Joel Coen - Details

Biography

Director/screenwriter JOEL COEN was honoured as Best Director for Fargo by the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Board of Review in 1996.

The screenplay for the film, which he co-wrote with his brother Ethan, won an Academy Award® and Writers Guild Award for Best Original Screenplay of 1996 and Frances McDormand won a Best Actress Oscar® for her performances in the film.

In 1991, Joel was named Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival for Barton Fink, where the film also garnered the Palme D’Or Award for Best Picture and a Best Actor Award for John Turturro. Barton Fink was also honoured with two New York Film Critics Circle Awards, three Academy Award® nominations and a Golden Globe nomination.

Joel attended New York University Film School and shortly thereafter began his career as an assistant editor working on several low-budget horror films including Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead. It was during this period that he and Ethan wrote their first feature film, the stylish crime drama Blood Simple, which Joel subsequently directed and Ethan produced. The film appeared on several prominent top ten lists of 1985, including Time Magazine, The Washington Post and USA Today. The National Board of Review also honoured Blood Simple as one of the Best Films of the year.

Events

  • 29th November 1954 - Birth