Monessen’s McDormand in contention for another Oscar
By the MVI
Oscar winner and 1975 Monessen High School graduate Frances McDormand is once again in the race for top acting honors at the 93rd Academy Awards Sunday night.
McDormand, 63, has received rave reviews for her performance in “Nomadland,” landing her in contention for yet another Oscar to go with her two best actress awards (1996’s “Fargo” and 2018’s “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”).
Should the actress triumph this year, McDormand would join a list of just five performers who have won three acting Oscars: Ingrid Bergman, Walter Brennan, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. Katharine Hepburn has won the most acting Oscars of all time with four.
McDormand also received best supporting actress nominations for “Mississippi Burning” (1988), “Almost Famous” (2000) and “North Country” (2005). She is one of the few performers who has achieved the triple crown of acting: an Academy Award, a Tony Award for “Good People” (2011) and an Emmy Award for “Olive Kitteridge” (2014).
Born in Gibson City, Ill., “Fran” as she is known by family and friends, was adopted by Vernon and Noreen McDormand. Her father was a traveling Disciples of Christ minister and her mother a receptionist.
The family moved throughout her childhood, spending time in Kentucky, Georgia and Tennessee before settling in Monessen, where she spent her high school years and performed in school plays.
She received her Bachelor of Arts in Theater at Bethany College in Bethany, W.Va., before attending Yale University for her Master of Fine Arts.
In 2012, the intersection of Sixth Street and Schoomaker Avenue was dedicated in honor of her father, who served as pastor of the First Christian Church in Monessen from 1965 to 1983.
“Nomadland” tells the story of Fern (McDormand), a woman who, during the Great Recession, decides to live as a modern-day nomad.
The 93rd Academy Awards will be telecast live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif., at 8 p.m. Sunday on ABC.
