Oscar-winning Louise Fletcher dead at 88

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Louise Fletcher, an Oscar-winning actress from Alabama, died in her home in France on Friday, according to her agent. She was 88.

Fletcher died in her sleep at her Montdurausse estate surrounded by her family, her agent David Shaul told The Associated Press. He did not provide the cause of her death.

The Birmingham native was a pioneer in Hollywood and defined what it meant to be a villain in a feature film after her riveting performance as Nurse Ratched in 1975’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” for which she won an Academy Award.

American actress Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched in ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’, directed by Milos Forman, 1975.  (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

In the Milos Forman-directed film, Fletcher starred opposite Jack Nicholson in a role that was turned down by prominent stars including Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn and Angela Lansbury.

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Fletcher was little known at the time but was chosen for her standout performance in 1974’s Robert Altman-directed “Thieves Like Us.”

“I was the last person cast,” she said during a 2004 interview. “It wasn’t until we were halfway through shooting that I realized the part had been offered to other actresses who didn’t want to appear so horrible on the screen.”

Her cruel and methodical performance propelled “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” to become the first film since 1934′s “It Happened One Night” to win best picture, best director, best actor, best actress and best screenplay.

During her acceptance speech at the 1976 Oscars ceremony, Fletcher recalled how viewers “all hated me” over the role.

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She also used sign language to personally address her deaf parents.

“I want to thank you for teaching me to have a dream. You are seeing my dream come true,” she said in sign.

Her comments were met with thunderous applause.

Fletcher, who was in her 40s at the time, went on to star in “Mama Dracula,” “Dead Kids,” “The Boy Who Could Fly,” “The Cheap Detective,” “Natural Enemies,” “Cruel Intentions,” and “Exorcist II: The Heretic.” She also starred in several TV series, including “Joan of Arcadia, “Picket Fences,” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.”

Despite her success and iconic roles, Fletcher was a late-bloomer in Hollywood as she married producer Jerry Bick in the early 1960s and put off her acting career to raise her two sons.

“I made the choice to stop working, but I didn’t see it as a choice,” she said during the 2004 interview. “I felt compelled to stay at home.”

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Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher pose for photographers outside The Dorchester Hotel to promote their new film ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 9th February 1976.  (Kent Gavin/Mirrorpix/Getty Images)

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She and Bick divorced in 1977 and he died in 2004.

She is survived by their two sons, John and Andrew Bick.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.