmy-worthy effort",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while the Los Angeles Times contended the series demonstrates she is "one of the medium's great comediennes."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Following the success of the first season, Louis-Dreyfus was named by the Huffington Post as one of the funniest people of 2012, asserting that she is the "most magnetic and naturally funny woman on TV since Mary Tyler Moore."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
.jpg){kind=link}
For her performance on Veep, Louis-Dreyfus received several accolades, most notably seven nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series between 2012 and 2019, winning the award six times.<ref>Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for 2012 – Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series Template:Webarchive. Emmys.com.</ref> These Emmy wins for Veep, following previous wins for Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine, resulted in her becoming the only woman to win an acting award for three separate comedy series.<ref name=LBallrecord>Template:Cite news</ref> Her sixth win in 2016 surpassed the record previously held by Mary Tyler Moore and Candice Bergen for the most wins in that category.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, her sixth consecutive win, and eighth acting win, overall made her the performer with the most Emmys for the same role in the same series, surpassing Candice Bergen and Don Knotts, and put her in a tie with Cloris Leachman for the most Emmys ever won by a performer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She was also nominated as one of the producers for Veep in the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series category for all seven seasons, winning the award in 2015, 2016 and 2017 for the fourth, fifth and sixth seasons respectively.<ref>Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for 2012 – Outstanding Comedy Series Template:Webarchive. Emmys.com.</ref> Louis-Dreyfus also received five Critics' Choice Television Award nominations, winning twice in 2013 and 2014, ten Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, winning twice in 2014 and 2017, and five Television Critics Association Award nominations, winning once in 2014. Her performance additionally garnered her five Satellite Award nominations and five consecutive Golden Globe Award nominations.
Louis-Dreyfus lent her voice to the 2013 animated film Planes, in the role of Rochelle. To date, the film has grossed well over $200 million at the box office worldwide.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She also starred in the film Enough Said, directed by Nicole Holofcener, which was released on September 18, 2013.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This marked her debut as a lead actress in a full-length feature film. The film garnered rave reviews from film critics, ranking among the best-reviewed films of 2013. The website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 96% based on 152 reviews, many of them praising Louis-Dreyfus's performance.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She received several Best Actress nominations including for the Golden Globe Awards and the Critics' Choice Movie Awards. Another review aggregation website, Metacritic, gave the film a score of 78 out of 100, based on 44 critics, signifying "generally favorable reviews".
Since December 2014, Louis-Dreyfus has appeared in a series of television commercials for Old Navy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2015 she acted in the Comedy Central sketch series Inside Amy Schumer alongside Tina Fey and Patricia Arquette, playing a version of themselves giving advice on aging to Amy Schumer. Dreyfus said of the experience "I started to feel unbelievably paranoid that I was making fun of myself and wondering, was this really happening to me? Like, how meta is this moment in my life? I started to have a kind of soul-searching crisis in the middle of the day. And I didn't know [the other women] well enough to bring it up, so I was just trying to be a good sport even though I was dying a little bit on the inside."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On April 16, 2016, she returned to Saturday Night Live serving as host for the third time with musical guest Nick Jonas. During the episode's cold open, she reprised her role of Elaine Benes from Seinfeld.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2020–present: Career expansion
[edit]_Julia_Louis-Dreyfus,_Gladys_Knight,_Mindy_Kaling_and_Denise_Saunders_Thompson.jpg){kind=link}
In 2020, Louis-Dreyfus headlined the comedy-drama Downhill, opposite Will Ferrell. The film premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was theatrically released on February 14.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Next, she voiced a suburban elf mother in Pixar's Onward opposite Tom Holland and Chris Pratt. The film was released on March 6, 2020. In January 2020, Louis-Dreyfus signed a multi-year deal with Apple TV+. Under the deal, she will develop new projects for Apple TV+ as both an executive producer and star.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The following year Louis-Dreyfus appeared in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, which is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though she was originally intended to debut in the film Black Widow (where she appears in the post credit scene).<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> She reprised the role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), and also appears in the film Thunderbolts* (2025). In 2022 she was a guest on the Netflix show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman.
