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

Julia Louis-Dreyfus will be the 21st recipient of the Twain prize. (Jordan Strauss / Associated Press)
By Sonia Rao Washington Post

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 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 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.”

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 won 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.”

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.

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.”