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Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus ( LOO-ee DRY-fəs; born January 13, 1961) is an American actress and comedian. Often described as one of the greatest performers in television history, she is widely known for her roles as various characters on Saturday Night Live (1982–1985), Elaine Benes on Seinfeld (1990–1998), Christine Campbell on The New Adventures of Old Christine (2006–2010), and Selina Meyer on Veep (2012–2019). Her list of accolades makes her one of the most award-winning actresses in American television history, and she has received more Primetime Emmy Awards and more Screen Actors Guild Awards than any other performer. Louis-Dreyfus was born in New York City, the daughter of French billionaire Gérard Louis-Dreyfus, and broke into 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 in 1990 with her debut at the start of a nine-season run on Seinfeld, which became one of the most critically and commercially successful sitcoms. In addition to leading roles on The New Adventures of Old Christine and Veep, she has made guest appearances on shows such as Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and 30 Rock. On film, Louis-Dreyfus has had supporting film roles in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), Deconstructing Harry (1997), and leading film roles in Enough Said (2013), Downhill (2020), You People (2023), and You Hurt My Feelings (2023). Her voice acting work includes A Bug's Life (1998), Planes (2013), and Onward (2020). Since 2021 she has played Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Louis-Dreyfus has received 11 Primetime Emmy Awards (eight for acting and three for producing) in addition to nine Screen Actors Guild Awards and one Golden Globe Award. 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. She has also received numerous honors including the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2018 and the National Medal of Arts in 2021. Early life Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus was born in New York City on January 13, 1961. Her mother, Judith (née LeFever), was an American writer and special needs educator. 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. He was a member of a Jewish family from Alsace, and served as a cavalry officer and member of the French Resistance during World War II. 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. She is the fifth cousin four times removed of Alfred Dreyfus (1859–1935) of the infamous Dreyfus affair. Robert Louis-Dreyfus (1946–2009), her father's second cousin, was the CEO of Adidas and owner of the soccer team Olympique de Marseille. Julia's paternal grandmother was the daughter of a Brazilian-Jewish father (whose family was Dutch, English, and Polish). In 1962, a year after her birth, Louis-Dreyfus' 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. 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; 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. In 1979, she graduated from the all-girls Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland. 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." Louis-Dreyfus attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, 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. In 2007, she received an honorary doctor of arts degree from Northwestern University. Career 1982–1989: Early career and Saturday Night Live 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. During her time on SNL, she appeared alongside several actors who later rose to prominence, such as Eddie Murphy, Jim Belushi, Billy Crystal, and Martin Short. It was during her third and final year on SNL that she met writer Larry David during his only year on the show. David later co-created Seinfeld. Louis-Dreyfus has commented that her casting on SNL was a "Cinderella-getting-to-go-to-the-ball kind of experience"; 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". 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 SNL'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. 1990–1998: Seinfeld and widespread recognition In the early 1990s, Louis-Dreyfus became famous for the role of Elaine Bene.... Discover the Julia Fellowes popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Julia Fellowes books.