McDormand, Frances (1957-…), is an American actress known for playing a variety of distinctive, interesting characters. She has appeared in dozens of motion pictures and several television series, as well as stage productions. McDormand has won many awards for her work. These include three Academy Awards for best actress for performances in the films Fargo (1996), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), and Nomadland (2020).
Frances Louise McDormand was born on June 23, 1957, in Gibson City, Illinois. Her birth name was Cynthia Ann Smith. She was adopted at a young age by Vernon and Noreen McDormand, a Christian pastor and his wife. McDormand’s adoptive family moved around the Midwestern and Southern United States for her father’s work. She grew up in a number of different, often working-class, communities. She began acting in high school in Monessen, Pennsylvania. One of her first roles was as Lady Macbeth. McDormand received a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater from Bethany College in West Virginia in 1979. She received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University’s drama school in 1982. In 1984, she married the American filmmaker Joel Coen.
McDormand began her acting career in theater in the early 1980’s. Her first professional acting job was in a play by the West Indian playwright Derek Walcott in Trinidad and Tobago in 1982. Since then, she has appeared in several plays on Broadway. In 2011, she won a Tony Award for her performance in the play Good People. In 1999, McDormand began working with The Wooster Group, an experimental theater company based in New York City.
McDormand’s first motion-picture appearance was in Blood Simple (1984), written and directed by Joel Coen and his brother Ethan Coen. She has appeared in many other Coen brothers films, including Crimewave (1985), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller’s Crossing (1990), Fargo (1996), The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001), Burn After Reading (2008), and Hail, Caesar! (2016). She also starred in the film The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), written and directed by Joel Coen.
McDormand’s other notable acting credits include roles in the films Mississippi Burning (1988), Short Cuts (1993), Lone Star (1996), Almost Famous and Wonder Boys (both 2000), Laurel Canyon (2002), North Country (2005), Friends with Money (2006), and Moonrise Kingdom (2012), among others. McDormand also starred in the television miniseries Olive Kitteridge (2014), for which she won an Emmy Award.
