Louise Fletcher

The illustrious Louise Fletcher hails from the esteemed city of Birmingham, Alabama, born to Episcopal minister Robert Fletcher and his wife Estelle, who were both deaf. Her aunt taught her to speak, and this introduction to acting at a young age set her on the path to success. After graduating from the University of North Carolina, she found herself in Los Angeles without enough money to return home, and took up acting classes at night. She worked regularly in television and film until she married producer Jerry Bick and had two sons, whereupon she dedicated herself to raising them. In 1974, she returned to work in Robert Altman's Thieves Like Us, and the rest is history – she was cast in the difficult role of the nurse in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress.