Julia Louis-Dreyfus
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| Julia Louis-Dreyfus | |||||||||||||||
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| Born | Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus January 13, 1961 New York City, New York, USA |
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| Years active | 1982 - present | ||||||||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Brad Hall (1987–present) | ||||||||||||||
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Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus[1] (born January 13, 1961) is an American Emmy-, Golden Globe-, and SAG Award-winning actress and comedienne who gained popularity playing the role of Elaine Benes on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld in the 1990s. She currently stars in the CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Personal life
Louis-Dreyfus was born in New York City to a wealthy family known for owning the Louis Dreyfus Group, a French commodities trading and merchandising firm. Her mother, Judith, is a writer, and her French father, Gérard Louis-Dreyfus (who changed his name to William in the 1940s), is an attorney and business executive.[1][2] Her parents divorced during her childhood and her mother was remarried to L. Thompson Bowles.[1] Louis-Dreyfus' paternal grandfather, Pierre Louis-Dreyfus, was a French Jew who was a member of the French Resistance during World War II; he was the grandson of Léopold Louis-Dreyfus, who founded the Louis-Dreyfus Group.[1][3] Her cousin, Robert Louis-Dreyfus, is the former CEO of Adidas (1993–2001) and the current owner of the Olympique de Marseille soccer team; another cousin, Kaitlin Coble, is Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2007.[4] Julia's half-sister Lauren Bowles--the daughter of Judith and Thompson Bowles--is an actress who appeared with her on The New Adventures of Old Christine, as well as acting on Veronica Mars and the film Ghost World. She is also 'very, very distantly' related to Richard Dreyfuss.
Louis-Dreyfus spent her childhood in several countries, living with her mother and stepfather.[1] She was later raised in Bethesda, Maryland, and graduated from the Holton-Arms School. She attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she studied theater and was a member of the Delta Gamma sorority which she left after a semester of membership. She did not graduate from Northwestern and dropped out to pursue her career.[1] She was, however, awarded an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Northwestern University in 2007. Since 1987, she has been married to actor/writer Brad Hall, whom she met while they were students at Northwestern. Hall also worked on SNL. They have two sons, Henry (born 1992) and Charles (born 1997).
[edit] Career
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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. She had a notable recurring guest role as the deceitful 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, her newer series, The New Adventures of Old Christine, received high ratings and Louis-Dreyfus won the Lead Actress Emmy Award for her work on the show's first season. Referring to the curse, she stated in her acceptance speech, "I'm not one to believe in curses . . . but curse this baby!"[1]
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 (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. That storyline expanded on Seinfeld's "show about nothing" theme by twisting it into a "show about a show about a show about nothing".
[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] Filmography
- Gepetto (1998)
- Saturday Night Live (1982 – 1985)
- Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
- Troll (1986)
- Soul Man (1986)
- Day by Day (television) (1988)
- National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
- Seinfeld (1990 – 1998)
- Beethoven (film) Neighbor (David Duchovnys' wife/girlfriend)
- Jack the Bear (1993)
- North (1994)
- London Suite (1996)
- Deconstructing Harry (1997)
- Fathers' Day (1997)
- A Bug's Life (1998)
- Animal Farm (1999)
- Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000)
- Watching Ellie (2002)
- Arrested Development (2004)
- The Simpsons (Snake's girlfriend Gloria)
- The New Adventures of Old Christine (2006–present)
[edit] Awards and nominations
- 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
- 1994: Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series -- Seinfeld
- Nominations
- 1995: Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series -- Seinfeld
- 2007: Best Leading Actress in a Comedy Series -- The New Adventures of Old Christine
- 1997: Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Comedy Series -- Seinfeld
- 1998: Outstanding Performance by an Actress 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
- 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
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Stated in interview at Inside the Actors Studio
- ^ Forbes World's Richest People. Gérard Louis-Dreyfus & family
- ^ Louis Dreyfus Global
- ^ "Can tarnished crown be polished? After controversy over last year's Miss Teen USA, Charlotte's Coble, other hopefuls scrutinized.", Charlotte Observer, 2007-08-23. Retrieved on 2007-08-23.
[edit] External links
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus at the Internet Movie Database
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus at Yahoo! Movies
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus at TV.com
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| 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 | |
