LEZ may refer to:

• Derogative word form lesbian (more commonly les)
• Low emission zone
• IATA code for La Esperanza Airport in La Esperanza, Honduras

Lez may refer to:

• Lez, Haute-Garonne, a commune in Haute-Garonne département, France
• Lez river, a river in Hérault département, France
• Lez Duly, former member of punk band Concrete Sox
• ISO 639 code for Lezgian language

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

The Midnight Beast, sometimes abbreviated as TMB, is a British comedy music group from London, perhaps most famous for their YouTube cover-parody of the 2009 single TiK ToK by American pop artist Ke$ha.^[1] The group currently consists of its three founding members, Stefan Abingdon, Dru Wakely and Ashley Horne.

Book[link]

The group released a semi-autographical book titled Book at Us Now on 27 October 2011. The book included interviews with the band members, the history of The Midnight Beast, as well as exposition on the groups videos and songs. The group held book signings around the country in a promotion titled the Book at Us Now Tour.^[2]

Sitcom[link]

In 2011, it was announced that the band would star in its own, self-titled, sitcom, The Midnight Beast. The show is currently set to be broadcast in 2012 by E4.^[3] The series will consist of 6 episodes, and follow fictionalized version of the band members as they attempt to become successful musicians.

Reception[link]

The Midnight Beast have over 290,000 subscribers and a combined 40 million views on their YouTube channel alone, as well as over 300,000 Facebook fans as of September 2011. The group's songs often appear on iTunes music charts,^[4] and their accompanying music videos routinely reach over 1 million views on YouTube. On Christmas Day 2009, the "TiK ToK" parody was featured on the front page of MTV.com,^[5] and the group have made videos in collabaration with BBC Comedy and MTV Rocks.

The group has also garnered praise from artists that they have parodied. Both Ke$ha and Jay Sean have tweeted positive reactions to the group's parody of their respective songs, TiK ToK and Down, with Ke$ha stating "holy. shit. this is better than my version",^[6][7] and Jay Sean posting "Hahha brilliant. Someone should mix this with 'pants on the ground.'"^[8]

The group has also attracted minor controversy with its music. In an online post from February 2011, Metro, a British newspaper, raised issue with the lyrics of "Use Ya Head", a sexual education-themed skit made for the Marie Stopes International charity's Have A Larc organization, which promotes safe sex. The paper cited the lines "One up the bum and it’s no harm done" and "One up the bum and you won’t be a mum", stating that it appeared that the group was suggesting anal sex as a birth control method. It also quoted unnamed critics who mentioned that the video failed to point out that anal sex could still lead to the transmission of STDs.^[9]

Discography[link]

EPs[link]

Singles[link]

"—" denotes a release that did not chart or was not released in that country.

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Midnight Beast on Facebook

Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber at the NRJ Music Awards in Cannes, France in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Justin Drew Bieber[1]
Born	(1994-03-01) March 1, 1994 (age 18)[2] London, Ontario, Canada
Origin	Stratford, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Pop, R&B, teen pop[3][4][5]
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, percussion,[6] trumpet[7]
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Island, RBMG
Associated acts	Usher, Ludacris
Website	justinbiebermusic.com

Justin Drew Bieber ( /ˈbiːbər/ BEE-bər, born March 1, 1994)^[2] is a Canadian Pop/R&B singer-songwriter, musician, and actor.^[3][5] Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun,^[8] who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager. Braun arranged for him to meet with Usher in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher,^[9] and then to a recording contract with Island Records offered by L.A. Reid.^[6][10] Bieber's debut single, "One Time", was released in 2009 and peaked in the top twenty in Canada and charted in the top thirty in several international markets. His debut album, the seven-track EP My World, followed in November 2009, and was soon certified platinum in the United States. He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on the Billboard Hot 100.^[11]

Bieber's first full-length studio album, My World 2.0, was released in March 2010. It debuted at number one or within the top ten in several countries and was certified platinum in the United States. It was preceded by the worldwide top-ten single, "Baby". The music video of "Baby" is currently ranked as the most viewed and most discussed YouTube video.^[12] Bieber followed up the release of his debut album with his first headlining tour, the My World Tour, the remix albums My Worlds Acoustic and Never Say Never – The Remixes, and the 3D biopic-concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, that nearly matched the record for the biggest opening weekend gross for a concert-film. Bieber released his second studio album, Under the Mistletoe, in November 2011, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Bieber has received numerous awards, including Artist of the Year at the 2010 American Music Awards, and has been nominated for such awards as Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 53rd Grammy Awards. In 2012, Bieber was named Forbes 3rd most powerful celebrity in the world, earning $55 million. As of May 2012, Bieber has sold 15 million albums.^[13]

Early life[link]

Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in London, Ontario in St Joseph's Hospital,^[14][15] and was raised in Stratford, Ontario.^[16] Bieber's mother, Patricia Lynn "Pattie" Mallette, was 18 years old when she became pregnant. Mallette, originally from Stratford, raised her son with the help of her parents, Bruce and Diane.^[17] Mallette worked a series of low-paying office jobs, raising Bieber as a single mother in low-income housing. Bieber has maintained contact with his father, Jeremy Jack Bieber, who married another woman and had two children.^[18][19][20] Bieber's great-grandfather was from Germany.^[21] Bieber's mother's ancestry is French Canadian.^[22] Bieber attended a French immersion elementary school in Stratford called Jeanne Sauvé Catholic School.^[17]

During his childhood, Bieber was interested in hockey, soccer, and chess; he often kept his musical aspirations to himself.^[18] As he grew up, Bieber taught himself to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet.^[16][23] In early 2007, when he was twelve, Bieber sang Ne-Yo's "So Sick" for a local singing competition in Stratford and was placed second.^[6][23] Mallette posted a video of the performance on YouTube for their family and friends to see. She continued to upload videos of Bieber singing covers of various R&B songs, and Bieber's popularity on the site grew.^[10] Chris Hicks, Bieber's A&R at Island/Def Jam, explained the young artist's huge online following to HitQuarters by saying:

"He was doing something different. He was an attractive white kid singing very soulful R&B hits. That set him apart immediately from anyone in his range because no one was covering or singing these kind of records. But equally important was that you believed in these songs – it was real. And you wanted to hear more."^[24]

Career[link]

[edit] 2008–09: Discovery and My World

While searching for videos of a different singer, Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive of So So Def, clicked on one of Bieber's 2007 videos by accident.^[18] Impressed, Braun tracked down the theater Bieber was performing in, located Bieber's school, and finally contacted Mallette. Mallette was reluctant because of Braun's Jewish religion; she remembered praying, "God, I gave him to you. You could send me a Christian man, a Christian label! ... you don’t want this Jewish kid to be Justin’s man, do you?"^[18] However, after praying with her church elders and receiving their encouragement, she permitted Braun to fly Bieber, then 13,^[10] to Atlanta, Georgia, to record demo tapes.^[18] A week after arriving, Bieber sang for R&B singer/songwriter Usher.^[25] Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher.^[9] Justin Timberlake was also reportedly in the running to sign Bieber, but lost the bidding war to Usher.^[9][26] Usher then sought assistance in finding a label home for the artist from then manager Chris Hicks, who helped engineer an audition with his contact Antonio L.A. Reid of Island Def Jam Music Group.^[24] Reid signed Bieber to Island Records in October 2008 (resulting in a joint venture between RBMG and Island Records) and appointed Hicks as executive Vice-President of Def Jam where he would be able manage Bieber's career at the label.^{[6][9][10][24]} At that point, Bieber and his mother moved to Atlanta temporarily, also the home of Usher and Braun, to record and get counseling from Braun.^[9] Braun became Bieber's manager.^[10]

Bieber in September 2009 at the Nintendo World Store

Bieber's first single, "One Time", was released to radio while Bieber was still recording his debut album.^[27] The song reached number 12 on the Canadian Hot 100 during its first week of release in July 2009,^[10] and later peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. During fall 2009 it had success in international markets.^[28] The song was certified Platinum in Canada and the US and Gold in Australia and New Zealand.^[29][30][31] Bieber's first release, an extended play entitled My World, was released on November 17, 2009. The album's second single, "One Less Lonely Girl", and two promo singles, "Love Me", and "Favorite Girl", were released exclusively on the iTunes store and charted within the top forty of the Billboard Hot 100.^[28] "One Less Lonely Girl" was later also released to radio and peaked within the top fifteen in Canada and the US, being certified Gold in the latter.^[28] My World was eventually certified Platinum in the US and Double Platinum in both Canada and the UK.^[31][32][33] To promote the album, Bieber performed on several live shows such as mtvU's VMA 09 Tour, European program The Dome, YTV's The Next Star, The Today Show,^[34][35] The Wendy Williams Show, Lopez Tonight, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, It's On with Alexa Chung, Good Morning America, Chelsea Lately, and BET's 106 & Park with Rihanna. Bieber also guest starred in an episode of True Jackson, VP in late 2009.^[36]

Bieber performed Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas" for U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the White House for Christmas in Washington, which was broadcast on December 20, 2009, on U.S. television broadcaster TNT.^[37] Bieber was also one of the performers at Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest on December 31, 2009.^[38] Bieber was a presenter at the 52nd Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010. He was invited to be a vocalist for the remake of We Are The World (a song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie) for its 25th anniversary to benefit Haiti after the earthquake. Bieber sings the opening line, which was sung by Lionel Richie in the original version.^[39] On March 12, 2010, a version of K'naan's "Wavin' Flag" recorded by a collective of Canadian musicians known as Young Artists for Haiti was released. Bieber is featured in the song, performing the closing lines.

