Coen brothers facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Coen brothers
Ethan (left) and Joel Coen, at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival
Born	Joel Daniel Coen (1954-11-29) November 29, 1954 (age 70) Ethan Jesse Coen (1957-09-21) September 21, 1957 (age 67) St. Louis Park, Minnesota, U.S. (both)
Other names	Coen brothers Roderick Jaynes Reginald Jaynes Mike Zoss
Education	St. Louis Park High School
Alma mater	Joel: New York University (BFA) Bard College at Simon's Rock (AA) Ethan: Princeton University (BA) Bard College at Simon's Rock (AA)
Occupation	Film directors producers screenwriters editors
Years active	1984–present
Spouse(s)	Joel: Frances McDormand ​ (m. 1984)​ Ethan: Tricia Cooke ​ (m. 1990)​
Children	Joel: 1 Ethan: 2
Awards	Full list

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, known as the Coen brothers, are a famous American filmmaking team. They have created many movies that mix different styles and genres. Sometimes, they even make fun of these styles!

Some of their most well-known films include Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), and No Country for Old Men (2007).

The brothers usually write, direct, and produce their films together. For a long time, Joel was credited as the director and Ethan as the producer. But since 2004's The Ladykillers, they have both been credited as directors and producers. They also share editing credits under the name Roderick Jaynes.

In the 2020s, they started directing movies on their own. Joel directed The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021). Ethan directed Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind (2022) and Drive-Away Dolls (2024).

Together, they have been nominated for 13 Academy Awards (also known as Oscars). They won Oscars for Best Original Screenplay for Fargo. For No Country for Old Men, they won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Their movie Barton Fink won the top prize, the Palme d'Or, at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival.

The Coens have also written movies for other directors. These include Crimewave (1985) for Sam Raimi, Unbroken (2014) for Angelina Jolie, and Bridge of Spies (2015) for Steven Spielberg. They also produced Bad Santa (2003). Ethan Coen is also a writer of short stories, plays, and poetry.

Their films are known for mixing different genres. No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man, and Inside Llewyn Davis were listed among the greatest films made since 2000 by the BBC.

Early Life and Film Beginnings

Growing Up in Minnesota

Joel Daniel Coen was born on November 29, 1954. Ethan Jesse Coen was born on September 21, 1957. They grew up in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. Their mother was an art historian, and their father was an economics professor. The brothers also have an older sister.

The Coen family is of Eastern European Jewish background. Their father was born in the United States but grew up in London.

The Coens became interested in movies at a young age. They watched many different films on television, from Italian movies to Tarzan adventures and comedies.

In the mid-1960s, Joel saved money from mowing lawns to buy a Vivitar Super 8 camera. They started making their own versions of movies they saw on TV. For example, The Naked Prey (1965) became their Zeimers in Zambezi. They also created original films like The Banana Film.

Education and Early Career

Joel and Ethan both graduated from St. Louis Park High School. Joel then studied film at New York University. Ethan went to Princeton University and studied philosophy.

After college, Joel worked as a production assistant on various films and music videos. He became skilled at film editing. This is how he met director Sam Raimi while helping to edit Raimi's first movie, The Evil Dead (1981).

Their Amazing Career

Starting Out in the 1980s

The Coen brothers made their first movie, Blood Simple, in 1984. This film is a thriller set in Texas. It features a bar owner who hires a detective to kill his wife and her lover. The movie showed their future style, with nods to classic film genres like film noir, unexpected plot twists, and dark humor.

Blood Simple was the first movie shot by Barry Sonnenfeld, who worked with the Coens on their next two films. It was also the first time they worked with composer Carter Burwell. And it was the first movie for actress Frances McDormand, who later starred in many of their films and married Joel Coen.

Their next film was Raising Arizona (1987), a fast-paced comedy. It's about an unusual couple, an ex-convict named H.I. (Nicolas Cage) and a police officer named Ed (Holly Hunter). They want a baby but can't have one. When a rich businessman has quintuplets (five babies at once), H.I. decides to steal one of them to raise as their own. This film also featured John Goodman, who would become a frequent collaborator.

Success in the 1990s

Miller's Crossing (1990) is a gangster film. It stars Gabriel Byrne as an Irish mobster. The movie was praised for its style and story.

They followed this with Barton Fink (1991). Set in 1941, it's about a New York playwright who moves to Los Angeles to write movies. Barton Fink was a big success with critics. It won awards at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival, including Best Director and the Palme d'Or. This was their first film with cinematographer Roger Deakins, who became a very important partner for them.

