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Julia Louis-Dreyfus Holds The Most Emmys in the Award’s History

Home / Entertainment / Julia Louis-Dreyfus Holds The Most Emmys in the Award’s History

By Favour Adegoke on September 25, 2021 at 4:45 AM EDT

Winning an Emmy is the biggest award an actor can win for their work on the small screen. And whenever there's a show or a performance Emmy voters love, it often gets multiple nominations and wins.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is no stranger to the Emmys. In fact, she’s practically Television Academy royalty.

This can allude to her record wins and nominations dating back to 1996 when she was first honored with the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

In total, Louis-Dreyfus has garnered 26 nominations and 11 wins for her work on the NBC sitcoms "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and "Veep."

The latter, which was created by Armando Iannucci, led to the actress’ current winning streak, with six consecutive Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

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She was also nominated twice for the final season of the HBO series at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards. This was handed outlive in Los Angeles and aired on Fox.

During the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards which took place on Sunday, Louis-Dreyfus was nominated again for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance as Selina Meyer in the final season of HBO’s “Veep.”

Although it seemed like a given, this meant that Louis-Dreyfus has now been nominated in the same category for every single season of “Veep,” and is now leading up to become the first actor ever to win the acting Emmy for every season of a long-running series.

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Who Is Julia Louis-Dreyfus?

Julia Louis-Dreyfus was born on January 13, 1961, in New York City. She was born to Judith Louis-Dreyfus, who was a writer and special needs tutor and her French-born father, Gérard Louis-Dreyfus, who chaired the Louis Dreyfus Company.

A year after Louis-Dreyfus's birth, her parents divorced.  She relocated to Washington, D.C. when she was four years old and her mother married L. Thompson Bowles, dean of the George Washington University Medical School.

Louis-Dreyfus spent her childhood traveling to several states and countries, in connection with her stepfather's work with Project HOPE.

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She then graduated from the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1979. She mentioned that "There were things I did in school that, had there been boys in the classroom, I would have been less motivated to do. For instance, I was president of the honor society."

Louis-Dreyfus attended Northwestern University in Evanston, where she became a member of the Delta Gamma sorority. She studied theatre and performed in the Mee-Ow Show, a student-run improv and sketch comedy revue.

She eventually dropped out during her junior year to take a job on "Saturday Night Live." And later, received an honorary doctor of arts degree from the same university in 2007.

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How Many Emmys Has Louis-Dreyfus Won?

Louis-Dreyfus has won 11 Emmys so far, and would probably keep bagging other awards.

Her first nomination dated back to 1996 in the comedy series, "Seinfeld." She lost to Laurie Metcalf who won for her role in "Roseanne."

Louis-Dreyfus was nominated again for the same series for some time but wasn't able to win it. However, her losing streak was broken in 1996 when she won her first Emmy.

She was nominated two more times for playing Elaine but didn’t win again. The star then moved on to "The New Adventures of Old Christine" where she played Christine Campbell.

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She won her first nomination for the role of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2006. She was nominated for the role in the following years but never won again.

Louis-Dreyfus & Cloris Leachman Are In A Tie

Louis-Dreyfus has set multiple records over the years. One was that she won the most Emmys for one role by a single performer.

She was formerly in a tie with Candice Bergen who won five Emmys for playing Murphy Brown. However, her sixth win for "Veep" pushed her to the top.

The funny actress also gave another record holder a run for its money, as she is currently tied with Cloris Leachman for the most Primetime Emmy wins with eight.

Leachman won eight Primetime Emmys throughout her career. Her last win was in 2006 for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in "Malcolm in the Middle."

Leachman also had a Daytime Emmy in the category of Outstanding Performer in Children’s Programming for "ABC Afterschool Specials."

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Louis-Dreyfus & Brad Hall's Relationship

Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall are still going strong after more than three decades of marriage.

In June, the "Veep" actress took to Instagram to mark their 34th wedding anniversary and to celebrate her husband, whom she called "the love of my life."

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To celebrate the occasion, she posted two photos of them up to their necks in what appeared to be the ocean and captioned the photo, "34 years in, keeping our head above water."

In the top photo, the couple is pictured smiling at the camera. In the bottom photo, the "Seinfeld" actress gave Hall a kiss on the cheek.

Louis-Dreyfus and Hall met in Northwestern University. They went on to appear on "Saturday Night Live" together and eventually got married in 1987. The lovers share two sons; 28-year-old Henry and 24-year-old Charlie.

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