LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) - Frances McDormand won her third Oscar on Sunday (April 25) for Nomadland, cementing her reputation as one of the best actresses of her generation.

McDormand's win makes her a member of an elite club that includes Meryl Streep, Daniel Day Lewis and Jack Nicholson as the winners of three acting Oscars. The late Katharine Hepburn won a record four.

In Nomadland, the 63-year-old McDormand plays a widow, who in the wake of the American economic recession, turns her van into a mobile home and sets out on the road, taking on seasonal jobs along the way.

The publicity-shy McDormand was one of the favourites for the best actress prize, which she first won in 1997 for her portrayal of a pregnant police chief in crime drama Fargo.

McDormand won again in 2018 for playing an angry mother seeking justice for her dead daughter in dark comedy Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

McDormand, who is married to independent movie director Joel Coen and is known for her down-to-earth nature, made her film debut in 1984's Blood Simple and has gone on to play a wide range of characters.

She has starred in several of Coen and his brother's movies, including Raising Arizona (1987) and Burn After Reading (2008).

Her other movie roles include Mississippi Burning (1988), Almost Famous (2000) and North Country (2005), all three of which earned her Oscar nods, as well as Something's Gotta Give (2003) and Moonrise Kingdom (2012).

McDormand has also left her mark in television and on stage.

In 2011, she won a Tony award for her portrayal of a single mother in the play Good People and in 2015 she picked up an Emmy for her lead role in the television mini-series Olive Kitteridge.

McDormand won at Britain's Bafta ceremony and took home multiple prizes from film critics for her performance in Nomadland.