Estelle Louise Fletcher (July 22, 1934 – September 23, 2022) was an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of the antagonist Nurse Ratched in the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), which earned her numerous accolades, including the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.
Fletcher had a recurring role as the Bajoran religious leader Kai Winn Adami in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999). She was nominated for two Emmy Awards for her roles in the television series Picket Fences (1996) and Joan of Arcadia (2004). Her final role was as Rosie in the Netflix series Girlboss (2017).
Early life Estelle Louise Fletcher was born on July 22, 1934, in Birmingham, Alabama, the second of four children of Estelle ( Caldwell) and the Reverend Robert Capers Fletcher, an Episcopal missionary from Arab, Alabama. Her parents were deaf and worked with the deaf/hard-of-hearing, but Fletcher and her siblings, Roberta, John,John "Caldwell" Fletcher obituary, Legacy.Com and Georgianna, were all hearing, so the children were sent in turns to live with Estelle's hearing sister in Texas for three months at a time to ensure they learned spoken English. Fletcher's father founded more than 40 churches for the deaf in Alabama. She received a bachelor's degree in drama from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1957.
Career
Fletcher began appearing in several television series including Lawman (1958) and Maverick (1959). (The Maverick episode "The Saga of Waco Williams" with James Garner was the series's highest-rated episode.) Also in 1959, she appeared in an episode of the original Untouchables television series starring Robert Stack, "Ma Barker and Her Boys", as Elouise. Fletcher recalled having greater success being cast in Westerns due to her height:
In 1960, Fletcher made two guest appearances on Perry Mason, as defendant Gladys Doyle in "The Case of the Mythical Monkeys", and as Susan Connolly in "The Case of the Larcenous Lady". In the summer of 1960, she was cast as Roberta McConnell in the episode "The Bounty Hunter" of Tate, starring David McLean.
In 1974, Fletcher returned to film in the crime drama Thieves Like Us, co-produced by her husband Jerry Bick and Robert Altman, who also directed. When the two 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 Fletcher in Thieves and cast her as McMurphy's nemesis Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). She based her performance of the character on the paternalistic way she saw white people treat black people in her native Alabama. Fletcher gained international recognition and fame for the role, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress, as well as a BAFTA Award and Golden Globe. She was only the third actress ever to win an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Golden Globe Award for a single performance, after Audrey Hepburn and Liza Minnelli. When Fletcher accepted her Oscar, she used sign language to thank her parents.
After Cuckoo's Nest, Fletcher had mixed success in film. She made several financially and critically successful films, while others were box-office failures. Fletcher's film roles were in such features as Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Cheap Detective (1978), The Lady in Red (1979), The Magician of Lublin (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 Cruel Intentions (1999), as the aunt of Ryan Phillippe's Sebastian. Additionally, she played the character Ruth Shorter, a supporting role, in Aurora Borealis (2005), alongside Joshua Jackson and Donald Sutherland, and appeared in the Fox Faith film The Last Sin Eater (2007).
Fletcher co-starred in television movies such 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). From 1993 to 1999, she held a recurring role in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the scheming Bajoran religious leader Kai Winn Adami. She also earned Emmy Award nominations for her guest roles on Picket Fences (1996), and later on Joan of Arcadia (2004). In 2009, Fletcher appeared in Heroes as the physician mother of character Emma Coolidge. In 2011 and 2012, she appeared on four episodes of Shameless as Grammy Gallagher, Frank Gallagher's foul-mouthed and hard-living mother, who is serving a prison sentence for manslaughter related to a meth lab explosion. She portrayed the recurring role of Rosie on the series Girlboss (2017).
Personal life
Fletcher married producer Jerry Bick, divorcing in 1977. The couple had two sons, John Dashiell Bick and Andrew Wilson Bick. Fletcher took an 11-year break from acting to raise them.
Fletcher received an honorary degree from Gallaudet University in 1982.
Death Fletcher died at her home in Montdurausse, France, on September 23, 2022, at the age of 88.
