Name: Frances McDormand
Birth Name: Frances McDormand
Birthdate: June 23, 1957
Birthplace: Chicago, Ill.
1-MINUTE RESUME FOR FRANCES MCDORMAND
This fabulously atypical Hollywood starlet had her first starring role in 1984's
Blood Simple.
Wooing the heart of its director, Joel Coen, the two married the same
year. McDormand went on appearing in unique roles in collaborative
projects of her husband's and brother-in-law's, Ethan Coen. Her most
famous Coen brothers role was the cheery, pregnant, you-betcha sheriff
Marge Gunderson in
Fargo, which earned her an Academy Award. She also works outside of the Coen circle in films like
Almost Famous and
North Country.
5 Things:
1. She was adopted by Canadian minister Vernan McDormand and his wife Noreen, who raised her in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.
2. In 1982, she earned an MFA from the Yale University School of
Drama. While attending Yale, McDormand roomed with fellow actress and
student Holly Hunter.
3. In 1985, she shared a house in the Silver Lake neighborhood of
Los Angeles with the Coen brothers, Holly Hunter and director Sam Raimi.
4. In 1988, she earned a Tony Award Best Actress nomination for the Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire.
She once took a role as a department store clerk in a Sesame Street video for children, Big Bird Gets Lost.
Quote:
On how she received her role in 1996's
Fargo: "The fact that I'm sleeping with the director may have something to do with it."
Family:
Husband: Joel Coen, writer and director, married 1984
Son: Pedro McDormand Coen, born in Paraguay, adopted in 1994
Awards:
2006: Academy Award nomination: Best Supporting Actress, North Country; Golden Globe nomination: Best Supporting Actress, North Country
2001: Academy Award nomination: Best Supporting Actress, Almost Famous; Golden Globe nomination: Best Supporting Actress, Almost Famous
1997: Academy Award: Best Actress, Fargo; Golden Globe nomination: Best Supporting Actress, Fargo
1989: Academy Award nomination: Best Supporting Actress, Mississippi Burning
FILMS
Friends With Money - (2006) - Actor
Aeon Flux - (2005) - Actor
North Country - (2005) - Actor
Something's Gotta Give - (2003) - Actor
Laurel Canyon - (2003) - Actor
City by the Sea - (2002) - Actor
The Man Who Wasn't There - (2001) - Actor
Wonder Boys - (2000) - Actor
Blood Simple: Director's Cut - (2000) - Actor
Almost Famous - (2000) - Actor
Madeline - (1998) - Actor
Talk of Angels - (1998) - Actor
Paradise Road - (1997) - Actor
Johnny Skidmarks - (1997) - Actor
Fargo - (1996)
- Actor
Primal Fear - (1996) - Actor
Lone Star - (1996) - Cameo
Hidden in America - (1996) - Actor
The Good Old Boys - (1995) - Actor
Beyond Rangoon - (1995) - Actor
Palookaville - (1995) - Actor
Little Women - (1994) - Actor
Short Cuts - (1993) - Actor
Passed Away - (1992) - Actor
Crazy in Love - (1992) - Actor
The Butcher's Wife - (1991) - Actor
Chattahoochee - (1990) - Actor
Darkman - (1990) - Actor
Miller's Crossing - (1990) - Cameo
Hidden Agenda - (1990) - Actor
Mississippi Burning - (1988) - Actor
Raising Arizona - (1987) - Actor
Blood Simple - (1984) - Actor
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - () - Actor