[edit] 2010–11: My World 2.0 and Never Say Never film

"Baby", the lead single from his debut album, My World 2.0, which features Ludacris, was released in January 2010 and became his biggest hit thus far, charting at number five in the U.S. and reaching the top ten in seven other countries.^[28] Two promo singles "Never Let You Go", and "U Smile" were top thirty hits on the U.S. Hot 100, and top twenty hits in Canada.^[28] According to review aggregator Metacritic, the album has received "generally favorable reviews".^[40] It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, making Bieber the youngest solo male act to top the chart since Stevie Wonder in 1963.^[41] My World 2.0 also debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, Irish Albums Chart, Australian Albums Chart, and the New Zealand Albums Chart^[28] and reached the top ten of fifteen other countries.^[42][43] To promote the album, Bieber appeared on several live programs including The View, the 2010 Kids Choice Awards, Nightline, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Dome and 106 and Park.^[44] Bieber collaborated with Sean Kingston on his single "Eenie Meenie" which also appeared on Bieber's debut album. The song reached the top ten in the United Kingdom and Australia, and the top-twenty of most other markets.

Bieber performing at the Conseco Fieldhouse, in August 2010

On April 10, 2010, Bieber was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live.^[45] On July 4, 2010, Bieber performed at the Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular in New York City.^[46] The second single from My World 2.0, "Somebody to Love", was released in April 2010, and a remix was released featuring Bieber's mentor Usher. The single reached number ten in Canada, number fifteen in the United States, and the top twenty in multiple international countries.

On June 23, 2010, Bieber went on his first official headlining tour, the My World Tour, starting in Hartford, Connecticut, to promote My World and My World 2.0.^[47] In July 2010, it was reported that Bieber was the most searched for celebrity on the Internet.^[48] That same month his music video, "Baby", surpassed Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" to become the most viewed, and most disliked YouTube video ever.^[49] In September 2010, it was reported that Bieber accounted for three percent of all traffic on Twitter, according to an employee of the social-networking site.^[50]

Bieber began recording his second album in July 2010 in New York City.^[51] At this point, because of puberty, his voice was deeper than it was when he recorded his first album. In April 2010, the singer discussing his vocals remarked, "It cracks. Like every teenage boy, I'm dealing with it and I have the best vocal coach in the world. [...] Some of the notes I hit on "Baby" I can't hit anymore. We have to lower the key when I sing live."^[52]

Bieber performing in Jakarta during his My World Tour.

Bieber guest-starred in the season premiere of the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which aired on September 23, 2010. He played a "troubled teen who is faced with a difficult decision regarding his only brother", who is also a serial bomber. Bieber was also in a subsequent episode which aired on February 17, 2011, in which his character is killed.^[53] Bieber performed a medley of "U Smile", "Baby", and "Somebody to Love" and briefly played the drums at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.^[54] Bieber announced in October 2010 that he would release an acoustic album, called My Worlds Acoustic.^[55] It was released on Black Friday in the United States and featured acoustic versions of songs from his previous albums, and accompanied the release of a completely new song titled "Pray".^[56]

A 3-D part-biopic, part-concert film starring Bieber entitled Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, was released on February 11, 2011, directed by Step Up 3D director Jon Chu. It topped the box office with an estimated gross of $12.4 million on its opening day from 3,105 theaters.^[57] It grossed $30.3 million for the weekend and was narrowly beaten by the romantic comedy Just Go With It, which grossed $31 million.^[58] Never Say Never is said to have exceeded industry expectations, nearly matching the $31.1 million grossed by Miley Cyrus's 2008 3-D concert film, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, which holds the record for the top debut for a music-documentary.^[59][60] Never Say Never grossed a total of $98,441,954 worldwide.^[61] The film is accompanied by his second remix album, Never Say Never – The Remixes, released February 14, 2011, and features remixes of songs from his debut album, with guest appearances from Miley Cyrus, Chris Brown, and Kanye West, among others.^[62]

[edit] 2011–present: Under The Mistletoe and Believe

On February 27, 2011, Bieber attended the 2011 Vanity Fair Oscar Party with American actress and singer Selena Gomez,^[63] confirming several months of media speculation about a romantic relationship between the pair.^{[64][65][66][67][68][69]}

In June 2011, Bieber was ranked number 2 on the Forbes list of Best-Paid Celebrities under 30. He is the youngest star and 1 of 7 musicians on the list raking in with $53 million earned in a 12 month period.^[70] On November 1, 2011, Bieber released Under the Mistletoe, his second studio album.^[71] It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 210,000 copies in its first week of release.^[72]

In late 2011, Bieber began recording his third studio album, entitled Believe. Kanye West and Drake are confirmed to be featured on the album.^[73] On February 22, 2012, Bieber announced via Twitter that the first single off Believe will be released in March 2012.^[74] The following week, Bieber appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to announce that the first single will be called "Boyfriend" and was released on March 26, 2012.^[75] The song was co-written by Mike Posner.^[76] The second single, Die In Your Arms, was released on May 29th, 2012. ^[77]

