Julia Louis-Dreyfus has been on television shows.
Elaine Marie Benes [ ˈbɛnᵻs ] is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld ( 1989 -- 1998 ) , played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus . Julia Louis-Dreyfus . Her breakthrough came in 1990 with a nine-season run playing Elaine Benes on Seinfeld , one of the most critically and commercially successful sitcoms of all time .