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Louise Fletcher, an Oscar-winning actress from Alabama, died Friday at her home in France, according to her agent. She was 88.
Fletcher died in her sleep at her Montdurausse estate surrounded by her family, her agent David Shaul told The Associated Press. He gave no information on the cause of death.
Born in Birmingham, she was a Hollywood pioneer and defined what it means to be a feature film villain after her riveting performance as Nurse Ratched in 1975’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, for which she won an Oscar.
American actress Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, directed by Milos Forman, 1975. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
In the Milos Forman-directed film, Fletcher starred opposite Jack Nicholson in a role that was turned down by prominent stars such as Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn and Angela Lansbury.
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Little known at the time, Fletcher was chosen for her outstanding performance in Robert Altman’s 1974 Thieves Like Us.
“I was the last cast,” she said in a 2004 interview. “It wasn’t until we were in the middle of filming that I realized the role had been offered to other actresses who didn’t want to appear so terrifying on screen.”
Her ferocious and methodical performance made One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest the first film since 1934’s It Happened One Night to win Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay won.
During her acceptance speech at the 1976 Academy Awards, Fletcher recalled how the audience “everyone hated me” for the role.
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She also used sign language to address her deaf parents personally.
“I want to thank you for teaching me to have a dream. You’re seeing my dream come true,” she said in Sign.
Her comments were greeted with thunderous applause.
Fletcher, then in her 40s, later starred in Mama Dracula, Dead Kids, The Boy Who Could Fly, The Cheap Detective, Natural Enemies, Cruel Intentions. and Exorcist II: The Heretic. She has also starred in several television series, including Joan of Arcadia, Picket Fences, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Despite her success and iconic roles, Fletcher was a late bloomer in Hollywood when she married producer Jerry Bick in the early 1960s and put off her acting career to raise their two sons.
“I made the decision to stop working, but I didn’t see it as a choice,” she said during the 2004 interview. “I felt compelled to stay home.”
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Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher pose for photographers outside the Dorchester Hotel to promote their new film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, February 9, 1976. (Kent Gavin/Mirrorpix/Getty Images)
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She and Bick divorced in 1977 and he died in 2004.
She is survived by her two sons, John and Andrew Bick.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.