In 2023 she reunited with Nicole Holofcener starring in the A24 independent comedy film You Hurt My Feelings. Dreyfus produced the film and acted alongside Tobias Menzies, Michaela Watkins, Arian Moayed and Jeannie Berlin. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to positive reviews. Peter Bradshaw praised her performance writing, "Louis-Dreyfus is such a superb comic performer that it is interesting seeing her take on something low-key".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That same year she portrayed a liberal Jewish mother in the Netflix romantic comedy You People (2023). She also starred in the A24 film Tuesday, directed by Daina Oniunas-Pusić,<ref name=nytimes.com>Template:Cite news</ref> which premiered at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2023, Louis-Dreyfus became host of the podcast Wiser Than Me.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On the show, she interviews women older than her on their lived experience and earned wisdom. Guests have included Jane Fonda, Carol Burnett, Isabel Allende and Amy Tan. The show, produced by Lemonada Media, was named Apple's Best Podcast of the Year in 2023.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Among her season two guests, Louis-Dreyfus interviews Billie Jean King, Patti Smith, and Julie Andrews.<ref name=newstatesman.com>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2024, Apple announced that Wiser Than Me was the 3rd most shared show in the United States on Apple Podcasts in 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Style and reception
[edit]Louis-Dreyfus said she respects "women who are not afraid of making themselves look bad or foolish to get a laugh" and cites her acting idols as Lucille Ball, Mary Tyler Moore, Madeline Kahn, Teri Garr, Valerie Harper, and Cloris Leachman.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The actress Tina Fey said that Louis-Dreyfus inspired her character Liz Lemon on the NBC comedy series 30 Rock.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Louis-Dreyfus is widely regarded as one of the finest comedic actresses of her generation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> Jake Coyle of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal said "Few comediennes have both her gift for physical comedy... and vocal precision".<ref name=":0" /> According to the journalist Molly Ball, Louis-Dreyfus has played mostly "funny, self-centered women who are compelling despite often being ill-behaved." Louis-Dreyfus said she had turned playing unlikeable people into a career.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Ball said: "She has also left an indelible cultural mark, expanding the possibilities for women in comedy–and maybe in politics and public life as well."<ref name=":1" />
Personal life
[edit]Marriage and family
[edit]
Louis-Dreyfus's maternal half-sister, Lauren Bowles, is also an actress. She also has two paternal half-sisters, Phoebe<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Emma. Emma died in August 2018.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
While at Northwestern University, Louis-Dreyfus met her future husband, the Saturday Night Live comedian Brad Hall.<ref name="actors"/> They married in 1987 and have two sons.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Their older son, Henry Hall, is a singer-songwriter who has performed on The Tonight Show.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Their younger son, Charlie Hall, is an actor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Cancer diagnosis and recovery
[edit]On September 28, 2017, Louis-Dreyfus announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, which she discovered the day after winning a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Veep.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She said: "One in eight women get breast cancer. Today, I'm the one. The good news is that I have the most glorious group of supportive and caring family and friends, and fantastic insurance through my union. The bad news is that not all women are so lucky, so let's fight all cancers and make universal healthcare a reality."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On October 18, 2018, she announced on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! that she was cancer-free.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Louis-Dreyfus was raised Catholic but moved towards agnosticism; she said she had no "traditional religious affiliation".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Advocacy and politics
[edit]Louis-Dreyfus supported Al Gore's 2000 U.S. presidential bid and Barack Obama's bid for the presidency in both 2008<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and 2012.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She appeared in a video that urged Obama to reject the proposal of the Keystone XL pipeline, arguing that if the pipeline ever were to leak, it would cause massive pollution across the U.S.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She has voiced her concern for several environmental issues and has raised millions for Heal the Bay, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Trust for Public Land. She also worked for the successful passage of Proposition O, which allocated $500 million for cleaning up the Los Angeles water supply.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In October 2010, before the U.S. Senate election in California, Louis-Dreyfus starred in a humorous Barbara Boxer ad regarding energy policy.<ref>Template:CitationTemplate:Cbignore</ref> During the 2016 Democratic National Convention, she supported Hillary Clinton in that year's presidential election.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref> In her acceptance speech at the 2017 Screen Actors Guild Awards, she denounced President Donald Trump's executive order, referred to as the "Muslim ban", as "un-American" and said, "My father fled religious persecution in Nazi-occupied France."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Louis-Dreyfus emceed the final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, endorsing Joe Biden.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She has also published information regarding voting by mail<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> and urged all Americans to vote.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Louis-Dreyfus endorsed Representative Karen Bass in the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election, in various social media posts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Filmography
