Louise Fletcher, Oscar-Winning ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ Star, Dead at 88

Louise Fletcher, the Oscar-winning actress who brought the cruel and malicious Nurse Ratched to life in 1975’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest has died at 88. Ratched became more than a movie villain, soon becoming a slice of pop culture and one of the screen’s more memorable antagonists.

According to Deadline, Fletcher was at home at the time of death and went peacefully in her sleep. The home is a converted 300-year-old farmhouse that was built by the actress herself, which led to a memorable final comment from Fletcher. “I can’t believe I created something so meaningful to my well-being,” the actress reportedly told her family about the home just hours before her passing.

Ratched was just a small bit of Fletcher’s career, with a 60-year career in film and television. The Birmingham, Alabama native guest starred on shows like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Picket Fences, and Joan of Arcadia. These appearances netted the actress a pair of Emmy nominations in 1996 and 2004.

In the film world, Fletcher appeared in 1963’s A Gathering of Eagles, and 1974’s Thieves Like Us, all before landing her iconic Cuckoo’s Nest role. Her Oscar win for the film marked only the third time a woman won the Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe for acting in a single performance.

“Just enjoy it; it’ll make you wonderfully happy for a night. But don’t expect that it’ll do anything for your career,” Fletcher told the New York Times in 1995. “I got the Oscar when I was 41. If I was 23, it would have been hard to deal with. Hell, at my age it was hard to deal with. It was like being thrown an explosive.”

She continues on, talking about the career to follow and sharing some predictive words from Milos Forman about their fortunes after the Oscar glory. “Milos said, ‘Now we’re all going to make flops.’ It was true. I made The Heretic – the second Exorcist – and it was a huge flop. Milos did Ragtime. And Jack did [The] Missouri Breaks. That’s Czech prophecy,” she told the Times.

The 1977 release Exorcist II: The Heretic is indeed a tough watch, and Fletcher would follow it with films like The Cheap Detective, The Lady in Red, Brainstorm, Blue Steel and Cruel Intentions in 1999. She would also channel her Ratched performance as Karen and Richard Carpenter’s mother in 1989’s The Karen Carpenter Story, about the iconic musician.

Most recently, audiences could watch Fletcher on Shameless, playing the previously-jailed mother of William H. Macy’s Frank Gallagher. Her final credit is 2017’s . She is survived by John and Andrew Bick, granddaughter Emilee Kaya Bick, sister Roberta Ray and brother-in-law Edward Ray. Rest in peace.