Julia Louis Dreyfus

Julia Louis Dreyfus

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Birth name: Julia Elizabeth Scarlett Louis-Dreyfus
Date of birth: 13 January 1961
Place of birth: New York, New York, USA
Nickname: Little Yum Yum
Height: 5′ 2½” (1.59 m)
Spouse: Brad Hall (1987 – present) 2 children

Famous Quote: “There’s a pressure regardless of that to do a good show. As an actress, it appeals to me because I love the idea of playing those in-between moments, the sort of behavioral stuff that one might not normally see. Elaine is just in pain. I think Elaine has become very, very sad woman. She is someone who is in deep need of many hours of analysis and I like to think that I’m not that type of person.”

Contact Address and Autograph: Addresses and fan mail information

Julia Louis Dreyfus
Creative Artists Agency
2000 Avenue of the Stars
Los Angeles, CA 90067, USA 

Biography:  Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus (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. Though she may be forever remembered as Elaine Benes she of the “big wall of hair,” nipple slip and uncomfortable dancing on the NBC sitcom, Seinfeld (1990-98), actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus allowed her comedic talents to shine in a variety of film and television projects ranging from “Saturday Night Live” (1975- ) to the animated hit, “A Bug’s Life” (1998). And her return to network television with “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (2006-) appeared to have (for once) broken the “’Seinfeld’ curse” that plagued her co-stars’ subsequent projects.

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. 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. 

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. 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.

Louis-Dreyfus spent her childhood in several countries, 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 which she left after a semester of membership. She did not graduate from Northwestern and dropped out to pursue her career. 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).

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. 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!”

Met her husband, Brad Hall, while both were attending Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois). She graduated in 1982. Two sons Henry (b. 1992) and Charles (b. 1997). Chosen by People Magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. Both she and her husband, Brad Hall, appeared as part of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” (1975) cast in early 1980s. They are the only husband/wife team to do so. Daughter of Gerard Louis-Dreyfus, a French billionaire.

Her TV series, “Watching Ellie” (2002), was created for her by husband Brad Hall. They originally wanted it to air commercial free, but that idea was rejected by NBC. Wears a size 8 1/2 shoe. In college, she was a member of the Delta Gamma sorority. Performed improv with Chicago’s Second City and the Practical Theatre Company, started by her husband, Brad Hall. Both her parents remarried after their divorce, and she has two half-sisters from her mother’s second marriage and two half-sisters from her father’s second marriage. She considers both her step-parents to be as important in her life as her biological parents.

Her grandfather, Pierre Louis-Dreyfus, was a member of the French Resistance during WWII, and flew 88 missions for Charles de Gaulle’s Free French Air Force. Fought NBC censors to allow a scene where a man runs around his house completely naked in front of Ellie (Julia’s character on “Watching Ellie” (2002)). She won. Her character on “Seinfeld” (1990), Elaine Benes, did not appear in the original pilot. She has never watched that episode–out of superstition.

Half-sister, Lauren Bowles, acts with her in “Watching Ellie” (2002). Is included in Richard Roeper’s list of actresses who’ve never done nude scenes in his latest book, “Ten Sure Signs a Movie Character is Doomed, and Other Surprising Movie Lists”. When asked about this by Conan O’Brien, Dreyfus stated that she’d never been asked to do one. It was announced that her TV series, “Watching Ellie” (2002) has been canceled by NBC. Lasting one year, it more than doubled the staying power of fellow “Seinfeld” (1990) alumni Jason Alexander and Michael Richards’ TV series, but failed to draw a wide enough audience to warrant renewal. 

Was originally slated to play Alison Stern in Private Parts (1997), Howard Stern’s biopic. She dropped out to spend more time with her children. Her second home in Montecito, CA, is solar-powered, radiant-heated, and built from recycled materials. Is the first, and thus far only, one of the four primary cast members of “Seinfeld” (1990) to have received a Razzie Award nomination. She was nominated for Worst Supporting Actress in 1998 for her performance in the film Fathers’ Day (1997). However, she ultimately lost the award to Alicia Silverstone in Batman & Robin (1997). Chosen by Forbes magazine in 2006 as one of the 10 Hottest Billionaire Heiresses. She and her future husband Brad Hall (a year before they were married in 1987) made their feature film debut together as a couple in the fantasy horror movie Troll (1986).

Louis-Dreyfus enjoyed a less stressful recurring role on “Arrested Development” (2003-06) as a pathological liar who romanced Jason Bateman, before she took a deep breath and dove back into the supposedly cursed sitcom world with “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (CBS, 2006- ). Based on the life of creator Kari Lizer (an actress and writer on “Will and Grace” (NBC, 1998-2006), Louis-Dreyfus played a divorced mother who, because of the son, must contend with her ex-husband and his younger girlfriend who just happens to share her first name. 

Unlike her former co-stars Jason Alexander and Michael Richards, Dreyfus proved herself to be the exception to the so-called “Seinfeld Curse.” Premiering to strong ratings and generally positive reviews, “The New Adventures of Old Christine” was one of the first new shows of the year to receive a full 22-episode commitment. Adding icing on to the cake, Dreyfus would go on to win the Emmy that year for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. Despite dropping slightly in the ratings during its second season, Dreyfus was again nominated for Best Actress on June 18, 2007 for her role as Christine Campbell. 

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”.

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