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WASHINGTON – Julia Louis-Dreyfus found her fame as a "network note".
For example, NBC leaders – worried about Seinfeld's initial lack of gender balance – asked the show's namesake, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, to give him one of the roles. female lead in a show intended to play with three men. Seinfeld, who was wary of the advice of the head of the prosaic society, nevertheless acknowledged that a "true female character" was essential.
Decades later, Seinfeld recalled his luck on Sunday night at the Kennedy Center, while Louis-Dreyfus had received the Mark Twain Award, considered the greatest honor of comedy, for a career that has continually put him in the spotlight. challenge the traditionally defined boundaries for women.
"I could not get enough," Seinfeld said of their on-screen partnership. "All this time, nine years, I was not acting. I will not be able. "
Louis-Dreyfus, 57, has interpreted several characters that are now part of the lexicon of pop culture, including Elaine Benes, idiosyncratic best friend, socially progressive and former lover of the character of Seinfeld, known for his sharp dances.
More recently, she starred Selina Meyer in "Veep," a famous HBO show satirizing a rowdy vice president and the Washington fools around her, for which she won six consecutive Emmy Awards. (The show paused after Louis-Dreyfus announced last year that she had breast cancer.)
On Sunday, Louis-Dreyfus became the sixth woman to receive the Mark Twain Award in 20 years of history, a recurring theme at the ceremony.
There was Tina Fey, herself a recipient of the Mark Twain Award in 2010, who praised the role played by Louis-Dreyfus in the role of Elaine Benes.
"In the early '90s, when the actresses were supposed to have good timing, tan and eating disorders, Julia made the bold choice for her character Elaine Benes to wear long, loose dresses and flat shoes. oversized clothing. coats, "said Fey. "She did not need to give us belly."
And there were Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, stars of Comedy Central's "Broad City" show, who attributed their comic self-confidence to Louis-Dreyfus.
"Julia, you are leading the charge for authentic and imperfect female characters in comedy," said Jacobson. "Every time you create a character, you open a door, a door through which another generation of young women will sneak."
"She trailed with the guys, but without changing who she was to please them," said Glazer.
Both films filmed a sketch drawn with a troupe of professional dancers practicing the signature dance Elaine Benes, then brought the troupe on stage for a final performance. (The dancers' attempt to engage the crowd – who is older – has failed.)
The actress Ellie Kemper of Netflix's "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" broadcast is expressed in a video tribute on this same influence, stressing how important it was that Louis-Dreyfus also produced " Veep. "
"It is crucial that women hold these positions to promote women," she said.
Comedian Keegan-Michael Key said, "Men have an easy life. It was women like Julia who fought so that other women could follow. Open the doors, change the dynamics.
Some tributes stumbled on the same tropes, they were trying to make fun, perhaps intentionally.
"She was one of the guys," said George Shapiro, one of the producers of "Seinfeld," in a video tribute.
The other women who received the Mark Twain Award are Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin, Ellen DeGeneres and Carol Burnett.
The ceremony of Louis-Dreyfus frequently referred to politics. Fey mentioned that she and Louis-Dreyfus "have both won the Emmys award for people who should never be vice-president," referring to Sarah Palin, 2008 Republican Vice President candidate, at "Saturday Night Live" broadcast.
In his speech, Louis-Dreyfus, who supported Democratic candidates and climate-related causes, said that she had grown up in the Washington area "in the old picturesque period of rule of law."
On Sunday, in the crowd, several Trump administration officials, including Alex M. Azar II, secretary of health and social services, and Betsy DeVos, secretary of education, entered the Kennedy Center with a row of security guards.
Many who spoke spoke of the kindness of Louis Dreyfus, his constancy and simplicity, even in the middle of a production or after a triumph.
Mary Gross, another cast member of "Saturday Night Live" in the 1980s, said that Louis-Dreyfus would send guests to his shows with handwritten notes of thanks, even though "being in the show is the price".
Lisa Kudrow, a star of "Friends", said that after Louis-Dreyfus won the Emmy Award for one year, she sent Mrs. Kudrow, another candidate, flowers with an attached note: " You have been stolen. -Julia. "
Tony Hale, the actor who plays his worried mate on "Veep," said he was often asked what he thought of the end of the series next year.
"It's a work. It will be fine. My identity is not based on this show. It's ridiculous, "he said. "My identity is based on Julia."
The chaotic nature of their work, said Mr. Hale, is what allowed Louis-Dreyfus to show his tenderness.
"The main difference with Julia is that she always treats him with grace and integrity," he said about the demands of television production. "Julia knows what matters and makes it a priority above all else."
Louis-Dreyfus spent part of her life in the Washington area, where she attended Holton-Arms, an exclusively female school in the suburbs of Maryland. (Before the ceremony began on Sunday, those who went to school with her were asked to raise their hand.) When she left for Northwestern University, she found a home in Chicago, in Second City , the famous improv troupe and at the Practical Theater Company that her husband, Brad Hall, helped to create.
Even the leading roles of Louis-Dreyfus speak volumes about the fate of actresses in an industry that has long been hostile to them.
While still at university, Louis-Dreyfus played the cast of "Saturday Night Live," where she played a televangelist with a torrid reunch of the Nativity. She said those years were dark – a young woman trying to prove herself in a male cast – and missing the camaraderie of her job in Chicago. And on Sunday, she stated that it was not appropriate that her work in this city be in the spotlight at a comedy celebration.
At the end of the ceremony, which will be broadcast on November 19 on PBS, Louis-Dreyfus revealed that she had pretty much the role of "Seinfeld" in the role of Portia in a production of "The Venice Merchant" of Broadway. by Sir Peter Hall.
Not having the role always haunted her, she says. Thus, on Sunday, she interpreted several replicas of the play, reading them with an ironic drama, before embarking on the dance of Elaine Benes.
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