Filmography Film YearTitleRoleNotes1963A Gathering of EaglesMrs. Kemler1974Thieves Like UsMattie1975Russian RouletteMidgeOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestNurse Ratched1977Exorcist II: The HereticDr. Gene Tuskin1978The Cheap DetectiveMarlene DuChard1979The Lady in RedAnna SageThe Magician of LublinEmiliaNatural EnemiesMiriam Steward1980The Lucky StarLoes BakkerMama DraculaMama Dracula1981Strange BehaviorBarbara MooreheadBe Pretty and Shut UpHerselfDocumentary1982Talk to MeRichard's Mother1983Strange InvadersMrs. BenjaminBrainstormLilian Reynolds1984FirestarterNorma MandersOnce Upon a Time in AmericaCemetery DirectressExtended cut onlyOvernight SensationEvie Peregrine / "E.K. Hamilton"Short1986Invaders from MarsMrs. McKeltchThe Boy Who Could FlyDr. GrenaderNobody's FoolPearl1987Flowers in the AtticGrandmother1988Two Moon JunctionBelle Delongpre1989Best of the BestMrs. Grady1990ShadowzoneDr. ErhardtBlue SteelShirley Turner1992The PlayerLouise FletcherBlind VisionMiss Taylor1994GiorginoInnkeeperTrystMaggieTollboothLillian1995Return to Two Moon JunctionBelle DelongpreVirtuosityElizabeth Deane1996Mulholland FallsEstherUncreditedEdie & PenJudgeFrankenstein and MeMrs. Perdue2 Days in the ValleyEvelynHigh School HighPrincipal Evelyn Doyle1997Gone Fishin'Restaurant OwnerUncreditedThe Girl Gets MoeGloria1998Johnny 316 Sally's MotherLove KillsAlena Heiss1999Cruel IntentionsHelen RosemondA Map of the WorldNellie GoodwinThe ContractGrandma Collins2000Big EdenGrace CornwellVery Mean MenKatherine MulroneyMore Dogs Than BonesIva Doll2001After ImageAunt CoraTouched by a KillerJudge Erica Robertson2002Manna from HeavenMother Superior2003Silver ManValFinding HomeEsther2004Clipping AdamGrammy2005Aurora BorealisRuth ShorterDancing in TwilightEvelyn2006Fat Rose and SqueakyBonnie2007The Last Sin EaterMiz EldaA Dennis the Menace ChristmasMrs. Martha Wilson2010The Genesis CodeEllen Taylor2011CassadagaClaire2013A Perfect ManAbbieFilmed in 20002020Grizzly II: RevengePark Superintendent Eileene DraygonFilmed in 19832025Boorman and the DevilHerselfDocumentary; posthumous release
Television YearTitleRoleNotes1958Flightunknown role"Red China Rescue"Playhouse 90Pete's Girl2 episodesBat MastersonSarah Lou Conant"Cheyenne Club"Yancy DerringerMiss Nellie / Alithea"Old Dixie"1959LawmanBetty Horgan"The Encounter"MaverickKathy Bent"The Saga of Waco Williams"77 Sunset StripJulia Murphy"A Bargain in Tombs"The UntouchablesEloise"Ma Barker and Her Boys"Alcoa Presents: One Step BeyondJeannie"The Open Window" (broadcast Nov. 3., US)MarkhamEllen Amery"Strange Visitor"1959–1960Wagon TrainElizabeth / Martha English2 episodes1960The MillionaireHolly"Millionaire Vance Ludlow"SugarfootJulie Frazer"Funeral at Forty Mile"TateMrs. McConnell"The Bounty Hunter"Perry MasonSusan Connolly / Gladys Doyle2 episodes1961The Best of the Postunknown role"Groper in the Dark"The Life and Legend of Wyatt EarpAithra McLowery"The Law Must Be Fair"1973Medical Centerunknown role"Child of Violence"1974Can Ellen Be Saved?Bea LindseyTelevision movie1978Thou Shalt Not Commit AdulterySally KimballTelevision movie1984IslandsMaureen DavisTelevision movie1985A Summer to RememberDr. Dolly McKeeverTelevision movie1986Last Waltz on a TightropeCynthia DiamondTelevision movieSecond ServeDr. Sadie M. BishopTelevision movie1987J. Edgar HooverAnnie M. HooverTelevision movie1988Worlds BeyondKaren Earl"Home"The Twilight ZoneDr. Cline"The