Ethan and Joel Coen are two of St. Louis Park’s most famous native sons. Information about the filmmaker brothers’ early years varies widely on the Internet; here’s a go at it.
JOEL
Joel David Coen was born November 29, 1954. He attended Cedar Manor Elementary School and was President of the Student Council (a half-year position) in the fall of 1966. Joel attended Westwood Jr. High. Joel’s last appearance in a school yearbook was in 1971 as a sophomore at Park High. Joel was the social brother, involved in many school activities and turning the family home into a popular place for kids to hang out.
Joel attended Simon’s Rock Early College (now Simon’s Rock College of Bard) in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Simon’s Rock is designed for bright students seeking to start their undergraduate education earlier than is normal. Chances are good that he spent his junior and senior years there.
After graduating from Simon’s Rock, Joel spent four years in the undergraduate film program at New York University where he made a 30-minute thesis film called Soundings.
After graduating from NYU, Joel worked as a production assistant on a variety of industrial films and music videos. He developed a talent for film editing and met Sam Raimi, who was looking for an assistant editor on his first feature film, The Evil Dead (1981).
Joel married actress Frances McDormand in 1984 and they have an adopted son named Pedro.
ETHAN
Ethan Jesse Coen was born September 21, 1957. Ethan also attended Cedar Manor. He attended Westwood Jr. High, and is pictured as a sophomore in the 1973 Park High yearbook. Ethan was known for his quiet intellect, his tendency to make geometric designs on his standardized test sheets, and his incredible hair.
After also graduating from Simon’s Rock, Ethan went to school at Princeton University and earned an undergraduate degree in philosophy. His senior thesis was a 39-page essay entitled, “Two Views of Wittgenstein’s Later Philosophy.”
Ethan is married to film editor Tricia Cooke.
JOEL AND ETHAN IN ST. LOUIS PARK
It appears that the Coens moved to St. Louis Park in about 1958 or ’59. Edward Coen is listed at 1430 Flag (built in 1956) in the 1958 directory. From 1960 on the family is listed at 1425 Flag, which is shown as built in 1959.
When they were kids, Joel saved up enough money from mowing lawns to buy a Vivitar Super-8 camera, and together they remade movies they saw on television with a neighborhood kid, Mark Zimering (a.k.a. Zeimers), as the star. For example, Cornel Wilde’s The Naked Prey (1966) became Zeimers in Zambia, which also featured Ethan as a native with a spear.
As kids, the story goes that the brothers hung out after school at the soda fountain at Mike Zoss Drugs at the Texa-Tonka Shopping Center. Memories were so fond of the place that they named their production company Mike Zoss Productions.
Father Edward Coen was a professor of economics at the University of Minnesota. He walked to the bus every morning. He passed away on August 27, 2012, at the age of 93. Mother Rena Coen was a professor of art history at St. Cloud State University for 27 years. She passed away in 2001 at the age of 76.
PARKITES IN THE MOVIES
The Coens had fond memories of their years in St. Louis Park, and had a penchant for using the names of some of their old neighbors in their films. Here are a couple of examples.
Fargo
Who can forget the scene when the protagonist, Brainerd police chief Marge Gunderson, meets with former high school classmate Mike Yanagita? Mike tells Marge that he had been married to a woman named Linda Cooksey, but that she had tragically died. Marge was visibly sympathetic, although Mike has been flirting with her and making her uncomfortable. Soon afterwards, Marge learns from a friend that Linda is still alive, and that Mike had been “pestering her.”
Many have said that this scene is meaningless, but in a 2020 article posted on ScreenRant, writer Q.V. Hough posits that it serves to put Marge more on guard and not so ready to trust people when she deals with car dealer Jerry Lundegaard, who raises red flags about his truthfulness.
The nexus of Fargo to St. Louis Park is that both Joel and Ethan were classmates of members of the real-life Cooksey and Yanagita families. Glen Yanagita and Janet Cooksey were the same age as Joel, and Gary Yanagita and Sue Cooksey went to school with Ethan. Although those involved have wondered over the years why their names were appropriated for these characters, the most likely explanation is that they were just paying homage to their old neighbors. The real Gary Yanagita has generously allowed us to post his photo, taken at the St. Louis Park Class of 1975 50th High School reunion.
Another St. Louis Park connection in Fargo appears in the scene where Jerry Lundegaard talks to his father-in-law about the ransom. The filming took place at the Embers Restaurant at 7525 Wayzata Boulevard.
A Serious Man
This film is distinctly set St. Louis Park, in 1967. The protagonist is Larry Gopnik, a professor of physics. According to a synopsis on Wikipedia, at one point,
Larry calls on his neighbor, Vivienne Samsky, whom he has seen sunbathing naked. She introduces him to marijuana. He later dreams that he is having sex with her, but this turns into a nightmare.
Could it be a coincidence that a real Mrs. Vivian Samsky lived two doors down from the Coens in 1967? Apparently her portrayal in the movie had nothing to do with the real Mrs. Samsky, and some feathers were ruffled among her children, who were the same age as Joel and Ethan.
