67 Facts About Julia Louis-Dreyfus

1.

Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus is an American actress, comedian, and producer.

2.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus worked on the comedy television series Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld, The New Adventures of Old Christine, and Veep.

3.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is one of the most award-winning actresses in American television history, having received more Primetime Emmy Awards and more Screen Actors Guild Awards than any other performer, tying Cloris Leachman for the most acting awards.

4.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus's breakthrough came in 1989 with a nine-season run playing Elaine Benes on Seinfeld, one of the most critically and commercially successful sitcoms of all time.

5.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has made guest appearances on shows such as Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and 30 Rock.

6.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has voice roles in the animated films A Bug's Life, Planes, and Onward, and has played Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2021.

7.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has received eleven Primetime Emmy Awards, eight for acting and three for producing, in addition to a Golden Globe Award, and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards.

8.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010 and was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2014.

9.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus was named as one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world in 2016.

10.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has received numerous honors including the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2018 and the National Medal of Arts in 2021.

11.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus was born in New York City on January 13,1961.

12.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus's American-born mother, Judith, was a writer and special needs tutor, and her French-born father, Gerard Louis-Dreyfus, chaired the Louis Dreyfus Company.

13.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus's paternal grandfather, Pierre Louis-Dreyfus, was president of the Louis Dreyfus Group; 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.

14.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a great-great-granddaughter of Leopold Louis-Dreyfus, who in 1851 founded the aforementioned Louis Dreyfus Group, a French commodities and shipping conglomerate, which members of her family still control; and is related to Alfred Dreyfus of the infamous Dreyfus affair.

15.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus graduated from the all-girls Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1979.

16.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she was a member of the Delta Gamma sorority.

17.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus 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.

18.

Julia 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.

19.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has commented that her casting on SNL was a "Cinderella-getting-to-go-to-the-ball kind of experience"; however, she has 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".

20.

In 1987, Julia Louis-Dreyfus appeared in the NBC sitcom pilot The Art of Being Nick, an intended spin-off from Family Ties starring Scott Valentine.

21.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus played the role for nine seasons, appearing in all but three episodes.

22.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus won the role over several other actresses who eventually enjoyed TV success, including Patricia Heaton and Megan Mullally.

23.

Julia 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.

24.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus's 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.

25.

In 2005, Julia Louis-Dreyfus was cast in the title role of a new CBS sitcom, The New Adventures of Old Christine.

26.

In May 2006, Julia Louis-Dreyfus hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live, becoming the first female former cast member to return to the show in the hosting role.

27.

In 2009, Julia Louis-Dreyfus was granted the honorary award for Legacy of Laughter at the TV Land Awards.

28.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus was presented with the award by friend Amy Poehler.

29.

Originally, the star was set with Julia Louis-Dreyfus's name spelled incorrectly.

30.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus played the sister of the main character Fiona Wallice, who gives her therapy online.

31.

In fall 2010, Julia Louis-Dreyfus made a guest appearance on the live episode of the Emmy-winning comedy 30 Rock.

32.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus played Tina Fey's role of Liz Lemon in the cutaway shots.

33.

Julia 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.

34.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus starred in a "Women of SNL" special on November 1,2010, on NBC.

35.

In May and June 2011, Julia Louis-Dreyfus teamed up with husband Brad Hall for her first short film, Picture Paris.

36.

Hall wrote and directed the film, while Julia Louis-Dreyfus played the lead role of an ordinary woman with an extraordinary obsession with the city of Paris.

37.

In early 2011, HBO confirmed that Julia Louis-Dreyfus had been cast in the lead role of US Vice President Selina Meyer in a new satirical comedy series titled Veep.

38.

In preparation for her role, Julia Louis-Dreyfus spoke with two former vice presidents, including Al Gore, senators, speechwriters, chiefs of staffs of various offices, and schedulers.

39.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has 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.

40.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus was nominated as one of the producers for Veep in the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series category from 2012 to 2014, but the show lost to Modern Family on all three occasions.

41.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has 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.

42.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus's performance has additionally garnered her five Satellite Award nominations and five consecutive Golden Globe Award nominations.

43.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus lent her voice to the 2013 animated film Planes, in the role of Rochelle.

44.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus starred in the film Enough Said, directed by Nicole Holofcener, which was released on September 18,2013.

45.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus received several Best Actress nominations for her role in the film at award ceremonies, including the Golden Globe Awards, Satellite Awards, Critics' Choice Movie Awards, and the American Comedy Awards.

46.

Since December 2014, Julia Louis-Dreyfus has appeared in a series of television commercials for Old Navy.

47.

In 2020, Julia Louis-Dreyfus headlined the comedy-drama Downhill, opposite Will Ferrell.

48.

In January 2020, Julia Louis-Dreyfus signed a multi-year deal with Apple TV+.

49.

In 2021, Julia Louis-Dreyfus appeared in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier 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.

50.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus reprised the role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and will appear in the upcoming film Thunderbolts.

51.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has two paternal half-sisters, Phoebe and Emma, the latter of whom died in August 2018.

52.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus's older son, Henry Hall, is a singer-songwriter who has performed on The Tonight Show.

53.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus's younger son, Charlie Hall, is a television actor.

54.

In 2007, Julia Louis-Dreyfus was invited back to Northwestern to receive an honorary Doctor of Arts degree.

55.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has stated that she holds much respect for "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.

56.

Actress Tina Fey said that Julia Louis-Dreyfus served as inspiration for her character Liz Lemon on the award-winning NBC comedy series 30 Rock.

57.

On September 28,2017, Julia Louis-Dreyfus announced on Twitter her diagnosis of breast cancer, a diagnosis she received one day after receiving a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Veep.

58.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus supported Al Gore's 2000 US presidential bid, and endorsed Barack Obama's bid for the presidency in 2008 and 2012.

59.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus 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 mass pollution across the US Additionally, 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.

60.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus worked for the successful passage of Proposition O, which allocated US$500 million for cleaning up the Los Angeles water supply.

61.

In late October 2010, before the United States Senate election in California, Julia Louis-Dreyfus starred in a humorous Barbara Boxer ad regarding energy policy.

62.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus emceed the final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, endorsing Joe Biden.

63.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has published information regarding voting by mail and urged all Americans to vote.

64.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus endorsed Representative Karen Bass in the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election, in various social media posts.

65.

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 and six consecutive awards for playing Selina Meyer on Veep, as well as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series once for Seinfeld.

66.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has 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.

67.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has been nominated for twenty-one Screen Actors Guild Awards and has won five for individual performance for her work on Seinfeld and Veep.