Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Infobox actor
name = Julia Louis-Dreyfus

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imagesize = 220px
caption = Julia Louis-Dreyfus, 2007
birthname = Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus
birthdate = birth date and age|1961|1|13
birthplace = New York City, New York, USA
spouse = Brad Hall (1987–present)
yearsactive = 1982 - present
emmyawards = Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series
1996 "Seinfeld"
Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series
2006 "The New Adventures of Old Christine"
goldenglobeawards = Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
1994 "Seinfeld"
sagawards = Best Female Actor - Comedy Series
1996, 1997 "Seinfeld"
Best Ensemble - Comedy Series
1994, 1996, 1997 "Seinfeld"

Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-DreyfusStated in interview at "Inside the Actors Studio"] (born January 13, 1961) is an American actress and comedienne best known for her Emmy award winning roles as Elaine Benes on the NBC sitcom "Seinfeld" in the 1990s, and as Christine Campbell on the current CBS sitcom "The New Adventures of Old Christine".

Biography

Louis-Dreyfus was born in New York City to a wealthy French-Jewish family known for owning the French Louis Dreyfus Group, one of the world's largest commodities trading and merchandising firms (with interests in shipping, real estate and sports management, in addition to agribusiness). 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. [Forbes World's Richest People. [http://www.forbes.com/finance/lists/10/2004/LIR.jhtml?passListId=10&passYear=2004&passListType=Person&uniqueId=DDGH&datatype=Person Gérard Louis-Dreyfus & family] ] Her parents divorced during her childhood and her mother was remarried to L. Thompson Bowles. 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. [ [http://www.louisdreyfus.com/content.cfm?page=ldtimeline.cfm&gbus=8&rightmenu=default Louis Dreyfus Global] ] 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. [cite news|title=Can tarnished crown be polished? After controversy over last year's Miss Teen USA, Charlotte's Coble, other hopefuls scrutinized.|publisher=Charlotte Observer|date=2007-08-23|accessdate=2007-08-23] She is also 'very, very distantly' related to Richard Dreyfuss and Alfred Dreyfus. Julia's maternal half-sister Lauren Bowles is an actress who appeared with her on "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and "Seinfeld", as well as acting on "Veronica Mars" and the film "Ghost World".

Louis-Dreyfus spent her childhood in several states, living with her mother and stepfather. 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 (she left the sorority after a semester of membership). She left Northwestern after 3 years to begin working on Saturday Night Live. She was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Northwestern University in 2007. While living in Evanston, she was a member of the Practical Theatre Company, an Evanston storefront theatre. She, now-husband Brad Hall, and Paul Barosse were all members of the Practical Theatre who made the transition to "Saturday Night Live." 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 June 1992) and Charles (born May 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 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. 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 one to believe in curses . . . but curse this baby!"

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 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."

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)

Filmography

* "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" (1989 – 1998)
* "Jack the Bear" (1993)
* "North" (1994)
* "London Suite" (1996)
* "Deconstructing Harry" (1997)
* "Fathers' Day" (1997)
* "A Bug's Life" (1998)
* "Animal Farm (1999)"
* "Geppeto" (2000)
* "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (2000)
* "Watching Ellie" (2002)
* "Arrested Development" (2004)
* "The Simpsons" (Snake's girlfriend Gloria)
* "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (2006–present)

Awards and nominations

;Emmy Awards
* 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
* 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"

;Screen Actors Guild Awards
* 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"

References

External links

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succession box
title=Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
years=1994
for "Seinfeld"
before=Joan Plowright
for "Stalin"
after=Miranda Richardson
for "Fatherland"succession box
title=Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
years=1996
for "Seinfeld"
before=Christine Baranski
for "Cybill"
after=Julia Louis-Dreyfus
for "Seinfeld"succession box
title=Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
years=1997
for "Seinfeld"
before=Julia Louis-Dreyfus
for "Seinfeld"
after=Tracey Ullman
for "Tracey Takes On..."succession box
title=Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
years=1994
for "Seinfeld"
before=No Award Ceremony
after=Jennifer Aniston; Courteney Cox; Lisa Kudrow; Matt LeBlanc; Matthew Perry; David Schwimmer
for "Friends"succession box
title=Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
years=1996
for "Seinfeld"
before=Jennifer Aniston; Courteney Cox; Lisa Kudrow; Matt LeBlanc; Matthew Perry; David Schwimmer
for "Friends"
after=Jason Alexander; Julia Louis-Dreyfus; Michael Richards; Jerry Seinfeld
for "Seinfeld"succession box
title=Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
years=1997
for "Seinfeld"
before=Jason Alexander; Julia Louis-Dreyfus; Michael Richards; Jerry Seinfeld
for "Seinfeld"
after=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"

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=