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IMDbPro

Louise Fletcher(1934-2022)

  • Actress
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000731
Louise Fletcher
A womanizing husband inadvertently falls back in love with his wife over the phone when she pretends to be another woman.
Play trailer2:07
A Perfect Man (2013)
21 Videos
99+ Photos
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, to Episcopal minister Robert Fletcher and his wife Estelle, both of whom were deaf, Louise Fletcher was introduced to performing at a young age by the aunt who taught her to speak. After graduating from the University of North Carolina, she took a trip out west with her roommates, finding herself in Los Angeles without enough money to return home. She took a temporary job as a receptionist and signed up for acting classes at night. Soon she was working regularly in television and film, but after marrying producer Jerry Bick and having two sons, the actress took a long hiatus to raise her children.

Returning to work in 1974 in Robert Altman's Varkaita kuten me (1974), Fletcher came to the attention of director Milos Forman, who was casting the difficult role of the nurse in Yksi lensi yli käenpesän (1975). She won the role -- and then the Academy Award -- portraying deadly, inflexible Nurse Ratched, who has since become a cultural icon. Numerous film roles followed, including co-starring turns with Peter Falk in Tosi välkky dekkari (1978) and with Richard Burton in Manaaja II: Luopio (1977). Fletcher has appeared in a number of science fiction and horror classics such as Tulessa syntynyt (1984), Brainstorm - aivomyrsky (1983), and Flowers in the Attic (1987).

Though she earned an Emmy Award nomination for her recurring role on Rooman sheriffi (1992), Fletcher is perhaps best known to recent television audiences as Kai Winn from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) and as Nora Bloom from the cult classic VR.5 (1995).
BornJuly 22, 1934
DiedSeptember 23, 2022(88)
BornJuly 22, 1934
DiedSeptember 23, 2022(88)
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000731
  • Won 1 Oscar
    • 13 wins & 10 nominations total

Remembering Louise Fletcher: 1934-2022

Remembering Louise Fletcher: 1934-2022

Celebrate the life of Louise Fletcher, beloved for her Oscar-winning performance in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and much more.
See the gallery
Editorial Image
Photos

Photos117

Jack Nicholson, Christopher Lloyd, Louise Fletcher, Vincent Schiavelli, and William Redfield in Yksi lensi yli käenpesän (1975)
Jack Nicholson, Christopher Lloyd, Louise Fletcher, Vincent Schiavelli, and William Redfield in Yksi lensi yli käenpesän (1975)
Jack Nicholson, Christopher Lloyd, Louise Fletcher, Vincent Schiavelli, and William Redfield in Yksi lensi yli käenpesän (1975)
Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, and William Redfield in Yksi lensi yli käenpesän (1975)
Jack Nicholson, Brad Dourif, Christopher Lloyd, Louise Fletcher, Vincent Schiavelli, Sydney Lassick, and William Redfield in Yksi lensi yli käenpesän (1975)
Louise Fletcher in TCM Remembers 2022 (2022)
Louise Fletcher
Louise Fletcher in Flowers in the Attic (1987)
Louise Fletcher in Flowers in the Attic (1987)
Louise Fletcher in Flowers in the Attic (1987)
Louise Fletcher in Flowers in the Attic (1987)
Louise Fletcher, Kristy Swanson, Victoria Tennant, Jeb Stuart Adams, and Lindsay Parker in Flowers in the Attic (1987)

Known for:

Jack Nicholson in Yksi lensi yli käenpesän (1975)
Yksi lensi yli käenpesän
8.7
  • Nurse Ratched
  • 1975
Kristy Swanson, Victoria Tennant, Ben Ryan Ganger, and Lindsay Parker in Flowers in the Attic (1987)
Flowers in the Attic
5.7
  • Grandmother
  • 1987
Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Sarah Michelle Gellar in Julmia aikeita (1999)
Julmia aikeita
6.8
  • Helen Rosemond
  • 1999
Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington in Virtuosity (1995)
Virtuosity
5.5
  • Elizabeth Deane
  • 1995