Image[link]

Justin Bieber has a higher score on the Klout online "influence" scale than Barack Obama or The Dalai Lama.^[78] According to Jan Hoffman of The New York Times, part of Bieber's appeal stems from his YouTube channel. Long before he released his EP, My World, in mid-November, the YouTube videos attracted millions of views.^[18] Braun recognized the appeal. Prior to flying him to Atlanta, Braun wanted to "build him up more on YouTube first" and had Bieber record more home videos for the channel. "I said: 'Justin, sing like there’s no one in the room. But let's not use expensive cameras.' We'll give it to kids, let them do the work, so that they feel like it's theirs", recalled Braun.^[18] Bieber continues to upload videos to the same channel and has opened a Twitter account, from which he interacts with fans regularly;^[10] his account was reported in November 2010 to have over 6 million followers.^[79] Since then he has been consistently gaining followers at an average of 24,000 per day.^[80] The accounts also serve marketing purposes; for example, Bieber's music video for "One Time" only began selling quickly after it was uploaded to YouTube.^[81]

Bieber performing "Favorite Girl" in Zurich, Switzerland April 2011.

Usher comments that while he and Bieber were both signed at the same age, "I had the chance to ramp up my success, where this has happened to Bieber abruptly." As a result, Usher, Braun, Bieber's bodyguard Kenny, and other adults surrounding Bieber constantly coach him on handling fame and his public image.^[18] After signing Bieber, Usher appointed one of his former assistants, Ryan Good, to be Bieber's road manager and stylist. Good, once nicknamed Bieber's "swagger coach", created a "streetwise look" for the singer which consisted of baseball caps, hoodies, dog chains and flashy sneakers. Amy Kaufman of The Los Angeles Times comments, "Though a product of a middle-class suburban upbringing in Stratford, Ontario, Bieber's manner of dress and speech ("Wassup man, how you doin'?" or "It's like, you know, whateva' ") suggest he's mimicking his favorite rappers."^[82]

Bieber is often featured in teen magazines such as Tiger Beat,^[18] and has been labeled as a "teen heartthrob".^[83] Bieber has released a collection of nail varnishes to raise awareness for charity.^[84] Wax statues of Bieber are on display at Madame Tussauds wax museums in New York, Amsterdam and London.^[85] His change of hairstyle in 2010, and the consequent alterations to Bieber products, led to it being called 'the most expensive musical haircut of all time;^[86] one company spent $100,000 to fix its dolls for the 2011 Christmas season.^[87]

Bieber has been criticized for looking and sounding younger than his age, his teen-pop music, image, and frequent media attention.^[88] He has been a frequent target of Internet bloggers and message board posters, notably by users of Internet message board 4chan and users of YouTube.^[89] Nick Collins of The Daily Telegraph speculated that "Bieber's character also appears to strike a particularly sour note with his Internet critics, with many remarks commenting on his youthful appearance, his teen-pop songs, his image as a heart-throb to young teenage girls and his manner of speech".^[90]

Personal views and life[link]

Bieber is a Christian,^[91] and said he has a relationship with Jesus, talks to him and that "he's the reason I'm here".^[92]

Bieber's comments in a February 2011 profile in Rolling Stone sparked controversy.^[93] Asked about abstinence, Bieber responded, "I don't think you should have sex with anyone unless you love them." He said he does not "believe in abortion" and that it is "like killing a baby".^[94] He described sexual orientation as "everyone's own decision."^[95] Bieber has contributed to the It Gets Better Project,^[96] which aims to prevent suicide among LGBT youth.^[97]

Bieber has said he is not interested in obtaining United States citizenship and has criticized America's health care system. Praising Canada as being "the best country in the world", he cited its health care system as a model example.^[94]

In May 2012, Bieber purchased a 10,000 square-foot mansion on 1.3 acres of land, located in the community of Calabasas, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.^[98]

Twitter[link]

As of April 2012^[update], Bieber's Twitter account (@justinbieber) is the second most popular celebrity account behind that of Lady Gaga.^[99] By mid-April 2012, he had over 20 million followers.^[100][101] His follower acquisition is one new follower every other second.^[102][103] His popularity on Twitter at one point accounted for three percent of all Twitter related traffic, with a Twitter employee commenting that "racks of servers are dedicated" to Bieber.^{[103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112]} This resulted in over 180 million page views for the service each month.^[105] Bieber was frequently a trending topic on Twitter when the feature first launched^[105] because his fans frequently discussed him on the network. ^[113] and was named the top trending star on Twitter in 2010;^[114] Klout gave his account a score of 100.^[115][116]

