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Julia Louis-Dreyfus to receive the 2018 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor

May 23, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. EDT
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, photographed at the 2017 Golden Globe Awards, will add a major comedy prize to her record-breaking roster of awards. (Valerie Macon/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is one of the most decorated actors in television history. She holds the record for the most Emmys ever won by a single performer — 11 total, six of which were consecutive best-actress wins for “Veep” — as well as a Peabody Award, Golden Globe and nine Screen Actors Guild awards. This fall, she will add the most prestigious award in comedy to her collection: the Kennedy Center’s 2018 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

“Like Mark Twain, Julia has enriched American culture with her iconic, unforgettable, and outright hilarious brand of humor,” said Deborah F. Rutter, president of the Kennedy Center in the announcement Wednesday morning. “Over four decades, her wildly original characters and her gift for physical comedy have left us in stitches. Julia is a role model for so many, and we look forward to honoring her on October 21.”

Louis-Dreyfus, 57, has built a sitcom career on playing boldly neurotic single women. She caught her big break at 21, joining the “Saturday Night Live” cast for three years, but became a household name in the 1990s playing the self-absorbed Elaine Benes on “Seinfeld.”

In this 2016 video, we look back at Elaine Benes, Christine Campbell and Selina Meyer, and how Julia Louis-Dreyfus champions single women in her roles. (Video: Nicki DeMarco/The Washington Post)

NBC had picked up the off-kilter series in 1989 on the condition that creators Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld balance the male-centric setup with a compelling female character, and Louis-Dreyfus beat out the likes of Rosie O’Donnell and Megan Mullally for the role.

David told Rolling Stone years later that Louis-Dreyfus was “bright, charming — striking, actually — and she had a great disposition, which, considering the bunker mentality that was ‘SNL’ at the time, wasn’t easy. When it came to casting Elaine, we were lucky she was available.”

After the series concluded in 1998 with one of the most-watched finales in TV history, Louis-Dreyfus jumped between small projects and eventually broke the so-called “Seinfeld” curse with the titular role in the acclaimed “The New Adventures of Old Christine.” The CBS comedy, which ran from 2005 to 2010, centered on a single mother who runs a women’s gym.

Two years later, Louis-Dreyfus took on what is widely considered the strongest role of her career: the rather inept Vice President Selina Meyer on HBO’s “Veep.” The Los Angeles Times deemed Louis-Dreyfus “one of the medium’s great comedians” when the show premiered, and the Hollywood Reporter applauded “what is clearly an Emmy-worthy effort.” The Television Academy agreed. Louis-Dreyfus has won six awards for acting in the series and three as a producer. (She has been nominated for 24 Emmys total.)

Louis-Dreyfus will receive the 21st annual Mark Twain Prize at a nationally televised gala in October. Last year’s honor went to David Letterman, who joined the ranks of Richard Pryor, Lily Tomlin, Steve Martin, Carol Burnett and more. Bill Cosby’s award was rescinded earlier this month following his conviction on indecent assault charges.

The actress said in a statement: “Merely to join the list of distinguished recipients of this award would be honor enough, but, as a student of both American history and literature, the fact that Mr. Twain himself will be presenting the award to me in person is particularly gratifying.”