Monessen's Frances McDormand Wins 2nd Best Actress Oscar

PITTSBURGH, PA - The Academy Awards had a western Pennsylvania connection Sunday, as Monessen High School graduate Frances McDormand won her second Best Actress award.

McDormand, 60, won the Oscar for her performance in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” Correctly predicting she would take home the award, officials in the tiny Westmoreland County town of about 7,000 put up a billboard along Interstate 70 that reads: “One Billboard. One Monessen Alumna. One Frances McDormand. Congratulations!”

Lamar Advertising donated the billboard space.

McDormand is a 1975 graduate of Monessen High School, where retired English teacher Virginia Monaghan recalled her being an excellent student.

“Very quiet, but focused on her work,” Monaghan told KDKA-TV. “She was a majorette. She was in the glee club.”

KDKA reported that McDormand has returned to Monessen to talk with students and recently donated money to help the school get new curtains in the auditorium.

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” is a black comedy crime drama in which mcDorman portrays a mother who rents three billboards to call attention to her daughter’s unsolved murder.

McDormand previously won a Best Actress award in 1996 for her role in “Fargo.” She also has won two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award.

Photo: Getty Images.