The size of Bieber's and Gaga's follower bases are cited as a reason why marketers should pay attention to Twitter:^[117] with an ability to reach millions of people with a single tweet.^[117] 8.3% of tweets mentioning "bieber" were semi-automated and probably Twitter related spam.^[118] Research done about Twitter and the 2011 Egyptian revolution includes Bieber as he made tweets about the topic at a time when he had roughly 8 million followers. His multiple tweets resulted in 32,000 responses each, which made Bieber's Twitter account one of the single largest nodes for discussion about the uprising one of the largest on Twitter.^[119][120]

In March 2012, Bieber fans launched an unsuccessful attempt to unseat Lady Gaga as the most popular celebrity on Twitter. Neither Bieber nor Lady Gaga discussed their mutual fanbase's campaigns on Twitter.^[121]

Discography[link]

Justin Bieber portal

• My World 2.0 (2010)
• Under the Mistletoe (2011)
• Believe (2012)

Tours[link]

• 2009: Urban Behavior Tour
• 2010–2011: My World Tour
• 2012-2013: Believe Tour

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Justin Bieber

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Justin Bieber

• Official website
• Justin Bieber at the Internet Movie Database
• Justin Bieber at the Open Directory Project
• Justin Bieber on Twitter

Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Louis-Dreyfus in 2012
Birth name	Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus
Born	(1961-01-13) January 13, 1961 (age 51) Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Medium	Film, television
Nationality	American
Years active	1982–present
Spouse	Brad Hall (1987–present; 2 children)
Notable works and roles	Elaine Benes on Seinfeld Christine Campbell on The New Adventures of Old Christine
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series 2006 The New Adventures of Old Christine Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series 1996 Seinfeld
Golden Globe Awards
Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Mini Series or TV Movie 1994 Seinfeld
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series 1997 Seinfeld 1998 Seinfeld Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series 1995 Seinfeld 1997 Seinfeld 1998 Seinfeld

Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus^[1] (/ˈluːiː ˈdraɪfəs/; born January 13, 1961) is an American actress and comedienne, well known for her roles in the sitcoms Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine. She was one of the regular cast members of Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s. She was later cast in the role of Elaine Benes on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, for which she achieved critical and commercial success. In 2002, she and her husband, Brad Hall^[1], developed the series Watching Ellie, which lasted two seasons. In 2006, she was cast as Christine Campbell in the sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine, which had a five season run on CBS. In 2012, she began playing Selina Meyer in the new series Veep, which is currently in its first season on HBO.

Throughout her career, Louis-Dreyfus has received two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and five Screen Actors Guild Awards. She is one of the most nominated actresses in Emmy Award history with a total of 12 nominations  — seven for supporting actress in a comedy series for Seinfeld, and five for lead actress in a comedy series for The New Adventures of Old Christine. In May 2010, Louis-Dreyfus received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to the broadcast television industry.

Personal life[link]

Louis-Dreyfus was born January 13, 1961 in the Manhattan borough of New York City. Her mother, Judith, was a writer and special needs tutor,^[1] and her father, the billionaire Gérard Louis-Dreyfus, chaired Louis Dreyfus Energy Services. She is the great-great-granddaughter of Léopold Louis-Dreyfus, who in 1851 founded the Louis Dreyfus Group, a commodities and shipping multinational, which members of the family control to this day.^[2] During WW2, Gérard Louis-Dreyfus fled to America from France.^[3][4] Her paternal grandfather, Pierre Louis-Dreyfus (1908-2011), was president of the Louis Dreyfus Group;^[5] he was part of a prominent Alsatian Jewish family,^[6] and remained in France, fighting as a cavalry officer and later in the French Resistance.^[7] Both her paternal grandmother and her mother were American. In 1962, one year after her birth, her parents divorced. After relocating to Washington, D.C. when Julia was eight,^[8] her mother married L. Thompson Bowles, Dean of the George Washington University Medical School.^[1][9]

Louis-Dreyfus has two half-sisters on her father's side, Emma and Phoebe.^[10] Robert Louis-Dreyfus (1946–2009), one of her cousins, was former CEO of Adidas and owner of the Olympique de Marseille soccer team.^[11] Louis-Dreyfus' maternal half-sister, Lauren Bowles, is also an actress, appearing with her on Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine, as well as on Veronica Mars and in the film Ghost World.

