Frances McDormand is an Academy Award® winner who has established a following in worldwide cinema with leading roles in a variety of films including her award-winning portrayal of Marge Gunderson in the acclaimed Coen Brothers’ film Fargo. She starred in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous with Billy Crudup and Kate Hudson, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe, BAFTA Award and Academy Award®, and for which she won several critics’ awards. In 2001, she starred in The Man Who Wasn’t There for the Coen Brothers, starring opposite Billy Bob Thornton. She recently starred in City By the Sea opposite Robert De Niro. McDormand was also Oscar®-nominated for her supporting performance in Mississippi Burning. McDormand recently starred in Caryl Churchill’s "Far Away," a play directed by Stephen Daldry, and was critically acclaimed for her starring role in Laurel Canyon directed by Lisa Chodolenko.

McDormand studied at the Yale School of Drama. Her Broadway stage successes include her Tony-nominated performance as Stella in "A Streetcar Named Desire." She also starred in "The Sisters Rosenzweig" at Lincoln Center and "The Swan" at the Public Theatre. McDormand starred as Blanche in "Streetcar" at Dublin’s Gate Theater and in Dare Clubb’s "Oedipus" at the Blue Light Theatre Company opposite Billy Crudup. She also starred in The Wooster Group’s production of "To You the Birdy!"

She has starred in the television movies "Crazy in Love" directed by Martha Coolidge, "The Good Old Boys" directed by Tommy Lee Jones and "Talking With … " directed by Kathy Bates. She was Emmy nominated for "Hidden in America" opposite Jeff Bridges.

McDormand resides in New York with her husband Joel Coen and son Pedro.