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.

FULL COVERAGE: Winners list | Memorable moments | Red carpet | Candid photos | Show highlights | Fashion | HBO after-party | Governors Ball

1 / 48 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. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 48 The cast and crew of “Veep” celebrate their win for comedy series (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 48 Ryan Murphy, left, and John Travolta accept the award for limited series for “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 48 Tatiana Maslany accepts the award for lead actress in a drama series for “Orphan Black.” (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 48 Rami Malek accepts the award for lead actor in a drama series for “Mr. Robot.” (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times ) 6 / 48 The ‘In memoriam’ sequence shows Gary Marshall during the show at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 48 Henry Winkler honors “Happy Days” creator Garry Marshall. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 8 / 48 Tori Kelly performs “Hallelujah” during an In Memoriam tribute at the Emmy Awards. (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press) 9 / 48 “Fresh off the Boat” stars Randall Park and Constance Wu. (Chris Pizzello / Invision/Associated Press) 10 / 48 “Empire” star Taraji P. Henson (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 11 / 48 Host Jimmy Kimmel walks away with Maggie Smith’s Emmy, which had been announced by “Speechless” star Minnie Driver and “NCIS” star Michael Weatherly. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 48 “Mr. Robot” star Rami Malek and “Suits” star Abigail Spencer. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 48 Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 48 Jeffrey Tambor accepts the Emmy for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in “Transparent.” (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 48 Directors Thomas Kail, left, and Alex Rudzinski accept the award for directing for a variety special for “Grease: Live.” (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 48 “Orange Is the New Black” star Laverne Cox. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 48 Patton Oswalt accepts the award for writing for a variety special for “Patton Oswalt: Talking for Clapping.” (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 18 / 48 Jimmy Kimmel hands out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made by his mother during the show. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 48 “Braindead” star Margo Martindale and “The Simpsons” star Hank Azaria. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 48 Tim Carvell, left, and John Oliver accept the award for outstanding variety talk series for “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.” (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 21 / 48 David Benioff, left, and D.B. Weiss accept the award for writing for a drama series for “Game of Thrones.” (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 22 / 48 Matt Damon, left, and Jimmy Kimmel. (AFP / Getty Images) 23 / 48 “Downton Abbey” star Michelle Dockery and “Bloodline” star Kyle Chandler. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 24 / 48 “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” creator Tina Fey, left, and “Maya and Marty” star Amy Poehler. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 48 Courtney B. Vance accepts the award for lead actor in a limited series or movie for “The People vs. O.J. Simpson.” (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 26 / 48 Leslie Jones, right, on stage with Ernst & Young employees. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 48 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) 28 / 48 “Homeland” star Claire Danes and “All the Way” star Bryan Cranston. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 29 / 48 “Superstore” star America Ferrera and “This Is Us” star Mandy Moore. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 48 “American Crime” actress Regina King celebrates her win for supporting actress in a limited series or movie. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 31 / 48 “American Crime” actress Regina King celebrates her win for supporting actress in a limited series or movie. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 48 “Quantico” star Priyanka Chopra and “The Night Manager” star Tom Hiddleston. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 33 / 48 Susanne Bier wins directing for a limited series, movie or special for “The Night Manager.” (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 34 / 48 Producer Mark Burnett, center, and the production team for “The Voice” accept the award for reality competition program. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 35 / 48 “Stranger Things” actor Gaten Matarazzo passes out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to the audience during the Emmy Awards. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 36 / 48 Jill Soloway accepts the award for directing in a comedy series for her work on “Transparent.” (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 37 / 48 Julia Louis-Dreyfus accepts the award for lead actress in a comedy series for “Veep.”

(Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 38 / 48 Jeffrey Tambor accepts the award for lead actor in a comedy series for “Transparent.” (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 39 / 48 “Transparent” actor Jeffrey Tambor, left, accepts the award for lead actor in a comedy series from TV personality James Corden. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 40 / 48 Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang accept the award for writing for a comedy series for “Master of None.” (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 41 / 48 “Difficult People” actor Joel McHale and “The Good Place” actress Kristen Bell present the award for supporting actress in a comedy. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 48 “Episodes” star Matt LeBlanc and “Modern Family” star Julie Bowen (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 43 / 48 Kate McKinnon accepts the award for supporting actress in a comedy series for her work on “Saturday Night Live.” (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 44 / 48 “Baskets” actor Louie Anderson accepts the award for supporting actor in a comedy series. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 45 / 48 ABC’s “black-ish” stars Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 46 / 48 Actors Caleb McLaughlin, Millie Bobby Brown and Gaten Matarazzo perform. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 47 / 48 Jimmy Kimmel opens the 68th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on Sept. 18, 2016 in Los Angeles. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) 48 / 48 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.”

glenn.whipp@latimes.com

Twitter: @glennwhipp

ALSO:


Complete list of 2016 Emmy nominations and winners

‘Veep’ can’t get crazy enough to satirize real-life politics, cast says

Jeffrey Tambor: I’d like to be the last cisgender man playing a transgender womanThe Emmys red carpet was a jewel box of color and sparkle — with a slice of lemon yellow