Although she was born in Chicago (June 23, 1957), Frances McDormand was raised in Monessen, Pa., by her adoptive father and mother. She earned an M.F.A. from Yale University in 1982 and started work later that year on her first film, Blood Simple, directed by Joel Coen, whom she would later marry.
In 1996, Coen directed her again in an Oscar-winning performance as a pregnant police chief in Fargo. McDormand has appeared in other Coen brothers films, including Raising Arizona and The Man Who Wasn't There.
Three more Oscar nominations (for Best Supporting Actress) were bestowed on her for Mississippi Burning (1988), Almost Famous (2000) and North Country (2005). A favorite actress in indie cinema (for Friends with Money, she won an Independent Spirit Award for her supporting role), she's also been seen in recent major studio films such as Wonder Boys and Something's Gotta Give.
- The Botany of Desire
- Burn After Reading
- Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
- Friends with Money
- Aeon Flux
- North Country
- Catwoman
- Something's Gotta Give
- Laurel Canyon
- Searching for Debra Winger
- City by the Sea
- The Man Who Wasn't There
- Short Fuse
- Almost Famous
- Wonder Boys
- Scottsboro: An American Tragedy: American Experience
- Madeline
- Talk of Angels
- Johnny Skidmarks
- Paradise Road
- Primal Fear
- Fargo
- Palookaville
- Hidden in America
- Beyond Rangoon
- Short Cuts
- Barton Fink
- The Butcher's Wife
- Miller's Crossing
- Darkman
- Hidden Agenda
- Chattahoochee
- Mississippi Burning
- Raising Arizona
- Blood Simple
- Hunter: Season 1