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • Britt Robertson in Girlboss (2017)
    Girlboss
    7.0
    TV Series
    • Rosie
    • 2017
  • A Perfect Man (2013)
    A Perfect Man
    5.2
    • Abbie
    • 2013
  • And Out, Into the Bright Blue Sky
    Short
    • (voice)
    • 2012
  • Bad Girls (2012)
    Bad Girls
    6.3
    TV Movie
    • 2012
  • Kristin Davis in Of Two Minds (2012)
    Of Two Minds
    6.1
    TV Movie
    • Aunt Will
    • 2012
  • William H. Macy, Steve Howey, Cameron Monaghan, Shanola Hampton, Jeremy Allen White, Ethan Cutkosky, and Emma Kenney in Hävyttömät (2011)
    Hävyttömät
    8.5
    TV Series
    • Peg Gallagher
    • 2011–2012
  • Rewired
    Short
    • 2011
  • Mistaken Identity
    Short
    • 2011
  • Cassadaga (2011)
    Cassadaga
    5.2
    • Claire
    • 2011
  • Amy Brenneman, Brian Benben, Benjamin Bratt, Taye Diggs, Kate Walsh, Paul Adelstein, Caterina Scorsone, and KaDee Strickland in Rakkauden anatomia (2007)
    Rakkauden anatomia
    6.8
    TV Series
    • Frances Wilder
    • 2010–2011
  • The Genesis Code (2010)
    The Genesis Code
    4.9
    • Ellen Taylor
    • 2010
  • Ali Larter, Hayden Panettiere, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Milo Ventimiglia, Noah Gray-Cabey, and James Kyson in Heroes (2006)
    Heroes
    7.5
    TV Series
    • Dr. Coolidge
    • 2009
  • Robert Wagner and Maxwell Perry Cotton in A Dennis the Menace Christmas (2007)
    A Dennis the Menace Christmas
    4.7
    Video
    • Martha Wilson
    • 2007
  • Mimi Rogers, Erick Avari, and Kal Penn in Dancing in Twilight (2007)
    Dancing in Twilight
    6.0
    • Evelyn
    • 2007
  • The Last Sin Eater (2007)
    The Last Sin Eater
    5.7
    • Miz Elda
    • 2007

Videos21

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Clip 2:01
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Trailer
Trailer 2:43
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:01
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:47
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:11
Official Trailer
Final Trailer
Trailer 1:08
Final Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:35
Trailer
Theatrical Trailer
Trailer 2:07
Theatrical Trailer
Grizzly II: Revenge
Trailer 1:08
Grizzly II: Revenge
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Trailer 2:44
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Exorcist II: The Heretic
Trailer 1:46
Exorcist II: The Heretic
Big Eden: Blu Ray
Trailer 3:05
Big Eden: Blu Ray

Personal details

Edit
  • Height
    • 1.77 m
  • Born
    • July 22, 1934
    • Birmingham, Alabama, USA
  • Died
    • September 23, 2022
    • Montdurausse, Tarn, France(natural causes)
  • Spouse
    • Jerry BickJuly 18, 1959 - November 30, 1978 (divorced, 2 children)
  • Children
      John R Bick
  • Parents
      Robert Fletcher
  • Relatives
      Georgianna Fletcher(Sibling)
  • Other works
    Stage: Played Helen of Troy in "Tiger at the Gates", Bucks County, PA, 1957.
  • Publicity listings
    • 3 Interviews
    • 4 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Learned sign language at a very young age, as both of her parents were deaf. When Fletcher neared the end of her (spoken) Best Actress Oscar acceptance speech for Yksi lensi yli käenpesän (1975), she finished with a unique (unspoken) touch in American Sign Language: "For my mother and my father, I want to say thank you for teaching me to have a dream. You are seeing my dream come true. Thank you." (29 March 1976).
  • Quotes
    Milos Forman doesn't want to discuss anything with his actors.

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