R.I.P. Louise Fletcher, from Star Trek and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Louise has passed away. A veteran actor with more than 100 credits to her name, she was best known for her Oscar-winning performance as Nurse Ratched in 1975, giving a turn as one of cinema's great unlikely villains. In addition to that star-making performance, Fletcher appeared in a vast number of film and TV projects, including staking out a place for herself as one of the best antagonists in the entire Star Trek franchise. She died at her home in France. She passed away at the age of88.

A hearing aunt helped her learn to speak after introducing her to the theater. She moved to Los Angeles after college, where she picked up roles in TV shows like Batman and Lawman. According to an interview in the New York Times in 1975, she had an easier time getting cast in Westerns because the leads were taller and she was often deemed too tall to play a love interest. After the birth of their two children, she retired from acting to raise them.

Robert Altman, one of Bick's long-time associates, cast her in a small part in 1973. The plans to cast Fletcher in Nashville fell through after the director and Bick had a falling out.

Director Milo Forman noticed the performance of the actress in Thieves and added her to his list of potential Nurse Ratcheds. Many actors were considered for the part, but it was Fletcher who got the part and the Best Actress Oscar.

Her performance in the part remains chilling: A portrait of institutional evil, she carefully watches the patients in her charge, holds herself snake- still at key moments, and then strikes perfectly at their vulnerabilities. Her total impression is that she is doing what is right and what is best for all involved. The film simply wouldn't work without her.

After accepting her Oscar in 1975, Fletcher continued to work through her final roles. She played the tough-as-nails and profanity-laden mother to William H. Macy in Shameless, as well as appearing in The Exorcist II and many other films. She was well-remembered for her role on Deep Space Nine, where she once again wielded "sweetness" and condescension as a weapon, creating a villain who couldn't be so easily phased or torpedoed.

Two of her sons are still alive.