No, Concerned Internet, Richard Dreyfuss is Not Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Dad

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By Thea Glassman September 20, 2016

Julia Louis-Dreyfus won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in HBO’s hit “Veep” this Sunday, and paid a beautiful tribute to her late father.

“I’d like to dedicate this to my father, William Louis-Dreyfus, who passed away on Friday,” she said. “I’m so glad that he liked me because his opinion was the one that really mattered.”

What followed was a little bit of a mix up. See, some people had assumed that 68-year-old actor Richard Dreyfuss was Dreyfus’ father—which led to a collection of very upset tweets.

@Variety what??,you mean @RichardDreyfuss?, i can’t believe it. Greetings from Chile. #Jaws #CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind unforgettable

— Christian Aldunate H (@MADMAXTHUNDER3) September 19, 2016

Richard Dreyfuss passed away last friday?? Just find out while Julia Louis-Dreyfuss said it during the Emmys

— Diana Velasco (@di_velasco) September 19, 2016

@RichardDreyfuss RIP. I love him in An Office and a Gentleman.

— KingFlopAlot (@KingFlopAlot) September 19, 2016

Dreyfus’ father was in fact a French-born Jewish billionaire businessman. Dreyfuss (who is actually only 13 years older than the actress) took to Twitter to clear up the confusion.

I’m actually not Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ father. But I really appreciate all the concerned tweets. https://t.co/4heUxufeOa

— Richard Dreyfuss (@RichardDreyfuss) September 19, 2016

And the Twitterverse drew a collective breath of relief and embarrassment.

@TurnVinyl @RichardDreyfuss Sad for Julia but glad for Richard!

— No_Apologies (@Soul_Be_It) September 19, 2016

@RichardDreyfuss i feel dumb now lol

— Billy Mitchell (@BillFly88) September 19, 2016

If @RichardDreyfuss, the star of Jaws, had—AT AGE 13!—fathered a child who grew up to be Elaine on Seinfeld, I think we’d know before now.

— Allison Adato (@editgirlnyc) September 19, 2016

Thea Glassman is a Multimedia Fellow at the Forward. Reach her at glassman@forward.com or on Twitter at @theakglassman.

Thea Glassman was an associate editor for the Forward. Follow her on twitter @theakglassman.

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