Louise Fletcher dead at 88: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest & Star Trek actress mourned as unique rise to fame revealed
AN actress best known for her performance as Nurse Ratched in the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest has died.
Oscar-winning actress Louise Fletcher died on Friday at her home in France, a representative confirmed. She was 88 years old.
Fletcher died of natural causes after surviving two bouts of breast cancer, her son Andrew Bick told The Hollywood Reporter.
The actress made her mark on the entertainment world with her memorable performance as the wicked Nurse Ratchet in 1975.
She was celebrated again for a hilarious Oscar acceptance speech after the film was the second in history to win all five major academy awards.
Fletcher also starred as a psychiatrist in Exorcist II: The Heretic and was a part of the star-studded ensemble in The Cheap Detective.
The Alabama actress, who was the daughter of two deaf parents, had a unique rise to fame.
A hearing aunt helped her learn how to speak and introduced her to theater when she was a girl.
After college, she decided to move to Los Angeles, where she worked as a receptionist and took acting classes at night.
She started working in television, mainly in Westerns as the five-foot-10-inch actress was reportedly deemed too tall to star alongside Hollywood’s leading men.
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During a steady career in television, she met her husband Jerry Bick and eventually stepped away from the stage to begin raising their children in 1961.
She returned to work in 1973’s Thieves Like Us before she stepped into her most haunting and memorable role.
Fletcher said that plenty of actresses refused to play the twisted character Nurse Ratched before she was selected for the role.
In an interview, she recounted the moment that she witnessed an audience react to a scene in which McMurphy tries to kill her character.
“It was in Chicago, and it was a packed house,” she said.
“When he strangles her, the audience stood up and yelled and cheered. Stood up.
“It was unbelievable. I was thrilled.”
After the actress accepted her Oscar for Nurse Ratched, she gave a memorable speech where she thanked the audience for their hatred.
“Well, it looks like you all hated me so much that you’ve given me this award for it, and I’m loving every minute of it.
“And all I can say is, I’ve loved being hated by you.”
Fletcher is survived by her two sons and sister Roberta.