Julia Louis-Dreyfus

The actress who played Selina Meyer and won six Emmys in a row for it.

Among television performers, Julia Louis-Dreyfus holds the record for the most Actor Awards and is level with Cloris Leachman for the highest number of acting Emmys.^[1]

Quick Facts

Born

13 January 1961

Birthplace

New York City, U.S.

Occupation

Actor
comedian
producer

Years active

1980–present

Spouse

Brad Hall (1987)

Children

2, including Charlie Hall

Father

Gérard Louis-Dreyfus

Facts from the source article.

Making and release

After SNL, she appeared in films including Hannah and Her Sisters and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.^[2] After Seinfeld ended, she starred in the NBC sitcom Watching Ellie, created by her husband Brad Hall, which was cancelled after two seasons.^[3][4] She then played the title role in CBS's The New Adventures of Old Christine, earning the 2006 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.^[5][6] In 2011, HBO cast her as U.S. Vice President Selina Meyer in the satirical comedy Veep, which premiered on April 22, 2012.^[7][8]

For Veep, she won six Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress, becoming the only woman to win an acting award for three separate comedy series.^[9] In 2020, she signed a multi-year deal with Apple TV+ and appeared in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.^[10] At Northwestern University she studied theatre and participated in the Mee-Ow Show, then left school before graduating to join Saturday Night Live, where she was a cast member from 1982 through 1985.^[11][12] Her portrayal of Elaine Benes on NBC's Seinfeld brought her widespread fame; the character was introduced after the pilot because NBC executives wanted a female presence on the show.^[13][14]

What the cited sources add

Bradshaw also praised her earlier film Enough Said as "a terrific romantic comedy"^[15] Bradshaw characterized You Hurt My Feelings as "a film about nothingness".^[15]

References

Wikipedia, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ball, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus Knew She Was Good. She Fought to Make Sure the World Did Too", February 28, 2019; Loughrey, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus has made history with her Emmy win", The Independent, 2017-09-18; Rao, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus to receive the 2018 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor", The Washington Post, May 23, 2018; "Mindy Kaling, Bruce Springsteen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus Among Honorees of White House's National Medals of Arts", The Hollywood Reporter, March 20, 2023; Dunham, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus: The World's 100 Most Influentia en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sassone, "Short-Lived Shows: Day By Day - VIDEO", AOL TV, May 8, 2008 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gallo, "Watching Ellie", Variety, February 23, 2002; "How did your favorite show rate?", USA Today, 28 May 2002 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "TV Review: NBC's retooled 'Ellie' vastly more watchable" April 14, 2003, Post Gazette; Mcfarland, "NBC's fall lineup is looking a lot like its current one", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 5, 2003 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "TV Review: NBC's retooled 'Ellie' vastly more watchable" April 14, 2003, Post Gazette; Baerg, "'Curb's' Larry David: 'Seinfeld' Curse 'Idiotic'", Zap2It.com; "Desperate Networks is a must-read for TV fans" May 4, 2006, The Huffington Post; "Arrested Development: "Altar Egos"/"Justice Is Blind"", AV Club; Jim Benson, "CBS Slates 4 Midseason Shows", Broadcasting & Cable, November 22, 2005 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lowry, "The New Adventures of Old Christine", Variety, March 9, 2006; Stanley, "Seinfeld's Buddy Elaine Is a Divorced Mom Now, and Her Name Is Christine", The New York Times, March 13, 2006 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "HBO Begins Filming of 'VEEP' in Maryland", AFRO, October 5, 2011; "Louis-Dreyfus researched role with veeps", Houston Chronicle, January 20, 2012; "Interview with Julia Louis-Dreyfus; Interview with Steven Moffat; Review of the film 'The Avengers'", Fresh Air with Terry Gross, May 3, 2012; Grosz, "The view from three TV veterans", Los Angeles Times, June 7, 2012 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: West, "HBO Sets Premiere Dates For Game Change And Veep", Cinema Blend, January 12, 2012 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for 2012 – Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series . Emmys.com.; "Julia Louis-Dreyfus Surpasses Lucille Ball's Record & Makes Emmy History", People, 18 July 2013; Whipp, Glenn, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus makes Emmy history", Los Angeles Times, September 18, 2016; Michael Schneider, "Everything You Need To Know About This Year's Primetime Emmy Awards", IndieWire; Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for 2012 – Outstanding Comedy Series . Emmys.com. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Andreeva, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus Inks Overall Deal With Apple", Deadline, 2020-01-17; Robinson, "Marvel Has Big Plans for Julia Louis-Dreyfus", April 16, 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Edgers, "How Julia Louis-Dreyfus quietly became the most successful sitcom star ever", Chicago Tribune, October 17, 2018; "Julia Louis-Dreyfus to Speak at Northwestern Commencement: Northwestern University News", www.northwestern.edu, November 21, 2006 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Shaw, "WHERE ARE THEY NOW: All 152 cast members in 'Saturday Night Live' history", Insider Inc., December 19, 2022; "Interview with Julia Louis-Dreyfus; Interview with Steven Moffat; Review of the film 'The Avengers'", Fresh Air with Terry Gross, May 3, 2012; Hischberg, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus Is Bonded to Larry David By Their Misery", W, September 12, 2016; "Julia Louis-Dreyfus: 'SNL made me feel like Cinderella'", Digital Spy, December 20, 2011; Coyle, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus to Host 'SNL'", The Washington Post, May 11, 2006 (original n en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lipton, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus", June 4, 2007 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nusair, "5 Things You Didn't Know: Seinfeld", Askmen.com, January 5, 2008; Rosenberg, "December 7, 1995: "The Sponge" Episode of Seinfeld Aired", MyLifetime.com, December 7, 2017 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Bradshaw, "You Hurt My Feelings review – Julia Louis-Dreyfus shines in marital-pain comedy", The Guardian, August 2, 2023. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Julia Louis-Dreyfus (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.