Louis-Dreyfus spent her childhood in several states and countries in connection with her stepfather's work with Project HOPE, including Sri Lanka, Colombia and Tunisia.^[12] She graduated from the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, MD in 1979, and attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she studied theatre for several years before dropping out due to a professional acting job offer.^[13] In 2007, she was invited back to Northwestern to receive an honorary Doctor of Arts degree.^[14]

While at Northwestern, Louis-Dreyfus met future husband and Saturday Night Live comedian Brad Hall.^[1] She and Hall married in 1987. They have two children together, Henry born in 1992 and Charles born in 1997.^[15]

Louis-Dreyfus has stated that she holds much respect for "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.^[16]

Politics[link]

Louis-Dreyfus has dabbled in politics throughout her life. She supported Al Gore's 2000 US presidential bid, and also endorsed Barack Obama's bid for the presidency in 2008.^[17] She appeared in a video which urged President Obama to reject the proposal of a Keystone XL pipeline, arguing that if the pipeline was to ever leak it would cause mass pollution across America.^[18] Additionally, she has voiced her concern for several environmental issues, and has raised millions for Heal the Bay, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Trust for Public Land. She also worked for successful passage of Proposition O, which allocated $500 million for cleaning up the Los Angeles water supply.^[19]

Career[link]

[edit] 1982-1989: Early beginnings and Saturday Night Live

Louis-Dreyfus as a part of the Golden 50th Anniversary Jubilee, alongside cast mates Brad Hall, Gary Kroeger and Paul Barrosse

As part of her comedic training, Louis-Dreyfus appeared in two of Chicago's best-known improvisational theater groups — the Practical Theater Group, and the renowned Second City. It was one of her performances at the former's "Golden 50th Anniversary Jubilee" that led to her being asked to join the cast of Saturday Night Live at the age of just 21.

Louis-Dreyfus subsequently became one of the cast members on NBC's Saturday Night Live from 1982 to 1985, tying with current cast member Abby Elliot as the youngest female cast member in the history of the program.^[1] During her time on SNL she appeared alongside several actors who would later rise to prominence, such as Eddie Murphy, Jim Belushi, Billy Crystal and Martin Short. It was during her tenure on SNL that she met writer Larry David, who would later co-create Seinfeld.^[1] More recently Louis-Dreyfus has commented that her casting on SNL was a "Cinderella-getting-to-go-to-the-ball kind of experience",^[20] however, she has also admitted that at times it was often quite tense, stating that she "didn't know how to navigate the waters of show business in general and specifically doing a live sketch-comedy show."^[21]

Louis-Dreyfus at the 1994 Emmy Awards

Following her 1985 departure from SNL, Louis-Dreyfus appeared in several films, including Hannah and Her Sisters which was directed by Woody Allen, and the cult classic National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation in which she starred alongside Chevy Chase. In 1988 she was cast in an NBC sitcom titled Day by Day, but the series was cancelled after two seasons.^[22]

[edit] 1990-1998: The Seinfeld years

In the early-1990s Louis-Dreyfus became famous for the role of "Elaine Benes" on NBC's Seinfeld. She played the role for nine seasons, appearing in all but three episodes.^[1] One of the episodes that she did not appear in was the inaugural pilot episode, due to the fact that her character was not initially intended to be a part of the series. It was only after the first episode that NBC executives felt the show was too male-centric, and demanded that creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David add a woman to the cast. It was revealed in the commentary on the DVD package that the addition of a female character was the condition of commissioning the show. Louis-Dreyfus won the role over several other actresses who would also eventually enjoy their own TV success, including Patricia Heaton, Rosie O'Donnell and Megan Mullally.^[23]

On the "Notes About Nothing" featurette on the DVD package, the series creator and star Jerry Seinfeld says that Louis-Dreyfus' ability to eat a peanut M&M without breaking the peanut aptly describes the actress: "She cracks you up without breaking your nuts."

Her performance on the series was met with critical acclaim, and she was a regular winner and nominee at television award shows throughout the 1990s. Her performance earned her a Golden Globe Award, five Screen Actors Guild Awards and five American Comedy Awards. In 1996 she received the prestigious Primetime Emmy Award^[24] for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, an award she was nominated for on seven occasions.^[25] After receiving the award, Louis-Dreyfus claimed the win was a "shocker", and that after being in both positions, it was "much better to win than to lose."^[26]

It was in 1998 that creator and star Jerry Seinfeld decided to end the series after nine seasons. The series finale aired on May 14 and was one of the most watched TV events, with over 76 million people tuning in.^[27]

[edit] 1999-2004: Post-Seinfeld

Following a voice role in the hugely successful Disney Pixar's A Bug's Life, Louis-Dreyfus lent her voice as Snake's girlfriend Gloria in The Simpsons episode "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love". In 2001, she made several special guest appearances on Seinfeld co-creator Larry David's show Curb Your Enthusiasm, playing herself fictionally trying to break the "curse" by planning to star in a show in which she would play an actress affected by a Seinfeld-like curse.

