McDormand was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Canadian parents Noreen, a now retired registered nurse and receptionist, and Vernon McDormand, a Disciples of Christ pastor. McDormand was adopted, and her biological mother may have been one of the parishioners at her father's church. McDormand has a sister, Dorothy A. McDormand, who is an ordained Disciples of Christ minister and chaplain, as well as two other siblings, all of whom were adopted by the McDormands, who had no biological children. As her father specialized in restoring congregations, he frequently moved their family, and McDormand lived in several small towns in Illinois, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee, before settling in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area town of Monessen, where she graduated from high school in 1975. She attended Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia, and earned a B.A. in Theater in 1979. In 1982, McDormand earned an M.F.A. from the Yale University School of Drama. She was roommates wit...