Joel Coen

Joel Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Coen (born September 21, 1957) grew up in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.[3] Their parents, Edward and Rena Coen, both Jewish, were professors, their father an economist at the University of Minnesota and their mother an art historian at St. Cloud State University.

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are four-time Academy Award winning American filmmakers. For more than twenty years, the pair has written and directed numerous successful films, ranging from screwball comedies (O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Raising Arizona, The Hudsucker Proxy) to film noir (Miller`s Crossing, Blood Simple, The Man Who Wasn`t There, No Country for Old Men[1]), to movies where genres blur together (Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Barton Fink and Burn After Reading). The brothers write, direct and produce their films jointly, although until recently Joel received sole credit for directing and Ethan for producing. They often alternate top billing for their screenplays while sharing film credits for editor under the alias Roderick Jaynes. They are known in the film business as "the two-headed director", as they share a similar vision of their films. Actors can approach either brother with a question and get the same answer.

Joel has been married to actress Frances McDormand since 1984. They adopted a son from Paraguay, named Pedro McDormand Coen (Frances and all her siblings are adopted themselves). McDormand has starred in six of the Coen Brothers` films, including a minor appearance in Miller`s Crossing, a supporting role in Raising Arizona, lead roles in Blood Simple and The Man Who Wasn`t There, her Academy Award winning role in Fargo, and her latest starring role in Burn After Reading.

Ethan is married to film editor Tricia Cooke.

Both couples live in New York City.