Actress Louise Fletcher has died at the age of 88. Variety reports that Fletcher died at her home in France. The cause of death has not been revealed. Fletcher was best known for her Oscar-winning role as one of the most hated villainesses of all time, Nurse Mildred Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The film was an adaptation of Ken Kesey’s novel. While Kesey wasn’t fond of the film, it was the first film in more than four decades to win the major categories of best picture, director, actor, actress and screenplay at the Academy Awards. The film was nominated for four other Oscars. During her famous acceptance speech, Fletcher moved from self-deprecating humor to tearfully thanking her deaf parents in sign language. The Wrap called this one of the greatest Oscar acceptance speeches. The speech can be seen below:
Actress Louise Fletcher Gave Us an Iconic Villain in Nurse Ratched
While Louise Fletcher certainly proves to be sweet and good-natured in her acceptance speech, her portrayal of the hated Nurse Ratched is anything but. Vindictive, sadistic, brutal, and lobotomy-loving, Fletcher’s performance as Nurse Ratched made this character rank fifth on the American Film Institute’s list of the greatest villains of all time. Nurse Ratched is such an iconic villain that Netflix treated us to her origin story in the series Ratched.
She played a similarly villainous role as a hyper-religious and hateful grandmother in 1987’s Flowers in the Attic.
Fletcher’s lack of playing villains scored her a famous recurring role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the deceitful spiritual leader Winn Adami. She also had memorable roles in Shameless, V.R.5, E.R., and Emmy-nominated guest roles in Picket Fences and Joan of Arcadia.
Fletcher is the latest legend to leave us in 2022, a year in which we’ve lost stars such as Ray Liotta and Nichelle Nichols.
Actress Louise Fletcher is survived by her sons John Dashiell Bick and Andrew Wilson Bick.
