Louise Fletcher, an Oscar winning actress has died at the age 88, in her home in Montdurausse, France.

She was reportedly passed away peacefully at home with her family, her agent David Shaul told The Associated Press on Friday

Louise Fletcher, a late-blooming star who garnered the Oscar as the sadistic Nurse Ratched in Milos Forman’s 1975 feature “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” creating one of the screen’s most iconic villains as a bureaucratic authority figure.

Fletcher’s career spanned more than sixty years and she began acting with guest spots on shows like “Maverick” and “The Untouchables” in the 1950s along with “Perry Mason,” then she landed her Emmy nominations for her work in “Picket Fences” and “Joan of Arcadia.” 

But she put her career on hold to raise her children in mid 60’s to early 70’s, before stepping into Robert Altman’s “Thieves Like Us” which led to be chosen for the role opposite Jack Nicholson in the 1975 film by director Milos Forman, who had admired her work the year before in director Robert Altman’s film. When she was offered, she didn’t have a clue that many other prominent stars, including Angela Lansbury, Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn had turned down what could be the career defining role.

 

Fletcher was hindered by her age in finding major roles in Hollywood, but she worked continuously for most of the rest of her life. Her post-“Cuckoo’s Nest” films included “Mama Dracula,” “Dead Kids” and “The Boy Who Could Fly.”

In 1993, her career was revived with her “Star Trek” role which led to films like “Cruel Intentions” and roles on shows ranging from “7th Heaven” to “Private Practice” and “Shameless”.

She is survived by sons John and Andrew Bick, granddaughter Emilee Kaya Bick, sister Roberta Ray and brother-in-law Edward Ray, and 10 nieces and nephews.