As of 2008 joined (along with his brother Ethan Coen) the prestigious group of individuals to have won Oscars for writing, directing and producing in the same year, for the film No Country for Old Men (2007)'. The others are Peter Jackson for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), 'James L Brooks' for Terms of Endearment (1983), Francis Ford Coppola for The Godfather: Part II (1974), Billy Wilder for The Apartment (1960) and Leo McCarey for Going My Way (1944). James Cameron also won three Oscars for Titanic (1997) but they were for directing, producing and editing.

Works so closely with his brother Ethan Coen, that the two of them are often jokingly referred to as "The Two-Headed Director".

Directed (alongside Ethan Coen 4 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Michael Lerner, Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, and Javier Bardem. McDormand and Bardem won Oscars for their performances in one of the Coen Brother's movies.

When an actor improvises a line on the set, he will almost invariably say something like, "That was great, but could you do it like it's written in the script?" Most Coen brothers films are the same (line for line) when released as they are on the page in the final draft of the script.

Resides in New York City with his family.

Gets credit for directing all of the Coen Brothers movies, but it is well known that both Joel and his brother, Ethan Coen, direct their films together. They also write and produce their films together. However, this has changed since 'The Ladykillers', and now they both receive credit for directing and producing.

He and brother Ethan Coen have had final cut on all of their films since Blood Simple. (1984), their debut film.

Adopted a baby named Pedro.

Frequently includes kidnapping-plots in his films.

In his childhood, he saved money from mowing lawns to buy a Super-8 camera.

Born to Edward Coen, an economist at the University of Minnesota, and his wife Rita, an art historian at St. Cloud State University.

Ranked #88 in Premiere's 2003 annual Power 100 List with brother Ethan Coen. They had been ranked #92 in 2002.

Often has a scene that takes place in dark areas with a sense of dark humor. In The Big Lebowski (1998), The Dude talks to Jeffery Lebowski in a dark room with fire; In O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), The Devil's henchmen capture Pete with thunder in the background; In Intolerable Cruelty (2003), Miles meets with Myerson in the dark room with only a glare of light showing Myerson's face; In Fargo (1996), Shep starts beating up Carl in a dim-lighted room.

Only three times in Academy Award history have director-collaborators been nominated for Best Directing Oscars: Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story (1961), Warren Beatty and Buck Henry for Heaven Can Wait (1978) and Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men (2007). (Wise/Robbins and the Coens actually won the award).

Brother-in-law of Tricia Cooke.

Alumnus of Simon's Rock College, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, along with brother Ethan Coen. This is a fully-accredited college for students who typically enter at the age of 16 - before graduating high school.

As his brother, he graduated from Simon's Rock Early College in Great Barrington, MA. He later attended New York University's undergraduate film program to finally graduate after four years there.

The first Coen brothers film where Joel Coen and Ethan Coen are both given directing and producing credits was The Ladykillers (2004). They have shared these duties on all of their films, but Joel has always been listed as the director, and Ethan as producer.

The opening shot of quite a few movies show the landscape of the place the movie is set in, with a voice over. E.g. No Country for Old Men, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou.

Men often explicitly suffer bizarre and bloody deaths or indignities in their films, but women are typically harmed off-screen (Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men, Barton Fink).

His movies often have a victim of a crime who is completely unsympathetic (Fargo, Lebowski, Raising Arizona)

Films often include characters or places with the stereotypes of theregions they take place in. The Mid-Western accents and snow-covered landscapes for Fargo (1996), the South Western accents and barren deserts of Arizona for Raising Arizona (1987), the Southern accents and dust-bowl landscape for_O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)_, Los Angeles accents and life-style in The Big Lebowski (1998), and the accents and cramped environments of Los Angeles in Barton Fink (1991).

Films usually contain at least one fast-talking character.

Typically makes movies set during a specific time period in the past.

Often has a certain phrase that is repeated throughout the movie or a specific scene.

Often creates at least one lengthy sequence in most of his films where only music plays as a major event unfolds, i.e Raising Arizona (1987) when Nicolas Cage is being chased after robbing a store. Also sequences in Miller`s Crossing (1990), The Big Lebowski (1998), The Man Who Wasn`t There (2001), and Fargo (1996).

The Coens frequently focus on round spinning objects: hat in Miller`s Crossing (1990), bowling balls and tumble-weed in The Big Lebowski (1998), hair pomade tins in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), UFO and a car wheel in The Man Who Wasn`t There (2001) ...or the fans in Blood Simple. (1984).

Films often center around or include a botched crime.

References to the films of Stanley Kubrick.

Frequently casts Steve Buscemi (6 times),Frances McDormand (5 times), Jon Polito (5 times),John Goodman (4 times), John Turturro (4 times),George Clooney (3 times), Michael Badalucco (3 times),Charles Durning (twice), `M. Emmett Walsh (I)` (twice), Peter Stormare (twice), Richard Jenkins (twice), John Mahoney (twice), Tony Shalhoub (twice), Stephen Root (twice), and Billy Bob Thornton (twice).

Spouse: Frances McDormand (1984 - present) 1 child