Hunters"1989The Karen Carpenter StoryAgnes CarpenterTelevision movieFinal NoticeMrs. LordTelevision movie1990In the Heat of the NightCatherine Tyler"December Days"Nightmare on the 13th FloorLetti GordonTelevision movie1991The HitchhikerMother Birch"Offspring"Tales from the CryptAgent"Top Billing"In a Child's NameJean TaylorMiniseries (2 episodes)1992The Boys of TwilightGenelva McPherson / Genelva4 episodesThe Ray Bradbury TheaterMiss Weldon"The Dead Man"Civil WarsJudge Francis Wyler"The Triumph of DeVille"1993The Fire Next TimeSargeMiniseries1993–1999Star Trek: Deep Space NineKai Winn / Vedek Winnrecurring role (14 episodes)1994The Haunting of Seacliff InnDorothy O'HaraTelevision movieSomeone Else's ChildFaye MaddoxTelevision movie1995Dream OnJoanna"Try Not to Remember"1995–1997VR.5Mrs. Nora Bloomrecurring role (6 episodes)1996Picket FencesChristine Bey2 episodesRoseanneMrs. Betts"Out of the Past"The Stepford HusbandsMiriam BentonTelevision movie1997Sins of the MindD. Anna BinghamTelevision movieMarried to a StrangerNana, Megan's MotherTelevision movieHeartlessAunt Lydia McGuffyTelevision movieBreast MenMrs. SaundersTelevision movie1998ProfilerMiriam Newquay, Jack's Mother2 episodesThe PracticeJudge N. Swanson"Rhyme and Reason"Fantasy IslandDoris Leeman"Dying to Dance"BrimstoneEvelyn McNabb"Encore"1999The Devil's ArithmeticAunt EvaTelevision movieTime ServedWarden Mildred ReineckeTelevision movie2003A Time to RememberBilly CalhounTelevision movie2004It's All RelativeER Nurse"Oscar Interrupts"Joan of ArcadiaEva Garrison"Do the Math"WonderfallsVivian Caldwell"Barrel Bear"20057th HeavenMrs. Wagner"Honor Thy Mother"ERRoberta "Birdie" Chadwin2 episodes2006A Dad for ChristmasGlennieTelevision movie2009HeroesDr. Coolidge2 episodes2010–2011Private PracticeFrances Wilder2 episodes2011–2012ShamelessPeg Gallagher(4 episodes)2012Of Two MindsAunt WillTelevision movie2017GirlbossRosie2 episodes
Accolades AssociationYearCategoryNominated workResultsAARP Movies for Grownups Awards2007Best Grownup Love Story (shared with Donald Sutherland)Aurora BorealisAcademy Awards1975Best ActressOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestBAFTA Awards1977Best Actress in a Leading RoleCinEuphoria Awards2020Career — Honorary AwardGenie Awards1981Best Performance by a Foreign ActressThe Lucky StarGold Derby Awards2012Drama Guest ActressShamelessGolden Globes1976Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — DramaOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestNew York Film Critics Circle Awards1975Best Supporting ActressOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest -->Online Film & Television Association1997Best Guest Actress in a Syndicated SeriesStar Trek: Deep Space NineBest Guest Actress in a Drama Series1998Best Guest Actress in a Syndicated Series1999Best Guest Actress in a Drama SeriesBest Guest Actress in a Syndicated Series2012Best Guest Actress in a Drama SeriesShamelessPalm Beach International Film Festival2005Legend in Film AwardPrimetime Emmy Awards1996Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series Picket Fences (for episode "Bye Bye, Bey Bey")2004Joan of Arcadia (for episode "Do the Math")Satellite Awards1998Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for TelevisionBreast Men -->2016Mary Pickford AwardSaturn Awards1984Best ActressBrainstorm1988Best Supporting ActressFlowers in the Attic
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