Seinfeld Reference: The Complete Encyclopedia (15 page)

"The Seinfeld Chronicles" (pilot) 7.5.89 (NBC)

“Seinfeld” (series) 5.31.90 to 5.14.98 (NBC)

"Mad About You" ep The Apartment 11.11.92 (NBC)

"Bob Hope: The First Ninety Years" (performer) (special) 5.14.93 (NBC)

"Baseball Relief: An All-Star Comedy Salute" (special) 10.15.93 (FOX)

"The First Annual Comedy Hall of Fame" (presenter) (special) 11.24.93 (NBC)

"The Golden Globe's 50th Anniversary Celebration" (guest) (special) 1.8.94 (NBC)

"46th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards" (presenter) (special) 9.11.94 (ABC)

"A Comedy Salute to Andy Kaufman" (special) 3.29.95 (NBC)

"Neil Simon's 'London Suite'" (telefilm) 9.15.96 (NBC)

Television - Writing

"Fridays" 10.30.81 (ABC)

Movies - Acting

Young Doctors in Love
(1982)

The Ratings Game
(1984)

Transylvania 6-5000
(1985)

Whoops Apocalypse
(1988)

UHF
(1989)

Problem Child
(1990)

Coneheads
(1993)

So I Married An Axe Murderer
(1993)

Airheads
(1994)

Unstrung Heroes
(1995)

Trial and Error
(1997)

Theater - Acting

The American Clock

Wild Oats

Emmy Nominations

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, NBC (Seinfeld, 1993-97)

Awards

Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, NBC (Seinfeld, 1993-94, 1997)

* * * * *

JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS

(Elaine Benes)

Despite being raised in a privileged family of wealthy Eastern intellectuals, Julia Louis-Dreyfus gravitated toward a profession that breaks the spirit of many aspiring actresses.  Naturally, her parents' vehement resistance to such a career, but Louis-Dreyfus was unyielding in her pursuit.  Although she possessed the financial wherewithal to endure the long road to success, Louis-Dreyfus truly earned each accomplishment and at a youthful age she became recognized for her talent.  In retrospect, her "Seinfeld" notoriety as Elaine Benes seemed inevitable based upon personal success from her earlier acting endeavors.

Family Background

Around 1850, Julia's great grandfather, Leopold Dreyfus, founded the commodity-arbitrage firm of Louis-Dreyfus & Cie, which has since become a billion-dollar industry.  He was a French-Jew from Alsace who added the Louis and hyphen because of an infamous treason trial of a notorious relative, Captain Dreyfus.  Her Parisian grandfather, Pierre Louis-Dreyfus, became a World War II hero after flying 88 combat missions as a tail gunner in de Gaulle's Free French air force.  The remaining members immigrated to the United States after the Germans invaded France.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus was born in New York on January 13, 1961.  Her parents, Judith Bowles, an award-winning short-story author from Ohio, and French-born father, William Louis-Dreyfus, a lawyer and head of a prosperous family-owned firm, divorced when their only child was one year old.  Julia lived with her mother who, three years later, married Dr. L. Thompson Bowles, a thoracic surgeon and dean of George Washington University Medical School.  At the age of eight, the family moved to Washington, D.C., where Judith subsequently bore two children.  The following year Julia’s father married a schoolteacher, Phyllis, with whom he sired two children.  They resided in New York City and had an estate in Mount Kisco, New York.  Despite a prosperous finance career, William also writes poetry and teaches the craft to Harlem high school students.

When Julia was five years old, the family moved to Sri Lanka for one year while her stepfather worked for Project Hope, an international relief organization.  She was the only white girl in a Catholic convent school.  Upon returning to the United States, she commenced a ten-year enrollment at Holton-Arms, a private girls' school for wealthy socialites, located in suburban Bethesda, Maryland.

Since neither family desired to associate with the other, Louis-Dreyfus functioned as the liaison between the dichotomous households.  Although the bifurcated home environments Ping-Ponged her between the United States capitol and New York City on the Eastern Shuttle every month (as well as school vacations and summer), she maintained a solid relationship with her step-siblings, and even procured a recurring acting position for one of her step-sisters, Lauren Bowles, as a waitress at Monk's Café on "Seinfeld" and a supporting role in "Watching Ellie."  Fortunately, her parents had an amicable marital dissolution, but the experience had long-term repercussions and made Louis-Dreyfus desire familial stability in her future romantic relationships.

Acting

Louis-Dreyfus credits her sense of humor to a jocular familial environment, but also envied the comedic genius of Lucille Ball and Mary Tyler Moore.  She spent countless hours observing their styles, and experienced her first personal microcosmic taste of showbiz in the fifth grade.  While performing a skit that involved a fainting spell, Louis-Dreyfus was met with uproarious laughter, and even though she was not trying to be humorous, the youthful actress-to-be was consumed by the undivided attention.

It was her tenure at Holton-Arms, however, that commenced an interest in the performing arts.  In addition to being president of the drama club, and a member of the honors council and thespian society, Louis-Dreyfus became a theatrical standout onstage (appearing in every high school play, including
You Can't Take It With You
).  She continued the avocation while attending college at Northwestern University from 1979 to 1982.

In 1981 Louis-Dreyfus became the only female member inducted into The Practical Theatre Company, a popular Chicago improvisational group that was co-founded by her academic colleague and future husband, Brad Hall.  This experience opened the door to her becoming a member of the famed Second City entourage.  She continued performing for both reputable troupes, and later that year, while performing in
The Practical Theatre's Golden 50th Anniversary Jubilee
, "Saturday Night Live" producers invited her (and Hall) to join the cast.  Faced with the career opportunity of a lifetime, Louis-Dreyfus opted to leave college after her junior year, and accompanied Hall to New York City to participate in the 1982-83 television season.

