Hollywood is tonight mourning the Oscar-winning actress who played legendary screen villain Nurse Ratched.
Louise Fletcher, who won lifetime fame for her role alongside Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, died at home in France aged 88. Former colleagues and fans paid tribute to the actress, calling her an “absolute great”.
Louise played cold, heartless Nurse Ratched who worked at Salem State Hospital, a US mental institution where she humiliated patients.
Nicholson played rebellious patient Randle McMurphy in the 1975 drama. The American Film Institute put Nurse Ratched behind only The Wicked Witch of the West, Darth Vader, Norman Bates and Hannibal Lecter in its ranking of film’s greatest villains.
In 1976 Louise won an Academy Award for best actress, a BAFTA and a Golden Globe for the role. Her parents were deaf and she made one of the most moving acceptance speeches in Oscar history when she was the first winner to use sign language.
She thanked her parents for “teaching me to have a dream” – and also thanked audiences for hating her character. Louise was a relative unknown when picked to play Nurse Ratched.
She began acting in the 1950s and had bit parts in several TV shows including Wagon Train and Maverick. But she had a tough time landing roles because she was 5ft 11ins.
In 1975 she said: “No producer thought a tall woman could be sexually attractive to anybody. I was able to get jobs on westerns because the actors were even taller than I was.”
Louise also starred as villain Kai Winn in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and appeared in the 1999 film Cruel Intentions.
Last night a fan on the Star Trek website said: “Kai Winn is one of the top-tier villains of all time and it’s all due to Louise Fletcher. Rest well.”
Louise wed Hollywood agent Jerry Bick but they divorced in 1977. She is survived by sons John and Andrew.
