About
| Birth Name: | Estelle Louise Fletcher |
| Birth Notes: | 22 July 1934, Birmingham, Alabama, USA |
| Height: | 5' 9 1/2" |
| Family: | * Jerry Bick (18 July 1959 - 30 November 1978) (divorced); 2 children |
| Biography: | 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 - Chapel Hill, 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 Thieves Like Us (1974), Fletcher came to the attention of director Milos Forman, who was casting the difficult role of the nurse in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (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 The Cheap Detective (1978) and with Richard Burton in Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977). Fletcher has appeared in a number of science fiction and horror classics such as Firestarter (1984), Brainstorm (1983), and Flowers in the Attic (1987). Though she earned an Emmy Award nomination for her recurring role on "Picket Fences" (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). |
Filmography
| 2 Days in the Valley (1996) as Evelyn |
| A Decade Under the Influence (2003) as Herself |
| A Gathering of Eagles (1963) as Mrs. Kemler |
| A Map of the World (1999) as Nellie Goodwin |
| Cruel Intentions (1999) as Helen Rosemond |
| Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) as Dr. Gene Tuskin |
| Firestarter (1984) as Norma Manders |
| Flowers in the Attic (1987) as Grandmother - Olivia Foxworth |
| Gone Fishin' (1997) as Restaurant Owner |
| High School High (1996) as Principal Evelyn Doyle |
| Invaders from Mars (1986) as Mrs. McKeltch |
| On Deadly Ground (1994) as Bartender |
| One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) as Nurse Ratched |
| The Last Sin Eater (2007) as Miz Elda |
| The Player (1992) as Herself |
| Two Moon Junction (1988) as Belle |
| Virtuosity (1995) as Elizabeth Deane |
| After Image (2001) as Aunt Cora |
| Aurora Borealis (2005) as Ruth Shorter |
| Best of the Best (1989) as Mrs. Grady |
| Big Eden (2000) as Grace Cornwell |
| Blind Vision (1992) as Miss Taylor |
| Blue Steel (1989) as Shirley Turner |
| Brainstorm (1983) as Lillian Reynolds |
| Breast Men (1997) as Mrs. Saunders |
| Clipping Adam (2004) as Grammy |
| Dancing in Twilight (2005) as Evelyn |
| Dial 9 for Love (2001) as Abbie |
| Edie & Pen (1996) as Judge |
| Fat Rose and Squeaky (2006) as Bonnie |
| Finding Home (2003) as Esther |
| Frankenstein and Me (1996) as Mrs. Perdue |
| Giorgino (1994) as Innkeeper |
| Hollywood Salome (1998) |
| Love Kills (1998) as Alena Heiss |
| Mama Dracula (1980) as Mama Dracula |
| Manna from Heaven (2002) as Mother Superior |
| Milos Forman: Co te nezabije... (2009) as Herself |
| More Dogs Than Bones (2000) as Iva Doll |
| Mulholland Falls (1996) as Esther |
| Natural Enemies (1979) as Miriam Steward |
| Nobody's Fool (1986) as Pearl |
| Overnight Sensation (1984) as Eve Peregrine - 'E.K. Hamilton' |
| Predator: The Concert (1987) as Park Supervisor |
| Return to Two Moon Junction (1995) as Belle Delongpre |
| Russian Roulette (1975) as Midge |
| Shadowzone (1990) as Dr. Erhardt |
| Silver Man (2000) as Val |
| Sois belle et tais-toi (1981) as Herself |
| Strange Behavior (1981) as Barbara Moorehead |
| Strange Invaders (1983) as Mrs. Benjamin |
| Talk to Me (1984) as Richard's mother |
| The Boy Who Could Fly (1986) as Psychiatrist |
| The Cheap Detective (1978) as Marlene DuChard |
| The Contract (2002) as Grandma Collins |
| The Genesis Code (2010) as Ellen Taylor |
| The Girl Gets Moe (1997) as Gloria |
| The Lady in Red (1979) as Anna Sage |
| The Lucky Star (1980) as Loes Bakker |
| The Magician of Lublin (1979) as Emilia |
| Thieves Like Us (1974) as Mattie |
| Tollbooth (1994) as Lillian |
| Touched by a Killer (2001) as Judge Erica Robertson |
| Tryst (1994) as Maggie |
| Very Mean Men (2000) as Katherine Mulroney |
Trivia
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* Learned sign language at a very young age, as both of her parents were deaf. * Lily Tomlin's role in Robert Altman 's Nashville (1975) was originally written for, and in part by, Fletcher, whose then-husband had been Altman's producer. When the two men had a falling-out, Altman chose to cast Tomlin instead. * Was a leading choice to play the mother in Terms of Endearment (1983). * After her divorce from producer Jerry Bick in the late 1970s she caused a stir when she, then in her 40s, began dating 21-year-old Morgan Mason, the son of actor James Mason . * Her role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) had been turned down by Anne Bancroft , Ellen Burstyn, Colleen Dewhurst and Jane Fonda. Bancroft and Dewhurst turned down the role because they found it anti-feminist and downright misogynistic. * Was cited for reckless driving in 2000 when she slammed into a police car near her Virginia home. * Her Oscar-winning role as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) was ranked #5 in the American Film Institute's Villains list in their 100 years of The Greatest Screen Heroes and Villains. * One of the other Best Actress nominees in 1976 was Ann-Margret, who was nominated for her role Tommy (1975). Coincidentally, both films featured Jack Nicholson . * She was in several scenes that were later deleted from Sergio Leone 's Once Upon a Time in America (1984). * The mother of two sons with Jerry Bick, John Dashiell Bick and Andrew Wilson Bick, for whom she took an 11-year hiatus from acting to raise. |
Quotes
| * Milos Forman doesn't want to discuss anything with his actors. |
Photos
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