Actress Louise Fletcher, Oscar winner for her role as Nurse Ratched in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975), died Friday (September 23) of natural causes at her home in France. Fletcher was 88 years old.
The success of her portrayal of Nurse Ratched earned her a long career full of villains, such as in the drama “Flowers in the Attic” (1987) and in the science fiction “Invaders from Mars” (1986).
Louise Fletcher was born on July 22, 1934 in Birmingham, Alabama. Both her father, the Reverend Robert C. Fletcher, and her mother, Estelle, were deaf. She lost her hearing when she was struck by lightning and she lost her hearing due to an illness.
“If I fell and got hurt, I never cried,” Fletcher told the New York Times in 1975. “Nobody listened to me.”
During her youth, Fletcher was sent to live with an aunt in Texas. She went to college in North Carolina and graduated in 1957. But after traveling to Los Angeles with a group of friends, she decided to stay there, working as a receptionist while she took acting classes at night.
In 1958, he got his first television job, in series such as “Flight”, “Playhouse 90” and “Bat Masterson”. Her film debut only took place in 1963, when she landed a supporting role in the film “Eagles on the Alert”, starring Rock Hudson and Rod Taylor.
She had her first child, John, in 1961, and when she was pregnant with her second child, Andrew, Fletcher decided to step away from the film industry. She was married to Jerry Bick, a literary agent who produced some Robert Altman films. And it is precisely one of those films produced by her husband, “Renegades until the last burst” (1974), which marked the return of Fletcher to the cinema, 10 years later. She also said she didn’t want to star in her husband’s film, but Altman insisted.
“Forsaken to the Last Flurry”, starring Keith Carradine and Shelley Duvall, was the film that caught the attention of director Milos Forman, and ultimately led him to choose the actress for the most important role of his. life.
“He was watching the movie because he had his eye on Shelley Duvall to play one of the girls who comes to the infirmary the night of the party, and there I am,” Fletcher recalled in a 2016 interview. “He said, ‘Who is it? that? ‘”
The role was offered to many more famous actresses such as Anne Bancroft, Angela Lansbury, Geraldine Page, Colleen Dewhurst and Ellen Burstyn, but they all turned down, many said the character was too kinky.
Eventually, Forman offered it to Fletcher. “I’ve auditioned many times,” he said. “I didn’t know many other women were turning down. They offered it to many movie stars who turned down, luckily for me. Think, what if someone else said yes?”
To prepare for the role of Fletcher, he observed group therapy sessions at Oregon State Hospital in Salem, where the film was shot. She spent 11 weeks at the institute while making the film.
In “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, Ratched has a habit of humiliating his patients and revokes their privileges whenever he wants. When he can’t control newcomer Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), he gives him shock therapy and lobotomizes him.
The role earned her the Oscar for Best Actress. In his speech, he said, “Well, it seems you all hate me so much that you gave me this award for it, and I love every minute of it. And all I can say is that I loved being hated by you.”
Then, Fletcher paid tribute to his parents: “And if you want to apologize: to my mother and father, I want to thank you for teaching me how to have a dream. You are watching my dream come true,” he said, using sign language. . .
After the Oscars, Fletcher had a long career in film and TV. She has participated in such films as “The Exorcist II – The Heretic” (1977), “The Clumsy Detective” (1978), “The Woman in Red” (1979), “Brainstorm Project” (1983), “Flames of Vengeance” ( 1984), “Invaders from Mars” (1986), “Flowers in the Attic” (1987), “Wicked Game” (1990), “The Gambler” (1992), “Cruel Intentions” (1999), “The Map of the world “(1999) and” A perfect man “(2013).
On TV, one of her most notable roles was as Kai Winn in the “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” series. She also appeared in “Medical Shift”, “Picket Fences” and “Joan of Arcadia” (the latter two earned her Emmy nominations). Most recently, she was seen in “Shameless” and “Girlboss”, her latest work in 2017.
In 2003, the American Film Institute released a list of the 100 greatest villains in film history and Nurse Ratched was ranked 5th, behind only Hannibal Lecter (from “The Silence of the Lambs”), Norman Bates (“Psycho”), Darth Vader (“Star Wars”) and the evil witch of the West (“The Wizard of Oz”).
Recently, the youth of the character experienced by Fletcher was recounted in the series “Ratched”, on Netflix, with the interpretation of Sarah Paulson.
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Source: Terra
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
