Louise Fletcher

Infobox actor


imagesize = 150px
caption = Fletcher in May 1979
birthdate = birth date and age|1934|7|22|
birthplace = Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
spouse = Jerry Bick (1960–1978)
academyawards = Best Actress
1975 "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
goldenglobeawards = Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
1976 "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
baftaawards = Best Actress
1975 "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

Louise Fletcher (born July 22, 1934) is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-winning American actress.

Biography

Early life

Fletcher, the second of four children, was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the daughter of Estelle Caldwell and Reverend Robert Capers Fletcher, who was an Episcopalian minister from Arab, Alabama. Both of her parents were deaf and worked with the deaf and hard-of-hearing. [ [http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800040517/bio "Louise Fletcher"] . Yahoo Movies.] Fletcher's father founded more than 40 churches for the deaf in Alabama. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE6D81239F935A25750C0A96E948260 " Rev. John Fletcher, 87; Ministered to the Deaf"] . New York Times. 16 March 1988.] Fletcher and her siblings, Roberta, John and Georgianna, were all born hearing without any hearing loss; [Robertson, Nan. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C16F93558167493C7A9178FD85F428785F9 "The Fletchers: Family That Heard The Silent Thanks"] . New York Times. 5 April 1976.] she was taught to speak by a hearing aunt, who also introduced her to acting. After attending the University of North Carolina, she traveled to Los Angeles, California, where she found work as a secretary by day and took acting lessons by night.

Career

Fletcher began appearing in several television productions, including the highest-rated episode of "Maverick". She married Jerry Bick and took time off to raise her two children; they divorced in 1977. Bick died in 2004. In 1974, she returned to film in "Thieves Like Us" coproduced by her husband and Robert Altman, who also directed. When the two men had a falling out on Altman's next project (Nashville) (1975), Altman decided to cast Lily Tomlin for the role of Linnea Reese, initially created for and by Fletcher. Meanwhile, director Miloš Forman saw her in Thieves and cast her (presumably because of her height and bearing) as McMurphy's nemesis Nurse Ratched in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. When Fletcher accepted her Oscar, she used sign language to thank her parents,Weinraub, Bernard. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE4D91030F934A15750C0A963958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 " Oscar's Glory Is Fleeting. Ask One Who Knows"] . New York Times. 27 March 1995.] having spent two hours on the phone with her sister the previous night brushing up on her signing skills.

She also appeared in such films as "" (1977), "The Cheap Detective" (1978), "The Lady in Red" (1979), "Brainstorm" (1983), "Firestarter" (1984), "Invaders From Mars" (1986), "Flowers in the Attic" (1987), "Two Moon Junction" (1988), "Best of the Best" (1989), "Blue Steel" (1990), "Virtuosity" (1995), "High School High" (1996), and as Sebastian's aunt in "Cruel Intentions" (1999). She played the character of Ruth Shorter, a supporting role, in the 2005 film "Aurora Borealis" alongside Joshua Jackson and Donald Sutherland, and appeared in the Fox Faith film "The Last Sin Eater" (2007).

Fletcher co-starred in such made-for-tv movies as " The Karen Carpenter Story" (1989) (as Karen and Richard Carpenter's mother Agnes), "Nightmare on the 13th Floor" (1990), "The Haunting of Seacliff Inn" (1994), and "The Stepford Husbands" (1996). She had a recurring role in "" (1993-99) as the scheming Bajoran religious leader Kai Winn Adami. She also earned Emmy Award nominations for her guest roles on the television series "Picket Fences" (1996) and "Joan of Arcadia" (2004).

Personal life

Fletcher married literary agent and producer Jerry Bick in 1960, divorcing in 1977. The couple had two sons, John Dashiell Bick and Andrew Wilson Bick, [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117913951.html?categoryid=25&cs=1&query=Jerry+Bick+obituary "Jerry Bick, Literary agent, producer"] . Variety Obituaries. 22 November 2004.] for whom Fletcher took an 11 year hiatus from acting to raise.

Filmography

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0001221|name=Louise Fletcher
* [http://www.littlereview.com/goddesslouise Louise Fletcher Appreciation Page]

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title=Academy Award for Best Actress
years=1975
for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
before=Ellen Burstyn
for "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore"
after=Faye Dunaway
for "Network"succession box
title=Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
before=Gena Rowlands
for "A Woman Under the Influence"
years=1976
for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
after=Faye Dunaway
for "Network"

Persondata
NAME= Fletcher, Louise
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Actress
DATE OF BIRTH= July 22, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH= Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=