As part of the talented "SNL" cast, Louis-Dreyfus learned comedic timing and honed her craft by watching the likes of Billy Crystal, Eddie Murphy, Jim Belushi, Martin Short, Joe Piscopo, and others.  Her highlights included impersonations of Liza Minnelli and Linda Ronstadt, and hosting "The Julia Show," a skit where she interviews herself more than the celebrity guests.  Although she could not fathom the import of her contact with fellow alumni Larry David, Louis-Dreyfus would receive the casting call when "Seinfeld" added a female costar to the all-male cast.

Despite a three-year stint with the "SNL" comedic ensemble, Louis-Dreyfus did not enjoy her tenure because the male-dominated production was too political and fostered cut-throat competition.  It was an eye-opening experience to witness talented comedians engaging in a ruthless rivalry for jokes and air time.  Unfortunately, Louis-Dreyfus was not self-indulgent, so she was often bypassed in the distribution of material.  The only saving grace was the comforting solace of "SNL" costar and paramour Brad Hall.  From that moment on, Louis-Dreyfus resolved that acting would only become a viable career if she enjoyed herself.

After leaving "SNL" in 1985, Louis-Dreyfus traipsed through a rather uneventful acting résumé.  She accepted several bit parts in feature films, such as
Troll
,
Hannah and Her Sisters
,
Soul Man
and
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
.  To this day she regrets her embarrassing performance in Woody Allen's film
Hannah and Her Sisters
.  Her only part as Woody Allen's assistant was to cross the street and continue walking while Woody shouted for her to stop; however, every time he spoke the line, she would halt.  Although embarrassing to Louis-Dreyfus, a decade later Allen specifically courted her to appear in his film
Deconstructing Harry
.

After a less-than-stellar movie career, Louis-Dreyfus returned to television with a costarring role in the NBC series "Day By Day."  She plays a caustic, unwed, career-oriented, self-absorbed stockbroker named Eileen Swift, who hates children but offers assistance to her friends who run a day care.  The mid-season replacement series had an unprecedented three-episode debut on February 29, 1988 before resuming a regular time slot on Sunday nights.  Unfortunately, after one full season, the series was canceled.

Figure 7 Julia Louis-Dreyfus

"Seinfeld" Role

Shortly after the demise of "Day By Day," Louis-Dreyfus was considered for a lead role in a Warner Bros. sitcom but the deal fell through.  Fortunately, she promptly received a casting call for "Seinfeld" and was handed four scripts on the short-run sitcom.  Although financial compensation and lead-role parts were the ultimate goal, Louis-Dreyfus was overwhelmed by the superbly-written scripts.  She opted for the less glamorous and financially lucrative supporting actor position, and auditioned against 100 actresses, one of which was Rosie O'Donnell.

Although "Seinfeld" was not originally written with a female costar, NBC wanted a sexier image to attract male viewers and to interject a female perspective, so naturally a slimmer, more attractive actress received the nod.  According to Jerry Seinfeld, the show needed a shot of estrogen and there was little competition since few intelligent, attractive women could also act and be funny.  According to Louis-Dreyfus, if she had not landed the role, she would have continued auditioning for sitcoms but doubted whether she would have found a role of comparable quality.

The "Seinfeld" role was a rather unusual position for a female costar–sharing the spotlight with three male counterparts.  However, her character, Elaine Benes, was not a stereotypical woman--she was one of the guys--never superimposing sexist attitudes or personal beliefs upon the others and never engaging in feminist banter.  In addition, when the scripts were written, she was an equal, and never relegated to second-chair behind the testosterone-driven triumvirate.

Due to a late-summer birth in 1993, Louis-Dreyfus missed the first four "Seinfeld" episodes of the 1993-94 season.  She eagerly returned to the set after a 7-week maternity leave with the infant, lactation pump, and a nanny (who drove and cared for the infant while Louis-Dreyfus was working).  Louis-Dreyfus refused to allow someone else to raise her child, and was determined to leave the series had the producers balked about having a newborn on the set.  In an overwhelming show of support, rehearsals were arranged around her schedule, and the set was transformed into a child-rearing environment with a nursery and play area near her dressing room.

Although Louis-Dreyfus enjoys the perks of stardom, she recoils at the foibles of success, such as intense public scrutiny.  For instance, in 1993 the media dwelled upon Louis-Dreyfus' clamorous confrontation with Tom Arnold when he left a spiteful note after she inadvertently used a parking spot reserved for his $220,000 Turbo Bentley.  Two years later her image was plastered across the pages of magazines for creating fashion frenzy at the 1995 Emmy Awards.  She became the talk of the town for sporting a dress with a neckline that plunged to her belly button.

Besides vast public appreciation for her role on a weekly hit sitcom, Louis-Dreyfus was recognized by the industry for her exceptional portrayal of the self-absorbed, dysfunctional Elaine Benes.  She earned six consecutive Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, winning the coveted award in 1996, and was honored with four American Comedy Awards as Funniest Supporting Female in a Television Series.  She also earned two Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and a couple Viewers for Quality Television Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy.  In 1997, Louis-Dreyfus was honored with a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and also won an American Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy.

Movies

Despite being a regular on "Seinfeld," Louis-Dreyfus was not a marketable commodity to producers or advertisers.  In fact, it was only after the series became a ratings success that she began receiving movie roles and endorsements.  It took over three years before the series completed one full season, so Louis-Dreyfus barely had an opportunity to showcase her talents and be recognized by audiences, peers or critics.  Ironically, once "Seinfeld" became a full-time commitment and she became preoccupied with the series, then other enticing employment opportunities arose.  Although the sitcom exposure and success brought feature film opportunities, Louis-Dreyfus received little fanfare when returning to the silver screen.