American actress Louise Fletcher, who won an Oscar for her role in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 1975, has died at the age of 88, the Associated Press reported on Friday evening, citing Reuters and Agerpres.

The American artist died in her sleep in the presence of her family members at her residence in Montdurosse, a town in the south of France, said her agent David Shaul, who did not specify the cause of death.

Andrew Bick, one of the two sons of the actress, told The Hollywood Reporter that Louise Fletcher died on Friday of natural causes. The famous actress was diagnosed with cancer twice, but each time she came out victorious from the fight against this disease.

Louise Fletcher won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1976 for her role as the ruthless nurse Mildred Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, directed by Milon Forman and adapted from Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel of the same name.

The film went on to win four more Oscars, also winning Best Picture, Best Director (Milos Forman), Best Actor (Jack Nicholson) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman ). ).

In her acceptance speech, Louise Fletcher used American Sign Language to thank her parents, who were deaf, and thanked the audience for hating her.

The way she played this character was so memorable that the streaming platform Netflix in 2020 made a series called “Ratched”, which tells about the first part of the life of Mildred Ratched, a nurse turned villain.

Estelle Louise Fletcher was born on July 22, 1934 and was the second child in a family of four children. In the early 1960s, she married producer Jerry Beek, with whom she had two sons, John and Andrew. Louise Fletcher and Jerry Beek divorced in 1977.