Frances McDormand was born in Chicago in 1957, and was adopted by Canadian minister Vernan McDormand and his wife Noreen, who raised her in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. She earned her B.A. in Theater from Bethany College in 1979 and her MFA from Yale in 1982.Her career after graduation began onstage, and she has retained her association with the theater throughout her career. She soon obtained prominent roles in movies as well, first starring in Blood Simple. (1984), in which she worked with filmmaker Joel Coen, whom she married that year. She frequently collaborated with Coen and his brother Ethan Coen in their films.McDormand's skilled and versatile acting has been recognized by both the critics and the Academy and, in addition to many critics' awards, she has been nominated for an Academy award four times - for Mississippi Burning (1988), Fargo (1996) (for which she won the Best Actress award), Almost Famous (2000) and North Country (2005).Keenly intelligent and possessed of a sharp wit, McDormand is the antithesis of the Hollywood starlet - rather than making every role about Frances McDormand, Frances McDormand dissolves into the characters she plays. Accordingly, she has expressed some reservations about the iconic recognition she has gained from her touching and amusing portrayal of Police Chief Marge Gunderson, the quintessential Minnesota Scandinavian, in Fargo (1996).McDormand and Coen adopted a son, Pedro, who was born in Paraguay, in 1994. They live in Manhattan.

1. Untitled Matt Damon/John Krasinski Project (2013) - Sue Thomason 2. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (Madagascar 3: Fugăriţi prin Europa) (2012) - (voice)

Vezi Trailer

3. Moonrise Kingdom (2012) - Actor 4. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Transformers 3) (2011) - Mearing

Vezi Trailer

5. This Must Be the Place (2011) - Jane 6. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008) - Miss Pettigrew

Vezi Trailer

7. Burn After Reading (2008) - Linda Litzke

Vezi Trailer

8. Friends with Money (2006) - Jane 9. Æon Flux (2005) - Handler 10. North Country (2005) - Glory 11. Something's Gotta Give (2003) - Zoe

Vezi Trailer

12. City by the Sea (2002) - Michelle 13. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) - Doris Crane 14. Wonder Boys: A Look Between the Pages (2000) - Herself 15. Wonder Boys (2000) - Dean Sara Gaskell 16. Almost Famous (2000) - Elaine Miller 17. Johnny Skidmarks (1998) - Alice 18. Paradise Road (1997) - Dr. Verstak 19. Primal Fear (1996) - Molly 20. Fargo (Fargo) (1996) - Marge Gunderson 21. Beyond Rangoon (1995) - Andy Bowman 22. The Good Old Boys (1995) - Eve Calloway 23. Palookaville (1995) - June 24. Barton Fink (1991) - Stage Actress (voice) (uncredited) 25. Darkman (1990) - Julie Hastings 26. Mississippi Burning (1988) - Mrs. Pell 27. Crimewave (1985) - Nun 28. "Hill Street Blues" (1981) - Connie Chapman (6 episodes, 1985)

1. Has one son, Pedro McDormand Coen, adopted from Paraguay in 1994

2. Once lived in an apartment with Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Sam Raimi, Scott Spiegel and Holly Hunter

3. Was the third and youngest child adopted by her minister father Vernon and his wife, Noreen.

4. Raised in Monessen, Pennsylvania.

5. Sister-in-law of Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke.

6. Both of her parents were born in Canada. Her father, Vernon McDormand, was a Disciples of Christ minister and her mother, Noreen McDormand, a housewife.

7. She attended Bethany College, Bethany, West Virginia and received her B.A. in Theater, 1979. Then she attended Yale University School of Drama, New Haven, Connecticut and received her M.F.A., 1982.

8. Was jury president of Berlin film festival 2004.

9. Her Oscar-winning role, as Marge Gunderson from her 1996 film Fargo (1996), was ranked #33 in the American Film Institute's Heroes list in their 100 years of The Greatest Screen Heroes and Villains.

10. Was nominated for Broadway's 1988 Tony Award as Best Actress (Play) for a revival of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire."

11. Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2006 Razzie Award nominating ballot. She was listed as a suggestion in the Worst Supporting Actress category for her performance in the film Æon Flux (2005). However, she failed to receive a nomination. (Had she gotten the nomination, she would have been one of the few to be nominated for both Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars, for North Country (2005), and Worst Supporting Actress at the Razzies in the same year.)

12. Her performance as "Marge Gunderson" in Fargo (1996) is ranked #27 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

13. As of 2007, six women have received Best Actress nominations for performances directed by their spouse - Frances is the only one to actually win. The other five are Gena Rowlands for A Woman Under the Influence (1974) & Gloria (1980), Joanne Woodward for Rachel, Rachel (1968), Julie Andrews for Victor Victoria (1982), Elisabeth Bergner for Escape Me Never (1935) and Jean Simmons for The Happy Ending (1969). Jules Dassin also directed his future wife Melina Mercouri in an Oscar-nominated performance (Pote tin Kyriaki (1960)), but they weren't married yet at the time of the nomination.

14. Co-starred with Charlize Theron in two films during the same year (Æon Flux (2005) and North Country (2005)).

15. Shared an apartment in the Bronx with Holly Hunter in the early '80s until they moved in with Joel Coen, Ethan Coen and Sam Raimi into a house in LA.