Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus was born in New York City and spent parts of her childhood in Washington, D.C., New York, and several countries connected to her stepfather's work with Project HOPE. Her mother, Judith, was a writer and special needs educator, while her father, Gérard Louis-Dreyfus, chaired the Louis Dreyfus Company. She is a great-great-granddaughter of businessman Léopold Louis-Dreyfus, who founded the Louis Dreyfus Group.

Louis-Dreyfus graduated from Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1979 and studied theater at Northwestern University. She performed in the student improv and sketch revue the Mee-Ow Show before leaving during her junior year to join Saturday Night Live. Northwestern later awarded her an honorary doctor of arts degree.

Louis-Dreyfus began performing with Chicago's Practical Theatre Company and trained with the improvisational comedy group The Second City. Her work with the Practical Theatre Company led to her casting on NBC's Saturday Night Live at age 21. She was a cast member from 1982 to 1985 and was the program's youngest female cast member at the time.

During her final season on Saturday Night Live, she met writer Larry David, who later co-created Seinfeld. After leaving the show, Louis-Dreyfus appeared in films including Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters, Soul Man, and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. She also played Eileen Swift on the NBC sitcom Day by Day from 1988 to 1989.

Louis-Dreyfus became widely known for playing Elaine Benes on NBC's Seinfeld, appearing in the series from 1990 to 1998. Elaine was not part of the original pilot, but NBC executives required the creators to add a woman to the predominantly male cast. Louis-Dreyfus won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1996 and a Golden Globe for the role.

The series ran for nine seasons and ended with a finale watched by more than 76 million viewers. During the show's run, Louis-Dreyfus also appeared in Jack the Bear, North, Fathers' Day, and Deconstructing Harry. She voiced Princess Atta in Pixar's A Bug's Life and later appeared in several episodes of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm, including a 2009 Seinfeld reunion storyline.

In 2002, Louis-Dreyfus starred in Watching Ellie, a sitcom created by her husband, Brad Hall. She played Ellie Riggs, a Los Angeles lounge singer, and also served as a producer. The show returned with a substantially revised format for a second season before NBC canceled it in 2003. She subsequently played prosecutor Maggie Lizer on Arrested Development from 2004 to 2005.

Louis-Dreyfus returned to a leading television role in 2006 as Christine Campbell on CBS's The New Adventures of Old Christine. The series followed a divorced mother who ran a women's gym and managed an unusually close relationship with her former husband. Louis-Dreyfus won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the first season, and the show ran for five seasons.

Louis-Dreyfus began playing fictional U.S. Vice President Selina Meyer on HBO's political satire Veep in 2012. She prepared for the role by speaking with Al Gore, another former vice president, senators, speechwriters, chiefs of staff, and political schedulers. She also served as a producer and executive producer on the series.

Her performance earned six consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series from 2012 through 2017. Together with her earlier wins for Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine, the awards made her the only woman to win acting Emmys for three separate comedy series. She received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2018 and was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2014.

Louis-Dreyfus took a leading feature-film role in Enough Said in 2013, directed by Nicole Holofcener and co-starring James Gandolfini. She later appeared in Downhill opposite Will Ferrell, voiced Laurel Lightfoot in Pixar's Onward, and acted in You People, You Hurt My Feelings, and Tuesday. She produced Downhill and You Hurt My Feelings.

In 2021, she joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. She reprised the role in Black Widow, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Thunderbolts.* She signed a multiyear development and production agreement with Apple TV+ in 2020, expanding her work behind the camera as well as in front of it.

In 2023, Louis-Dreyfus became the host of Wiser Than Me, a podcast produced by Lemonada Media. The program features conversations with older women about their experiences and accumulated wisdom, with guests including Jane Fonda, Carol Burnett, Isabel Allende, Amy Tan, Billie Jean King, Patti Smith, and Julie Andrews.

Wiser Than Me was named Apple's Best Podcast of the Year in 2023. The podcast added a new dimension to Louis-Dreyfus's career, placing her in the role of interviewer and creator as well as performer.

Louis-Dreyfus met actor and comedian Brad Hall while studying at Northwestern University. They married in 1987 and have two sons, Henry Hall and Charlie Hall. Henry is a singer-songwriter, while Charlie is an actor. Louis-Dreyfus also collaborated with Brad Hall on the short film Picture Paris, which he wrote and directed and in which she played the lead role.

In September 2017, Louis-Dreyfus announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She announced in October 2018 that she was cancer-free after treatment. She has also supported environmental causes and participated in political advocacy, including work connected to clean water, voting, and Democratic candidates.