If two heads are better than one, the Coen brothers are proof. Joel and Ethan Cohen have been more or less together since birth. Their connections and similar creative perceptions have helped them stay in sync throughout their careers. The two men are directors, producers and screenwriters. They have toured a lot together since their debut in 1984, in different styles and in all genres. These included Miller’s Crossing (1990); Fargo (1996); There is no country for old people (2007); and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013).
Over the course of their career, Joel and Ethan seem to have built up a group of actors that they work with frequently, an ensemble of sorts. This pool includes the likes of George Clooney, Jon Polito, Steve Buscemi and JK Simmons. They are only the third directing duo to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director.
Who are Joel and Ethan – The Coen Brothers?
Joel Coen was born on November 29, 1954 and Ethan Coen was born on September 21, 1957 in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Growing up, the Coen brothers fell in love with filmmaking and often frequently remade films they saw on television with their neighbor and friend, Mark Zimering.
Joel and Ethan attended high school at St. Louis Park High School, after which they both attended Bard College, Massachusetts. They would then go their separate ways for the first time after Bard College. Joel enrolled at New York University where he completed a four-year program in filmmaking. Ethan, on the other hand, studied philosophy at Princeton University.
Careers
A few years and odd jobs out of college, Joel and Ethan teamed up to write and direct their first movie. Simple Blood, in 1984. The film was well received and even won awards at a few festivals. During the 1980s, the Coen brothers were involved as directors or screenwriters in films like Crime Wave (1985); Spies Love Us (1985); and Raising Arizona (1987).
They started the 1990s with Miller’s Crossing and continued with titles like Barton Fink (1991); The Hudsucker Proxy (1994); Fargo (1996); and The Big Lebowski (1998).
In 2000, the Coen brothers filmed O Brother, Where Art Thou? It was a huge hit and stars like George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson . After a few more films, Joel and Ethan made 2004 ‘s The Lady Killers. They capped off the 2000s with films like To Each His Cinema (2007); There is no country for old people (2007); Burn After Reading (2008), and A Serious Man (2009).
In 2013, the brothers worked on Inside Llewyn Davis and collaborated with names like Justin Timberlake and Carey Mulligan . Nominated for a Golden Globe, it won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. They continued with films like Uninterrupted (2014); Bridge of Spies (2015); Suburbicon (2017); and Hail Caesar (2016).
Their most recently released film participation was The Ballad of Buster Schruggs (2018). It had a brief showing in cinemas before Netflix acquired the film rights later that year.
The Coen brothers who own their own production company, Mike Ross Productions, was finally recognized as an entity in 2004. This meant that it could be nominated and awarded by only one person. Prior to 2003, they were accounted for separately, with Joel credited for directing and Ethan for producing.
The brothers have won over 115 Oscars, BAFTAs and Golden Globe Awards for their personal efforts and film performance. They have won 17 of these awards.
The wives and families of the Coen brothers
Joel and Ethan were raised in a family with a Jewish background and respect for intellectual development. Their father, Edward Coen, worked as an economist at the University of Minnesota. Their mother, Rena Coen, worked as an art historian at St. Cloud State University.
The Coen brothers married separately in the 1980s and 1990s respectively. Joel Coen met actress Frances McDormand before he started his career. They married in 1984 and adopted a son from Paraguay whom they named Pedro McDormand Coen. Ethan Coen is married to Tricia Cooke who earns a living as an editor. They married in 1990 and have two children together. a daughter, Dusty, and a son named Buster Jacob.
Both couples all make a living in the same industry and both reside in New York City. However, Frances McDormand, Joel’s wife, is the only one of them doing her thing on camera. She’s appeared in a string of movies that play everything from minor to supporting to starring. Some of McDormand’s films have appeared in Miller’s Crossing, Raising Arizona, Blood Simple, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Fargo, and Burning After Reading.
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