Louise Fletcher Interview (January 17, 1976)

Estelle Louise Fletcher (July 22, 1934 - September 23, 2022) was an American actress who portrayed the antagonist Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), which earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award. She also had a recurring role as the Bajoran religious leader Kai Winn Adami in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-99), as well as the role of Sebastian's aunt Helen Rosemond in the movie Cruel Intentions (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[edit]
Estelle Louise Fletcher was born on July 22, 1934, in Birmingham, Alabama,[1] the second of four children of Estelle (née Caldwell)[2] and the Reverend Robert Capers Fletcher, an Episcopalian missionary from Arab, Alabama. Both her parents were deaf and worked with the deaf and hard-of-hearing.[3][4]
Fletcher's father founded more than 40 churches for the deaf in Alabama.[5] Fletcher and her siblings, Roberta, John,[6] and Georgianna,[5] were all born without any hearing loss,[7] so she was taught to speak by a hearing aunt.[3] She received a bachelor's degree in drama from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1957.[8]
Career[edit]
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.)[9] Also in 1959, she appeared in an episode of the original Untouchables TV series starring Robert Stack, "Ma Barker and Her Boys", as Elouise.[10] Fletcher recalled having greater success being cast in Westerns due to her height:
I was 5 feet 10 inches [1.78 m] tall, and no television producer thought a tall woman could be sexually attractive to anybody. I was able to get jobs on westerns because the actors were even taller than I was.
- Louise Fletcher (November 1975)[3]
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.[11]

[@dale4039]

Louise Fletcher was painfully gorgeous RIP loved her character in the movie

[@CCTH2221-lp2zj]

Very attractive lady

[@mjp96]

@@CCTH2221-lp2zj Cheekbones. And eyes. And so intelligent!

[@flowers8760]

She is so pretty. RIP 🙏

[@jrb1802uk]

Nurse Rachid is one of the greatest Villians of all time

[@mickcraven980]

She is totally watchable in this. She just leaps off the screen. Can really appreciate it now, thanks to KZbin clips.

[@rory_russell]

So sad she's gone 😞

[@billswinford1026]

Such a smart person. She probably endured some heat for being that character, but being the badass that she was we can look back and appreciate what she did artistically.

[@screenwriterabdullahh.erak2778]

Favorite Film of All Time. Worth your time.

[@jonanthony6179]

GORGEOUS!!

[@universityofnowhere]

This interviews shows how academy award winning actors and actors in general, are in a different league. Her articulation and phrasing, her vocabulary, her understanding of hidden meanings, etc., sets her apart from many. These days they are usually given the questions beforehand, not sure if it was true in this instance, but she certainly seems clever here.

[@blessed7fold]

That's a great observation and it's true. Actors and actresses like her are in a different league. Her portrayal of the character nurse Ratched is one of the deepest performances I have ever seen. So deep that it requires a lot of analysis to undercover what the meaning of her behavior is and represents.

[@DizGuys]

Incredibly well directed to allow the actors to communicate the power of the story with their talent and intuition.

[@BarbierStephane]

Thank you so much for posting this interview.

[@trueandika]

5:55 « Michael Douglas whom you know by television » Damn, time have changed lol ! RIP Louise Fletcher. She was a great, great Ratched.

[@mizzmaria5215]

She reminds me very much of Ellen Burstyn; her look, and definitely her voice. Ironic, since Burstyn had turned down playing Nurse Ratched. Can't imagine anyone but Fletcher in that role, though.

[@mjp96]

VERY!

[@julierichardson-y4g]

douglas and devito were room mates in new york when they were first starting out

[@TheSparrowLooksUp]

Louise Fletcher plays one of the all time great bastards in film and ALSO television with Deep Space Nine's Kai Winn.

[@edfelstein3891]

As I understand it, in real life Ms. Fletcher was the nicest person you could ever hope to meet, the absolute polar opposite of Nurse Ratched.

[@isabellemyzer1807]

She was really pretty too!

[@robertmasina7388]

Even if she was a nice person, a good actress can play a part in which she is not liked.

[@mjp96]

I believe you.

[@Cali62825]

“In a lighter note…” let’s talk about a seriously crazy film.

[@zeppelinboys]

Kai Winn! "may the prophets be with you child" touches ear....LOVED HER in DS9!

[@manco828]

Gul Dukat had his way with her.

[@texcarson1792]

i love her

[@brainbaskerville3341]

she make a very good stage actress actors do there best work on stage goog luck

[@metsrus]

She was a gorgeous woman but ended up with all the villain roles.

[@whatever_it_takes6691]

baby you look so good

[@manco828]

What troubles you, my child?

[@julierichardson-y4g]

that constant evil smerk she had on her face showed how passive aggressive and manipulative she could really be, forman was right to cast her

[@chairde]

He is afraid of her.