New York, 1954
Carter Burwell
The Coen brothers' composer since their first film, with three Oscar nominations.
He studied art at Harvard and was playing in punk bands in New York when the Coens offered him Blood Simple in 1984. Since then he has scored almost all their films, from Fargo to No Country for Old Men. He also works often with Spike Jonze, Todd Haynes and Martin McDonagh. He won an Emmy for the miniseries Mildred Pierce.
- Style
- Few instruments, folk-like melodies and lots of silence.
- Awards
- Oscar nominations for Carol, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Banshees of Inisherin. Emmy for Mildred Pierce (2011).
Essential films
- Blood Simple (1984) Search Spotify
- Fargo (1996) Search Spotify
- The Big Lebowski (1998) Search Spotify
- Being John Malkovich (1999) Search Spotify
- Carol (2015) Search Spotify
- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) Search Spotify
- The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) Search Spotify
Awards counted up to the 2026 Academy Awards. Facts reviewed in October 2026.