Julia Louis-Dreyfus
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.[1][2] Her parents divorced during her
childhood and her mother was remarried to L. Thompson Bowles.[1] 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.[1][3] 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.[4] 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.[1] 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.[1] 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.[1] While on SNL, she met writer
Larry David, who would later co-create Seinfeld.[1] 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.[1] 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!"[1]
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".
