In addition to leading roles on The New Adventures of Old Christine and Veep, she has made guest appearances on shows such as Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and 30 Rock.

She has said that she first noticed her penchant for comedy after sticking raisins up her nose at the age of three, which first made her mother laugh but then led to an emergency hospital visit.

Due to her stepfather's work with Project HOPE, she spent her childhood in several U.S. states and countries such as Colombia, Sri Lanka, and Tunisia.

She studied theatre and performed in the Mee-Ow Show, a student-run improv and sketch comedy revue, before dropping out during her junior year to take a job at Saturday Night Live.

It was her performance with The Practical Theatre Company at their "Golden 50th Anniversary Jubilee" that led to her being asked to join the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live at the age of 21.

In 1987, Louis-Dreyfus appeared in the NBC sitcom pilot The Art of Being Nick, an intended spin-off from Family Ties starring Scott Valentine.

It was only after the first episode that NBC executives felt the show was too male-centric and demanded that creators Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld add a woman to the cast.

Louis-Dreyfus won the role over several other actresses who also eventually enjoyed TV success, including Patricia Heaton and Megan Mullally.

After several years away from a regular TV job, Louis-Dreyfus began a new single-camera sitcom, Watching Ellie, which premiered on NBC in February 2002.

The first season included a 22-minute countdown kept digitally in the lower left-hand corner of the screen, which many critics panned, claiming it was useless and "did nothing for the show.

Louis-Dreyfus dismissed the rumor as "a made-up thing by the media",[41] while Seinfeld co-creator Larry David asserted that the curse was "completely idiotic.

[44] Instead, Louis-Dreyfus scored a recurring guest role as Maggie Lizer, the deceitful prosecutor and love interest of Michael Bluth on the Emmy-winning comedy Arrested Development, from 2004 to 2005.

The series told the story of Christine Campbell, a single mother who manages to maintain a fantastic relationship with her ex-husband while running a women's gym.

"[47] Alessandra Stanley from The New York Times asserted that Louis-Dreyfus's performance on the series proved she is "one of the funniest women on network television.

Louis-Dreyfus reprised her role as Gloria in two Simpsons episodes: 2007's "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" and 2008's "Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes".

The following year, Louis-Dreyfus received the 2,407th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 4, 2010, for her remarkable contribution to the broadcast television industry as both an actress and a comedian.

[55] In fall 2010, Louis-Dreyfus made a guest appearance on the live episode of 30 Rock, playing Tina Fey's role of Liz Lemon in the cutaway shots.

Louis-Dreyfus was among several Saturday Night Live alumni appearing in the episode, including Rachel Dratch, Bill Hader, and regulars Tracy Morgan and Fey herself.

Hall wrote and directed the film, while Louis-Dreyfus played the lead role of an ordinary woman with an extraordinary obsession with the city of Paris.

[57] In early 2011, HBO confirmed that Louis-Dreyfus had been cast in the lead role of U.S. Vice President Selina Meyer in a new satirical comedy series titled Veep.

[58] In preparation for her role, Louis-Dreyfus spoke with Al Gore and another former vice president,[59] senators, speechwriters, chiefs of staffs of various offices, and schedulers.

[29] Louis-Dreyfus commended HBO for allowing the cast and crew to engage in a "protracted pre-production process", which included a six-week rehearsal period before filming began.

The Hollywood Reporter asserted the character of Selina Meyer was her "best post-Seinfeld role" to date and claimed she gives "an Emmy-worthy effort",[62] while the Los Angeles Times contended the series demonstrates she is "one of the medium's great comediennes.

"[63] Following the success of the first season, Louis-Dreyfus was named by the Huffington Post as one of the funniest people of 2012, asserting that she is the "most magnetic and naturally funny woman on TV since Mary Tyler Moore.

Dreyfus produced the film and acted alongside Tobias Menzies, Michaela Watkins, Arian Moayed and Jeannie Berlin.

[97] Louis-Dreyfus said she respects "women who are not afraid of making themselves look bad or foolish to get a laugh" and cites her acting idols as Lucille Ball, Mary Tyler Moore, Madeline Kahn, Teri Garr, Valerie Harper, and Cloris Leachman.

[99] On September 28, 2017, Louis-Dreyfus announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, which she discovered the day after winning a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Veep.

[107] In October 2010, before the U.S. Senate election in California, Louis-Dreyfus starred in a humorous Barbara Boxer ad regarding energy policy.

[109] In her acceptance speech at the 2017 Screen Actors Guild Awards, she denounced President Donald Trump's executive order, referred to as the "Muslim ban", as "un-American" and said, "My father fled religious persecution in Nazi-occupied France.

She has also been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning one for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film for her role as Elaine Benes on Seinfeld (1995).