Fletcher, Louise (Estelle Louise)

Hearing. Born and grew up at Birmingham, AL to deaf parents Robert Capers Fletcher (q.v.) and Estelle Louise Caldwell Fletcher. Graduated University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1958 and began acting in Hollywood films and television programs, appearing in a number of films and in individual episodes of TV series. Suspended acting 1964-1974 to marry and raise a family, then returned to acting with the film Thieves Like Us. Her best-known role was probably as Nurse Ratched in the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1975; she delivered her acceptance speech in sign language on national television, thanking her deaf parents. Although she was never the star of a regular television series, she did appear 14 times as a recurring character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Member of the boards of the Deafness Research Foundation, the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, and The Caption Center. Honorary degrees from Gallaudet College, 1982, Western Maryland College, 1986, and North Carolina State University. In 1991, with acting jobs tapering off, started a side career as an art dealer.