Actor Louise Fletcher, cruel Nurse Ratched in “Cuckoo’s Nest,’ dies at 88

Louise Fletcher attends a 2012 premiere for the Showtime series “Shameless,” on which she played the hard-living mother of Frank Gallagher. (Chris Pizzello/AP)

LOS ANGELES — Louise Fletcher, a late-blooming star whose riveting performance as the cruel and calculating Nurse Ratched in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” set a new standard for screen villains and won her an Academy Award, has died at age 88.

Fletcher died in her sleep surrounded by family at her home in Montdurausse, France, her agent David Shaul told The Associated Press on Friday. No cause was given.