R.I.P. Louise Fletcher

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The doors of wisdom are never shut. - 'Socrates'
Aww no. R.I.P. She is now with the prophets.
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Did you know that in the 1980s movie PREDATOR the titular character was not originally portrayed by Kevin Peter Hall. It was in fact Jean-Claude Van Damme donning a much more insect inspired full body suit before he left the production which then led to the recasting and redesigning of the famous hunter.



She was a brilliant actress, absolutely bone-chilling in Cuckoo's Nest. Sadly, she was SO good in that movie that it limited her career to playing certain kinds of roles and never had the career she deserved. Definitely ranked in the top five for all time best Oscar acceptance speeches. What a shame....RIP



Louise was awesome as Nurse Ratched in Cuckoo's Nest...and she was sublime as Vedek Winn later Kai Winn on Star Trek Deep Space Nine. In DSN she ratcheted up the acting to new heights. She was damn memorable in that role, one of my favorite recurring guest stars on DSN.



I can only say what everyone else has, Nurse Ratchet was the shit. Arguably top 5 villain in the history of cinema. And like all good villains there is always some empathy in her performance. Yes, still cold and intimidating and terrifying, but Fletcher gives us a sense, outside of the frame, that there is something more compelling her to behave how she does. Loneliness, a need to matter, a delusional belief she is helping others. Refusing to admit defeat . She was brilliant



I rooted for Nurse Ratched in Cuckoo's Nest...it was Jack Nicholson's pedophile user/abuser/con artist character that was despicable, but the actor himself was all kinds of great.

Excerpt from my review of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest:
Louise Fletcher
, holy cow she rocked! I had seen this film once like 30 years ago and I remembered her as this evil conniving, sadistic nurse...boy was I wrong! She gave Nurse Ratched depth...and I could see she believed the actions she took was in the best interest of the patients and yet she's a control freak and McMurphy challenges her control which then pushes her deeper into authoritativeness.

Nurse Ratched extruded this passive-aggressive personality that was layered with that overly calm & collected voice, brilliant! But she never really crosses the line and becomes an evil caricature, in fact I rather like her...at least until the end. Both her and Nicholson richly deserved their Oscars.

my full review
from the Best Picture HoF



I rooted for Nurse Ratched in Cuckoo's Nest...it was Jack Nicholson's pedophile user/abuser/con artist character that was despicable, but the actor himself was all kinds of great.


my full review
from the Best Picture HoF

Cuckoo's Nest is has an extremely complicated morality. Both Nurse Ratched and McMurphy are characters clearly acting from a point of self interest. In many ways, the good of the patients is secondary to both of them. Neither is purely good or purely evil. But McMurphy ultimately is pushing to free them of the oppression (most of) these patients have placed on themselves. And Ratched is encouraging them to believe in their own hopelessness. To keep them captive with no other option to accept the fact that they are all defective and can never rejoin society.



Ratched's status as the professional 'who knows best' and McMurphy's history of being a low life criminal are irrelevant to who is the hero in this film. And I'm of course using the term hero liberally here.



I can only say what everyone else has, Nurse Ratchet was the shit. Arguably top 5 villain in the history of cinema. And like all good villains there is always some empathy in her performance. Yes, still cold and intimidating and terrifying, but Fletcher gives us a sense, outside of the frame, that there is something more compelling her to behave how she does. Loneliness, a need to matter, a delusional belief she is helping others. Refusing to admit defeat . She was brilliant
On my list of favorite movie villains, Nurse Ratched clocked in at #2.



Thanks for posting that John Dumbear. I read that story too, how different those days were...if an actress did that on a movie set now she'd be charged with sexual abuse and her career would be in jeopardy. But when I look at that picture you posted I think Louise looks cute and charming



Although Ratched was undoubtedly her finest role, I agree with everyone here who loved her as Kai Winn on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Whatever her character's motives, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her in the end.

I also got a kick out of her role as the "mean" school teacher in Invaders From Mars and her evil grandmother in Flowers in the Attic. But I think her best acting apart from playing Nurse Ratched was her performance in Brainstorm (1983) where, when she's
WARNING: "" spoilers below
dying of a heart attack, she struggles to take the time to hook herself up to a machine to record her death to further scientific research.


Special mention for her role as the singer's unloving mother in The Karen Carpenter Story. Yes, she played a lot of villains but put a lot of true heart in those roles. Godspeed, Louise!
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"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."



"Honor is not in the Weapon. It is in the Man"
She also had a memorable role as Eric Roberts' mom in Best of the Best, all worried about him injuring his shoulder again then going to Korea with her grandson to see Eric's fight against James Lew.
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