Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actress of "Veep" and Seinfeld, winner of the Mark Twain Award for American Humor for a lifetime in comedy

WASHINGTON – Julia Louis-Dreyfus is one of the most famous comic actresses of her generation, and now she is recognized with the Mark Twain Award for American Humor for a lifetime in comedy. She is the 21st person to receive the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts Award. Jerry SeinfeldStephen Colbert and Tina Fey, Mark Twain's recipient in 2010, are among those who show his talent.

Louis-Dreyfus accepted his award with a comic feature film and a few hits to the new Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The actress began by laughing repeatedly evoking the ambition of her real life to be a respected dramatic actress – stopping in the middle of a speech to deliver a monologue from Shakespeare's film "Merchant of Venice".

A native of the Washington suburb of Maryland, Louis-Dreyfus graduated from the elite Holton-Arms School, alma mater of Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of assaulting her at a police station. evening in high school.

Louis-Dreyfus made a veiled but obvious reference to Ford's testimony – describing it around his performance during a high school presentation of the play "Serendipity".

"I remember every aspect of the play that night, so much so that I could testify under oath about it," she said under the sign of laughter and applause. "But I do not remember who drove me or who drove me to the house."

Previously, Fey paid homage to Louis-Dreyfus at the awards ceremony by describing the similarities between their lives.

"We both started comedy in Chicago, we both went to Saturday Night Live, we both lost our virginity to Brad Hall," referring to Louis-Dreyfus's husband and former member. SNL cast, sitting next to the winner. Fey praised the "secret precision" of Louis-Dreyfus's comedy and his desire to make his Seinfeld character imperfect.

"Julia let Elaine be selfish and petty and sarcastic and a terrible, terrible dancer," said Fey.

When famous guests arrived for the ceremony, Seinfeld recalled the first time that he saw Louis-Dreyfus in action – and knew almost immediately that she was a great talent.

His iconic sitcom, "Seinfeld, "was still in the planning stage and producer Larry David knew Louis-Dreyfus from their time together" Saturday Night Live ".

Seinfeld said: "We had only two short script pages and we sat down to read the dialogue together.As soon as she opened her mouth, I knew she was was the good one. "

Seinfeld also credited Louis-Dreyfus for having the confidence and strength of personality that allow him to stand up in what he called "a very masculine show".

This confidence was evident very early for Louis-Dreyfus, who claimed to have known from an early age that she was good at comedy.

"The first time I really knew it was when I stuffed grapes in my nose and my mother laughed, I found myself in the ER because they did not want to go out!" Said Louis-Dreyfus.

She shared her memories walking down the red carpet to the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.

The comedian and director Kumail Nanjiani grew up in Pakistan and never saw an episode of "Seinfeld" on television before immigrating to the United States as an adult.

"But I became a big fan as soon as I moved here," he said.

The co-author of the movie "The Big Sick" particularly remembers his "dance Elaine Benes", emblematic and slightly convulsive of the series, which he attributes to the talent of Louis-Dreyfus for the physical comedy.

"Some comedians think that physical comedy is beneath them," he said. "But she was just without fear and without ego."

Deborah F. Rutter, president of the Kennedy Center, said in a statement: "Like Mark Twain, Julia has enriched American culture with her iconic, unforgettable and totally hilarious humor, and for four decades her highly original characters have been a gift for physical comedy. have left us in the stitches. "

Louis-Dreyfus, 57, comes from the famous comedy troupe Second City in Chicago before joining the cast of "Saturday Night Live". Her best-known role is her nine-year career in the role of Elaine Benes "Seinfeld"More recently, his job as vice president Selina Meyer on"Veep"earned him six consecutive Emmy Awards.

The production of the seventh season of "Veep" is delayed because Louis-Dreyfus receives treatment for breast cancer.

PBS will broadcast the Twain event on November 19.

Recently, Louis-Dreyfus appeared in Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show, aired from Brooklyn last week.