Ethan Coen

Ethan Coen directed the film "Drive-Away Dolls," co-written with his wife Tricia Cooke, which was released in 2024. He has also written and produced the play "A Play Is a Poem" (2019) and published several books including the short story collection "Gates of Eden" (1998) and a book of poems titled "The Drunken Driver Has the Right of Way" (2002).

Unlike Joel, Ethan did not attend film school. He studied philosophy at Princeton University, where his senior thesis was titled "Two Views of Wittgenstein's Later Philosophy." This philosophical background is often cited as an influence on the intellectually layered, morally complex storytelling in the Coen Brothers' films.

In the brothers' earlier films, Joel was credited as the sole director while Ethan was credited as producer, though they co-wrote all screenplays. Beginning with "The Man Who Wasn't There" (2001), both brothers received co-directing credit. Ethan also co-edited their films under the pseudonym "Roderick Jaynes."

Ethan co-wrote all the major Coen Brothers films, including "Blood Simple" (1984), "Raising Arizona" (1987), "Fargo" (1996), "The Big Lebowski" (1998), "No Country for Old Men" (2007), and "True Grit" (2010). The brothers also co-created the anthology television series "Fargo" for FX, inspired by their original film.