If Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Emmy win had a familiar ring, it was because the 55-year-old actress made history Sunday night.
Louis-Dreyfus won her sixth lead actress in a comedy Emmy — and fifth in a row — for her turn as career politician Selina Meyer on HBO’s “Veep,” giving her the most wins ever in that category. She had shared the record with Mary Tyler Moore and Candice Bergen.
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D.B. Weiss at the microphone and David Benioff, at left of Weiss, accept the Emmy for Drama Series for “Game of Thrones” with the cast and crew.
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The cast and crew of “Veep” celebrate their win for comedy series
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Ryan Murphy, left, and John Travolta accept the award for limited series for “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.
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Tatiana Maslany accepts the award for lead actress in a drama series for “Orphan Black.”
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Rami Malek accepts the award for lead actor in a drama series for “Mr. Robot.” (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times )
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The ‘In memoriam’ sequence shows Gary Marshall during the show at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards.
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Henry Winkler honors “Happy Days” creator Garry Marshall.
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Tori Kelly performs “Hallelujah” during an In Memoriam tribute at the Emmy Awards.
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“Fresh off the Boat” stars Randall Park and Constance Wu.
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“Empire” star Taraji P. Henson
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Host Jimmy Kimmel walks away with Maggie Smith’s Emmy, which had been announced by “Speechless” star Minnie Driver and “NCIS” star Michael Weatherly.
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“Mr. Robot” star Rami Malek and “Suits” star Abigail Spencer.
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Julia Louis-Dreyfus
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Jeffrey Tambor accepts the Emmy for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in “Transparent.”
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Directors Thomas Kail, left, and Alex Rudzinski accept the award for directing for a variety special for “Grease: Live.”
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“Orange Is the New Black” star Laverne Cox.
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Patton Oswalt accepts the award for writing for a variety special for “Patton Oswalt: Talking for Clapping.”
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Jimmy Kimmel hands out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made by his mother during the show.
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“Braindead” star Margo Martindale and “The Simpsons” star Hank Azaria.
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Tim Carvell, left, and John Oliver accept the award for outstanding variety talk series for “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.”
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David Benioff, left, and D.B. Weiss accept the award for writing for a drama series for “Game of Thrones.”
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Matt Damon, left, and Jimmy Kimmel.
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“Downton Abbey” star Michelle Dockery and “Bloodline” star Kyle Chandler.
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“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” creator Tina Fey, left, and “Maya and Marty” star Amy Poehler.
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Courtney B. Vance accepts the award for lead actor in a limited series or movie for “The People vs. O.J. Simpson.”
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Leslie Jones, right, on stage with Ernst & Young employees.
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Sarah Paulson accepts the award for lead actress in a limited series or movie for “The People v. O.J. Simpson. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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“Homeland” star Claire Danes and “All the Way” star Bryan Cranston.
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“Superstore” star America Ferrera and “This Is Us” star Mandy Moore.
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“American Crime” actress Regina King celebrates her win for supporting actress in a limited series or movie.
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“American Crime” actress Regina King celebrates her win for supporting actress in a limited series or movie.
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“Quantico” star Priyanka Chopra and “The Night Manager” star Tom Hiddleston.
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Susanne Bier wins directing for a limited series, movie or special for “The Night Manager.”
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Producer Mark Burnett, center, and the production team for “The Voice” accept the award for reality competition program.
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“Stranger Things” actor Gaten Matarazzo passes out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to the audience during the Emmy Awards.
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Jill Soloway accepts the award for directing in a comedy series for her work on “Transparent.”
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Jeffrey Tambor accepts the award for lead actor in a comedy series for “Transparent.”
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“Transparent” actor Jeffrey Tambor, left, accepts the award for lead actor in a comedy series from TV personality James Corden.
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Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang accept the award for writing for a comedy series for “Master of None.”
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“Difficult People” actor Joel McHale and “The Good Place” actress Kristen Bell present the award for supporting actress in a comedy.
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“Episodes” star Matt LeBlanc and “Modern Family” star Julie Bowen
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Kate McKinnon accepts the award for supporting actress in a comedy series for her work on “Saturday Night Live.”
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“Baskets” actor Louie Anderson accepts the award for supporting actor in a comedy series.
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ABC’s “black-ish” stars Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross.
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Actors Caleb McLaughlin, Millie Bobby Brown and Gaten Matarazzo perform.
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Jimmy Kimmel opens the 68th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on Sept. 18, 2016 in Los Angeles.
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The scene inside the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) MORE: The best acceptance speeches of the 2016 Emmys »
Louis-Dreyfus’ five-year run in the category is another record, eclipsing the four consecutive years Helen Hunt won for “Mad About You” from 1996-99.
In an emotional acceptance speech, a shaking, tearful Louis-Dreyfus dedicated the award to her father, billionaire businessman Gerard Louis-Dreyfus, who died Friday at the age of 84.
“I’m so glad that he liked ‘Veep’ because his opinion was the one that really mattered,” she said.
In a lighter vein, Louis-Dreyfus also took note of the surreal parallels between “Veep’s” political satire and the current events of this election year.
In an interview with The Times earlier this year, Louis-Dreyfus noted: “Right now in Trump crazy town, we’re just in the stratosphere,” adding, jokingly, that if the Republican nominee were to win the presidency, “we’ll be shooting [the show] in Canada.”
Her acceptance speech continued along those lines.
“I’d also like to take this opportunity to personally apologize for the current political climate,” Louis-Dreyfus said. “I think that ‘Veep’ has torn down the wall between comedy and politics. Our show started out as a political satire but it feels now like sobering documentary. So I certainly do promise to rebuild that wall and make Mexico pay for it.”
Tony Hale of ‘Veep’ dishes on ’Gary-oke’ with the Los Angeles Times’ Glenn Whipp.
With her win, Louis-Dreyfus now stands in second place for all time with seven acting Emmys. (She won the lead actress in a comedy Emmy for “The New Adventures of Old Christine” in 2006 and supporting actress in a comedy award in 1996 for her iconic turn as Elaine in “Seinfeld.”) Moore, Allison Janney and Edward Asner have seven too.
The Emmy acting record holder: Cloris Leachman with eight.
And if all that isn’t enough, Louis-Dreyfus won another Emmy on Sunday — as a producer of “Veep,” which won the comedy series award for a second consecutive year.
“We’re still learning, still fine-tuning, still having fun,” Louis-Dreyfus told The Times. “I feel like we have a lot more story to tell too. A lot more. It’s exciting. I couldn’t be more thankful.”
[email protected]
Twitter: @glennwhipp
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