Louise Fletcher American actress

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Academy Awards

1975: Best Actress

Louise Fletcher as Nurse Mildred Ratched in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Other Nominees

• Isabelle Adjani as Adele Hugo in The Story of Adele H.
• Ann-Margret as Nora Walker Hobbs in Tommy
• Glenda Jackson as Hedda Gabler in Hedda
• Carol Kane as Gitl in Hester Street

Fletcher gave her acceptance speech at the Academy Awards ceremony in sign language for the benefit of her deaf parents. She was a virtual unknown when she played the role of Nurse Mildred Ratched in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (AA), and director Milos Forman (AA) used her anonymity to advantage, keeping viewers guessing about the intentions of Nurse Ratched. The actress added to the character’s cool malevolence by skillfully underplaying the role, with the result that she created an unforgettable movie villainess. Fletcher had been a television actress before retiring in 1964 when she became pregnant. She returned to acting a decade later in a supporting role in Robert Altman’s Thieves Like Us, her feature film debut. Forman saw her in Altman’s film and cast her in Cuckoo’s Nest. Since then, she has had a spotty career as a character actress in films and on television.