Louise Fletcher, who played iconic villain Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in Oscar-winning performance, dies aged 88-Sabrina Barr-Entertainment – Metro

The actress’ portrayal of Nurse Ratched is the stuff of cinematic legend (Picture: Getty Images)

Louise Fletcher, best-known for starring as the villainous Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, has died at the age of 88.

The actress, who won an Oscar for her performance as the chillingly corrupt nurse, died on Friday September 23 at her home in Montdurausse, France from natural causes, her son Andrew Bick told The Hollywood Reporter.

Born in July 1934 in Birmingham, Alabama as the second of four children to Deaf parents, her father, a reverend, founded more than 40 churches in the US state for people who are Deaf.

Fletcher survived breast cancer twice in her life.

Having begun her acting career in the late 1950s, appearing in TV series including Lawman and Maverick, the actress went on to star in the 1974 crime film Thieves Like Us, which helped bag her the role of Ratched in the 1975 adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

The film, based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Ken Kesey, stars Jack Nicholson as mental institution patient Randle McMurphy.

The patients at the institution team up against the tyrannical Nurse Mildred Ratched, exerting her power over them by means including her own version of psychotherapy and antipsychotic drugs.

The actress celebrating her Oscar in 1976 (Picture: Michael Montfort/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Nurse Ratched is widely regarded as one of the greatest fictional villains of all time, having been played by Joan Tetzel on stage and by Sarah Paulson in the 2020 TV series about the character.

When Fletcher accepted her Oscar for the role, she famously used sign language to thank her parents in her speech, choking up as she expressed how much they meant to her.

She also joked with the audience that ‘it looks like you all hated me so much that you’ve given me this award for it’, before adding: ‘I’ve loved being hated by you.’

Following One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Fletched went on to play Dr Gene Tuskin in the sequel to The Exorcist, as well as starring in films including The Lady in Red, Invaders From Mars, Blue Steel and Cruel Intentions, as the aunt to Ryan Phillippe’s character Sebastian.

More to follow.

Entertainment – MetroRead More