Frances McDormand

Frances McDormand
McDormand in 2015
Born
Cynthia Ann Smith

(1957-06-23) June 23, 1957 (age 67)
Gibson City, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Actress
  • producer
Years active1982–present
WorksFull list
Spouse
​
(m. 1984)​
Children1
AwardsFull list

Frances Louise McDormand (born Cynthia Ann Smith; June 23, 1957) is an American actress and producer. In a career spanning over four decades, she has gained acclaim for her roles in small-budget independent films. McDormand has received numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and one Tony Award, making her one of the few performers to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting". Additionally, she has received three BAFTA Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.[1][2][3] McDormand's worldwide box office gross exceeds $2.2 billion.[4]

McDormand has been married to Joel Coen of the Coen brothers since 1984. She has appeared in a number of their films, including Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), Fargo (1996), The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), Burn After Reading (2008), and Hail, Caesar! (2016). McDormand won three Academy Awards for Best Actress for playing a pregnant police chief in Fargo (1996), a grieving mother seeking vengeance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), and a widowed nomad in Nomadland (2020). For producing the latter, she was also awarded the Academy Award for Best Picture, making her the first person to win Academy Awards both as producer and performer for the same film. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in Mississippi Burning (1988), Almost Famous (2000), and North Country (2005). McDormand is the second woman to win Best Actress three times (after Katharine Hepburn), and the seventh performer to win three acting Oscars.[a]

On television, McDormand produced and starred as the titular protagonist in the HBO miniseries Olive Kitteridge (2014), which won her the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.[7] She had previously been nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Television Movie for her work in the Showtime film Hidden in America (1996). On stage, McDormand made her Broadway debut in a revival of Awake and Sing! (1984). She went on to win the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her role as a troubled single mother in Good People (2011).[8] She was previously nominated for her performance as Stella Kowalski in the 1988 revival of A Streetcar Named Desire.[9]

  1. ^ "Only 22 people had ever accomplished this feat. Now Viola Davis Joins the Club". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 1, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  2. ^ Pulver, Andrew (April 26, 2021). "Frances McDormand wins third best actress Oscar for Nomadland". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 1, 2023. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  3. ^ "Emmys: Big Winner 'Olive Kitteridge' Was Passion Project for Frances McDormand". Variety. September 21, 2015. Archived from the original on November 6, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  4. ^ "Frances McDormand - Career Summary". The Numbers. Archived from the original on April 9, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  5. ^ Lindahl, Chris (April 25, 2021). "Frances McDormand Wins Best Actress: Third Career Oscar, Only Katharine Hepburn Won More". IndieWire. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  6. ^ Clark, Travis (April 26, 2021). "The 44 actors who have won multiple Oscars, ranked by who has won the most". Business Insider. Archived from the original on April 30, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  7. ^ "Frances McDormand". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on May 8, 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  8. ^ "Nominations/2011". Tony Awards. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  9. ^ "Nominations/1988". Tony Awards. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.


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