No, Concerned Internet, Richard Dreyfuss is Not Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Dad
Image by Getty
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.
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