[edit]Film
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Troll | Jeanette Cooper | |
| Hannah and Her Sisters | Marianna | ||
| Soul Man | Elizabeth Stimson | ||
| 1989 | National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation | Margo Chester | |
| 1993 | Jack the Bear | Peggy Etinger | |
| 1994 | North | North's Mother | |
| 1997 | Fathers' Day | Caroline Lawrence | |
| Deconstructing Harry | Leslie | ||
| 1998 | A Bug's Life | Princess Atta | Voice<ref name="btva">Template:Cite web A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref> |
| 2013 | Planes | Rochelle | Voice<ref name="btva" /> |
| Enough Said | Evelyn | ||
| 2020 | Downhill | Billie Stanton | Also producer |
| Onward | Laurel Lightfoot | Voice<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="btva" /> | |
| 2021 | Black Widow | Valentina Allegra de Fontaine | Cameo<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 2022 | Black Panther: Wakanda Forever | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | |
| 2023 | You People | Shelley | |
| You Hurt My Feelings | Elizabeth | Also producer | |
| Tuesday | Zora | ||
| 2025 | Thunderbolts* | Valentina Allegra de Fontaine | |
| 2026 | Template:Pending film | Template:TBA | Post-production |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982–1985 | Saturday Night Live | Various Characters | 57 episodes |
| 1987 | The Art of Being Nick | Rachel | Television special |
| 1988 | Family Ties | Susan White | Episode: "Read It and Weep: Part 2" |
| 1988–1989 | Day by Day | Eileen Swift | 33 episodes |
| 1990–1998 | Seinfeld | Elaine Benes | 177 episodes |
| 1992 | Dinosaurs | Heather Worthington (voice) | Episode: "Slave to Fashion" |
| 1994 | Sesame Street All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever! | Katherine Lee Kathie | Television special |
| 1995 | The Single Guy | Christina | Episode: "Mugging" |
| 1996 | London Suite | Debra Dolby | Television film |
| 1997 | Hey Arnold! | Miss Felter (voice) | Episode: "Crush on Teacher"<ref name="btva" /> |
| Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist | Julia (voice) | Episode: "Ben Treats"<ref name="btva" /> | |
| 1999 | Animal Farm | Mollie (voice) | Television film<ref name="btva" /> |
| Blue's Clues | Julianna | Episode: "Blue's Big Pajama Party" | |
| 2000 | Geppetto | The Blue Fairy | Television film |
| 2000–2001, 2009 |
Curb Your Enthusiasm | Herself | 8 episodes |
| 2001–2008 | The Simpsons | Gloria (voice) | 3 episodes |
| 2002–2003 | Watching Ellie | Eleanor Riggs | 19 episodes; also producer |
| 2004–2005 | Arrested Development | Maggie Lizer | 4 episodes |
| 2005 | The Fairly OddParents | Blonda (voice) | Episode: "Blondas Have More Fun!" |
| 2006–2010 | The New Adventures of Old Christine | Christine Campbell | 88 episodes; also producer in season 5 |
| 2006 2007 2016 |
Saturday Night Live | Herself / Host | Episode: "Julia Louis-Dreyfus/Paul Simon" Episode: "Julia Louis-Dreyfus/Snow Patrol" Episode: "Julia Louis-Dreyfus/Alicia Keys" |
| 2010 | 30 Rock | Liz Lemon | Episode: "Live Show" |
| 2012–2019 | Veep | Selina Meyer | 65 episodes; also executive producer |
| 2012 | Web Therapy | Shevaun Haig | Episode: "Sister Act" |
| 2015 | Inside Amy Schumer | Herself | Episode: "Last Fuckable Day" |
| 2019 | Archibald's Next Big Thing | Astronaut Monkey (voice) | Episode: "The Chicken Has Landed/The Night of the Nibbler" |
| 2021 | The Falcon and the Winter Soldier | Valentina Allegra de Fontaine | 2 episodes |
| Marvel Studios: Assembled | Herself | Documentary; Episode: "The Making of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" | |
| 2022 | My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman | Herself | Episode: "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" |
| 2023 | HouseBroken | Boaracle (voice) | Episode: "Who Ain't Afraid of No Ghosts?" |
Awards and nominations
[edit]Julia Louis-Dreyfus has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series seven times: once for her role on The New Adventures of Old Christine (2006) and six consecutive awards for playing Selina Meyer on Veep (2012–17), as well as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series once for Seinfeld (1996).
As of 2017, she holds the record for the most Primetime Emmy awards as an actor for the same role and is tied with fellow Northwestern University alum Cloris Leachman for the most acting Primetime Emmy awards (with eight). She has also been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning one for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film for her role as Elaine Benes on Seinfeld (1995).
She has also been nominated for twenty-one Screen Actors Guild Awards and has won five for individual performance (nine altogether) for her work on Seinfeld (1997–98) and Veep (2014, 2017–18). In 2016, she won the Crossover Talent award at the 4th Annual American Reality Television Awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2018, she was the twentieth recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2023, the podcast she hosts, Wiser Than Me, won Apple's Best Podcast of the Year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]External links
[edit]- Pages with broken file links
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus
- 1961 births
- 20th-century American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
- 20th-century American comedians
- 21st-century American comedians
- Actresses from Maryland
- Actresses from Manhattan
- American film actresses
- American sketch comedians
- American stage actresses
- American television actresses
- American voice actresses
- American women comedians
- American women podcasters
- Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (television) winners
- California Democrats
- Comedians from Manhattan
- Comedians from Maryland
- Living people
- Louis-Dreyfus family
- Mark Twain Prize recipients
- Northwestern University School of Communication alumni
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
- Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
- Entertainers from Bethesda, Maryland
- Maryland Democrats
- Philanthropists from New York (state)
- American people of Dutch-Jewish descent
- American people of English-Jewish descent
- American people of Brazilian-Jewish descent
- American people of French-Jewish descent
- American people of Polish-Jewish descent