After several years away from a regular TV gig, Louis-Dreyfus began a new sitcom, Watching Ellie which premiered on NBC in February 2002. The series was created by husband Brad Hall, and co-starred Steve Carrell. The show debuted strongly with over 16 million viewers tuning in for the series premiere, and maintained an average audience of approximately 10 million viewers per week.^[28] When it returned for a second season in the spring of 2003 the series had suffered somewhat of a decline in viewership, averaging around 8 million viewers per week.^[29] With dwindling viewership and failing to retain the numbers from its Frasier lead-in, the series was cancelled by NBC in May 2003.^[30]

Following NBC's cancellation of Watching Ellie, Louis-Dreyfus was one of many actresses considered for the role of Susan Mayer on Desperate Housewives, which would go onto become ABC's mega-hit of the 2004-05 television season. Teri Hatcher was eventually cast in the role.^[31] Instead Louis-Dreyfus scored a recurring guest role as the deceitful prosecutor and love interest of Michael Bluth on the Emmy Award winning comedy Arrested Development from 2004 to 2005. She received widespread acclaim for each appearance on the series.

[edit] 2005-2010: Old Christine and renewed success

In 2005, it was announced that Louis-Dreyfus had been cast in the title role of a new CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine.^[32] The series and its concept was created by writer and producer of Will & Grace, Kari Lizer. 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. The series debuted on CBS in March 2006 to an audience of 15 million and was initially a ratings winner for the network.^[33]

Louis-Dreyfus also received considerable critical acclaim for her performance on the show, with Brian Lowry of Variety stating that Louis-Dreyfus breaks the Seinfeld curse "with one of the best conventional half-hours to come along in a while."^[34] Alessandra Stanley from the New York Times asserted that Louis-Dreyfus' performance on the series proved she is "one of the funniest women on network television."^[35] Louis-Dreyfus additionally earned the 2006 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in the first season. Referring to the curse, she stated in her acceptance speech, "I'm not somebody who really believes in curses, but curse this, baby!"^[1] Throughout the course of the series she received five Emmy Award nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations and a nomination for a Golden Globe Award. In 2007 she also received two nominations for a People’s Choice Award due to her return to popularity, thanks to the success of Old Christine.^[25]

In May 2006, Louis-Dreyfus hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live, becoming the first former female cast member to return to the show in the hosting role.^[21] In the episode, she appeared with former Seinfeld mates Jason Alexander and Jerry Seinfeld in her opening monologue, parodying the so-called "Seinfeld Curse".^[36] After a successful reception from her 2006 episode, Louis-Dreyfus was invited again to host SNL on March 17, 2007.

Louis-Dreyfus at the unveiling of her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, May 2010

In 2007, Louis-Dreyfus reprised her role as Gloria on The Simpsons, which she had first originated in the 2001 episode "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love", in the episode "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings". She appeared on the series once more in the 2008 episode "Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes".

In the fall of 2009, she appeared with rest of the cast of Seinfeld in four episodes of the seventh season of Larry David's sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm. The reunion shows received much media attention, and the episode received strong ratings for the HBO series.^[37]

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. Originally, the star was set with Louis-Dreyfus' name spelled incorrectly. It was missing both the 'o' and also the hyphen in her last name,^[38] Julia Luis Dreyfus.^[39] The star was corrected and the misspelled portion was removed and presented to the actress.^[38]

Old Christine was cancelled by CBS in May 2010 after five seasons. ^[40] After its cancellation from CBS, there was discussions with ABC for the show to be revived on their network, yet these plans never came to fruition.^[41]

In the spring of 2010, Louis-Dreyfus guest starred several times in the third season of the web series Web Therapy, starring Lisa Kudrow. Louis-Dreyfus played the sister of a self-involved therapist who gives her therapy online, and her performance earned her strong reviews. In fall 2010, Louis-Dreyfus made a guest appearance on the live episode of the Emmy Award winning comedy 30 Rock. She played 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, Tracy Morgan, Alec Baldwin, and Tina Fey herself. Louis-Dreyfus also starred in a "Women of SNL" special November 1, 2010, on NBC.

[edit] 2011-present: Veep

In November 2010, Louis-Dreyfus was cast in the lead role of U.S. Vice President Selina Meyer in a new HBO satirical comedy series entitled Veep. It wasn’t until April 2011 that HBO confirmed that Veep had been picked up to series, and would co-star Anna Chlumsky and Tony Hale. In addition to her starring role, Louis-Dreyfus also serves as a producer of the series.^[42] In preparation for her role on the series, Louis-Dreyfus spoke with several former vice presidents, including Al Gore.^[43]

The first season was filmed in the fall of 2011 in Baltimore, and the series premiered on April 22, 2012.^[44] The premiere episode was met with high praise from critics, particularly for Louis-Dreyfus' performance. The Hollywood Reporter asserted that the character of Selina Meyer was her "best post-Seinfeld role" to date and claimed that she gives "an Emmy-worthy effort",^[45] while the Los Angeles Times contended that the series demonstrates that she is "one of the medium's great comedians."^[46]

It was announced in May 2012 that Louis-Dreyfus had been cast alongside James Gandolfini in a new film to be directed by Nicole Holofcener.^[47]