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) was a tribute to old screwball comedies. It was co-written with Sam Raimi. While critics liked the look of the film, it didn't do well at the box office.

The brothers then made the "homespun murder story" Fargo (1996), set in their home state of Minnesota. In this film, a car salesman (William H. Macy) arranges for his wife to be kidnapped so he can get ransom money from his wealthy father-in-law. Things go wrong, and a local police officer, Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand), starts to investigate. Fargo was a huge success. It won several awards, including two Oscars: Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress for Frances McDormand.

The Big Lebowski (1998) is a crime comedy that has become a cult classic. It's about Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), a laid-back guy in Los Angeles who gets caught up in a kidnapping case by mistake. The film also stars John Goodman and Steve Buscemi. Fans even have an annual festival called Lebowski Fest!

Films of the 2000s

The Coen brothers' next film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), was another big hit. The story is loosely based on Homer's Odyssey. It's set in Mississippi in the 1930s and follows three escaped convicts trying to find buried treasure. The film's bluegrass soundtrack and unique look made it very popular.

They then directed Intolerable Cruelty (2003), a romantic comedy starring George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones. In 2004, they made The Ladykillers, a remake of a British classic.

With Javier Bardem at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival

No Country for Old Men, released in 2007, is a serious thriller based on a novel. It's about a Vietnam veteran who finds two million dollars in drug money and has to run from a dangerous killer (Javier Bardem). This film received huge praise from critics. It won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Javier Bardem also won Best Supporting Actor.

Burn After Reading, a comedy starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney, was released in 2008. It's about gym instructors and spies getting into trouble.

In 2009, the Coens directed A Serious Man, a comedy set in 1967. The film was inspired by their own childhoods in a Jewish neighborhood in Minnesota. It was nominated for Oscars for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.

Projects in the 2010s

True Grit (2010) is a Western film based on a novel. It stars Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross and Jeff Bridges as Marshal Rooster Cogburn. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards.

In 2011, the Coen brothers won the $1 million Dan David Prize for their contributions to cinema.

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) is about the 1960s folk music scene in New York City. It stars Oscar Isaac. The film won a major award, the Grand Prix, at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

The Coens also helped write the screenplay for Unbroken (2014), a film directed by Angelina Jolie. They also co-wrote Bridge of Spies (2015) with playwright Matt Charman. This historical thriller was directed by Steven Spielberg and received great reviews.

The Coens, presidents of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival jury

The Coens directed Hail, Caesar! (2016), a comedy set in 1950s Hollywood. It stars many familiar faces like George Clooney, Josh Brolin, and Frances McDormand.

In 2018, the Coens directed The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a Western film with several different stories. It was released on Netflix.

Recent Work in the 2020s

In 2019, it was announced that Joel Coen would direct an adaptation of Macbeth. This film, called The Tragedy of Macbeth, was Joel's first time directing without his brother. Ethan Coen took a break from films to focus on theater.

In 2022, Ethan Coen directed Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind, a documentary film. He also directed Drive-Away Dolls (2024), which he co-wrote with his wife, Tricia Cooke. This was Ethan's first story-based film without his brother.

Mike Zoss Productions

The Coen brothers have their own film production company called Mike Zoss Productions. It is named after a pharmacy in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, where the brothers used to hang out when they were kids. The company's logo is a crayon drawing of a horse.

Working Together

For many years, Joel was the only one credited as director, and Ethan as producer. This was because of rules from the Directors Guild of America. However, since 2004, they have been able to share the director credit. The Coen brothers are one of only a few duos allowed to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director together.

Personal Lives

Joel Coen has been married to actress Frances McDormand since 1984. They adopted a son in 1995. Frances McDormand has appeared in many Coen Brothers films, including Fargo, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Ethan Coen married film editor Tricia Cooke in 1993. They have two children. Ethan published a collection of short stories called Gates of Eden in 1998. He also co-wrote the comedy The ... Man in the same year.

Ethan Coen and his family live in New York, while Joel Coen and Frances McDormand live in Marin County, California.

Filmography

Awards and Nominations

The Coen brothers have received many awards and nominations for their films. Here are some of their notable achievements:

Actors Who Won Awards

Actors directed by the Coen brothers have also won or been nominated for Academy Awards.

See also

In Spanish: Hermanos Coen para niños