Like Crazy Joe Davola I'm gathering pictures and articles about Elaine aka Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Thanks everybody for making my Julia Louis-Dreyfus pages a big success! My free space at Xoom has disappeared but I've run out of disk space at AccessV so some of the Julia pictures are missing. Sorry!
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Guest Appearances
Note titles in quotes (") are TV series.
The Internet Movie Database.
She spent two seasons on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" in the early-to-mid 1980s and later starred on the NBC comedy series "Day By Day," from 1988-89. Her feature films include Woody Allen's "Hannah and Her Sisters," "Soul Man," "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," "Jack the Bear" and Rob Reiner's "North" (with "Seinfeld" co-star Jason Alexander).
Born in New York City, Louis-Dreyfus was raised in Washington, DC, where she became interested in acting at an early age. She studied theater at Northwestern University and worked extensively as a member of the Practical Theatre company, an improvisational group with a large Chicago following. This led to her joining the famed Second City comedy troupe. While with Second City, she continued her work with Practical Theatre and during one of their special revues was asked to join the ensemble cast of "Saturday Night Live."
For her portrayal of Elaine Benes on "Seinfeld," she won the 1993 Golden Globe Award as Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and earned a 1993 American Comedy Award as Funniest Supporting Female - Television. She also won an American Television Award as Best Supporting Actress/Comedy and was awarded the Viewers for Quality Television Best Supporting Actress/Comedy award in 1993 and 1994.
Louis-Dreyfus recently was named the "Nice and Easy Girl" for Clairol. She and her husband, writer/actor Brad Hall, have a baby son, Henry. They reside in Los Angeles.
New York Times Services
IN PERSON / Don't confuse Julia Louis-Dreyfus with the character she plays on TV's Seinfeld. But it's hard to understand why the actress - whose recent projects include Clairol commercials and the new movie North - isn't just as hyper.
SHE is not Elaine. In person she does not engage in Elaine-isms like proclaiming Golda Meir to be "the all-time ugliest world leader." She does not roll her eyes and look completely exasperated. She doesn't even eat Pez. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is definitely different from her alter ego, Elaine Benes on TV's Seinfeld. How different? Let us count the ways.
One: Elaine whines about guys. Julia is happily married to actor- director Brad Hall and loves to talk about her almost-2-year-old son Henry.
Two: Elaine is always getting into "situations." Julia is in Chicago today taping a radio show -- and nothing happens. Not just the nothing that is the basis of Seinfeld but NOTHING. No one takes out a Pez dispenser and makes her laugh at an inappropriate moment. (Recall the Seinfeld opera episode). "My normal life a pretty normal." Louis-Dreyfus says.
Three: Elaine has been accused of being high-strung, maybe even a bit neurotic. Julia, on the other hand, is a very calm glamour puss. The 33-year-old actress says she always knew that playing Elaine was going to be a bit of a stretch. "Think of it like this," she implores. "Elaine is like me times 150. That's how I think of it."
BUT when you think about it for a moment, it's almost hard to understand why Louis-Dreyfus isn't as hyper as the E-woman. She's got a lot going on after all. For starters, she is one of the stars of Seinfeld, the comedy hit that is so popular it has spawned the ultimate in hip: a catch-phrase book. She's also been hired to do commercials for Clairol that play up her long, dark hair -- which, incidentally, she used to hate. During Louis-Dreyfus's visit to Chicago, the two questions people ask the most are "about Jerry [Seinfeld] what he's really like, and the hair deal."
"It's typical." she says. "Most people are very interested in my hair "'When I was growing up, I always thought my hair was messy. I guess if I wrote a book one day, it would be about hair."
Or maybe it could be about being a movie star. Louis-Dreyfus is featured in Rob Reiner's new film North. In it, a young boy named Noah (Elijah Wood) gets tired of his workaholic parents(Louis-Dreyfus and her Seinfeld costar Jason Alexander), so he dumps his folks and goes on a nationwide search for new ones. He is aided by a guardian- angel character played by Bruce Willis.
When asked about the movie's premise. Louis-Dreyfus feigns a look of depression. "It does make you feel sort of unloved," she says in mock angst. Then, suddenly, she thinks of her own child. "My son better not dump me this way" she says. "Actually, this movie makes me think: How will my own son rebel? Oh, let's not even talk about this anymore!"
One of the more interesting scenes in the film is one in which the boy has his folks placed on display at the Smithsonian. For that shot. Louis-Dreyfus and Alexander found themselves positioned on dollies inside display case covered by a giant cloth. "It's one of many funny scenes." Louis-Dreyfus says.
Louis-Dreyfus wanted to do North to work with Rob Reiner, one of her favourite directors. "He's a great director for me because he was an actor too." she says.
She also liked the idea of a family movie. Another plus was that much of the filming took place near her home in New York, which meant that "Brad" could bring Henry to the set." she says.
Family ties are obviously important to the actress who was born in New York City and grew up with four sisters. She was a baby when her mother writer Judith Bowles, and her businessman father divorced. Both parents remarried Her childhood, she says was "very busy." She travelled between Dad's house in New York and Mom's place in Washington, DC, finally settling in Bethesda, Md. where she attended an all-girls school.
LOUIS-Dreyfus was a superachiever at an early age, logging time as class president, honour-roll student and member of the thespian society. No one in her family seemed too surprised about her interest in acting. When friends started remarking about her comic timing, she credited her genes.
"Everyone in my family is funny" she says. "Even my great grand- mother did impressions."
At 18, she went to Chicago to attend Northwestern University where she majored in theatre. It was there that she met Hall, another theatre major.
"On one of our first dates, he went to a forties vintage clothing store and bought me pointy, blue spike heels." she recalls.
During college she worked as a member of the Practical Theatre Co. an improvisational group that had a large following in the Chicago area. That led to a stint with the world- renowned Second City troupe. In 1982. Louis-Dreyfus was spotted on stage by casting agents for Saturday Night Live. She then spent what she refers to as "three difficult seasons" on the show. "It's a very competitive place," she says.
In the late eighties she married Hall (who also had a stint on SNL) and decided to start a movie career. She quickly landed parts in Hannah and Her Sisters(1986) and Soul Man(1986). More recently she has had roles in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation(1989) and Jack the Bear(1993).
But it was her turn as a yuppie business executive who is bewildered and a little grossed out by kids in the TV series Day By Day that caught the eyes of Jerry Seinfeld and director Larry David, who cast her as Jerry's former girlfriend/still friend Elaine on Seinfeld. I'm so lucky." Louis-Dreyfus says, referring to her work on the sitcom. "It's not often that you get great material. That's such a nice way to go to work."
So what's in store for Elaine next season? Definitely not a new relationship Louis-Dreyfus says. "Elaine is not a grounded person, but, actually no one on the series is grounded. That's why their relationships tend to crumble." Off the set she and Seinfeld are "good buddies", she says. "We eat cereal together, which is a bonding thing on our set." Will Jerry and Elaine ever get back together? "No. no, no," the actress says. "And if they do get back together, it will be brief."
One thing that is certain is that Louis-Dreyfus' life has become more interesting since she took on the role of Elaine. She even tangled with Tom Arnold last year. As the story goes, Louis-Dreyfus innocently parked her car in the spot on the production lot that was reserved for Arnold's Bentley. He reportedly left her an obscene message. Which led to a confrontation. And a million Letterman and Leno jokes. This is one thing Louis-Dreyfus prefers not to talk about. When it is suggested that the incident sounds like a halfway decent Seinfeld plot, she merely smiles. "All in all I consider myself very lucky." she says sweetly. "I don't think life could get any better."
August 1994