[edit] Recurring characters on Saturday Night Live

• April May June, a televangelist
• Becky, El Dorko's (Gary Kroeger) date
• Consuela, Chi Chi's friend and co-host of Let's Watch TV
• Darla in SNL's parody of The Little Rascals
• Weather Woman, a superhero who controls the weather
• Patti Lynn Hunnsucker, a teenage correspondent on Weekend Update

Credits[link]

Louis-Dreyfus in 2007

Film[link]

Television[link]

Web series[link]

Music[link]

• "Nightshift" on Unexpected Dreams – Songs From the Stars (2006)
• "Wale – "The Vacation from Ourselves [Shout-Out]" on The Mixtape About Nothing (2008)

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Julia Louis-Dreyfus

• Julia Louis-Dreyfus at the Internet Movie Database
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus at Yahoo! Movies
• "Julia Louis-Dreyfus — Awards". Farm.imdb.com. 2009-05-01. http://farm.imdb.com/name/nm0000506/awards. Retrieved 2010-09-01. 
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus at Emmys.com

Jessica Lowndes
Jessica Lowndes at Hollywood Life's 6th Annual Hollywood Style Awards (2009)
Born	Jessica Lowndes (1988-11-08) November 8, 1988 (age 23) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation	Actress, singer-songwriter
Years active	2005–present

Jessica Lowndes (born November 8, 1988) is a Canadian actress, pop singer and song writer. She is best known for her role as Adrianna Tate-Duncan on TV series 90210.

Personal life[link]

Jessica Lowndes was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She studied at Pacific Academy in Surrey and was included on People magazine's list of World's Most Beautiful People of 2009, along with co-stars from the series 90210.^[1]

Jessica Lowndes is of English, Ukrainian and German descent.

Career[link]

Acting[link]

Lowndes got her acting debut in the 2005 TV movie, Saving Milly as Andrea Kondracke. This was followed by a guest role in an episode of Masters of Horror, she was later cast in a recurring role on the sitcom Alice, I Think. She has since made guest appearances on Kyle XY. Her next film role was a supporting role in the Lifetime movie To Have and to Hold released in 2006, this was followed in 2007 by a pilot called Pretty/Handsome which did not get picked up.

In 2008, Lowndes appeared in Autopsy and The Haunting of Molly Hartley along with a recurring role in the drama series Greek as Mandi. Lowndes also landed a recurring role in the series 90210 a spin-off of the 90s TV teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210 as Adrianna Tate-Duncan. In November 2008, her role was upgraded to series regular.

Lowndes starred in the Canadian horror film Altitude in 2010. BuddyTV ranked her #58 on its TV's 100 Sexiest Women of 2011 list.^[2] She also stars in Devil's Carnival, an upcoming short film musical to be screened on tour beginning in April, 2012. ^[3]

Singing[link]

She has been playing the piano since she was five and writing music since she was nine years old.^[4] Lowndes made her musical debut in the pilot episode of TV series 90210 singing in the shows fictional school play, in the 2009 episode "Woman's Intuition". In the 90210 episode "What's Past is Prologue", Lowndes sang "Jolene" for a rock band audition. She also sang a few other songs as the lead female vocalist on 90210's "The Glorious Steinem"'s band. Lowndes also performed "One More Time" (featuring Diego González) in the 90210 episode "Meet the Parent" (season 2, episode 20, final scene). During season 4 of 90210, her single "Fool" was featured and sang by her character in the episode "Benefit of the Doubt".^[5]

In March 2009, she published the song Fly Away on her Myspace page. She was both the writer, singer and lead guitarist in the track.

In September 2009, Lowndes sang God Bless America at a Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium.^[6]

She was featured on rapper Ironik's single "Falling In Love", released on October 24, 2010.^[7][8]

X-Cite Records announced on April 20, 2011 that Lowndes teamed up with French American Idol finalist Jérémy Amelin, to be featured on his new single "Undone", which premiered online on April 29, 2011^[9] and was released worldwide on May 23, 2011.^[10]

Lowndes later revealed on OK! TV, that she was finishing off her album in the United Kingdom.^[11] She explained the album is "sexy, pop dance music, like Rihanna and Katy Perry."^[12]

In mid-late 2011, her first single "Fool" was released on iTunes. On November 11, 2011, Lowndes released another single titled "I Wish I Was Gay".^[13] The official music video was directed by Frank E. Flowers,^[12] and released the same day on her official YouTube channel.^[14] On January 25, 2012, she released her first EP featuring singles 'I Wish I Was Gay' and 'Nothing Like This', along with two new songs 'Stamp of Love' and 'Go Back'.^[15] The soundtrack from Devil's Carnival also features songs with Lowndes singing. On 14 May 2012, her single new The Other Girl premiered on Complex.com. The single will be released on iTunes on May 16 2012. Also she revealed that her debut album will be released later in the year, along with another EP.^[16]

Filmography[link]