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Louise Fletcher, whose Oscar-winning performance as the sadistic Nurse Ratched in 1975’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest gave Hollywood one of its greatest all-time villains and provided the culture with a portrait of bureaucratic evil so indelible that the character’s last name could carry a TV series 45 years later, died Friday at her home in Montdurausse, France. She was 88.

Her death was announced to Deadline by her family through agent David Shaul. Although no cause was specified, Shaul said she passed away in her sleep at the home she had built from a 300-year-old farmhouse, surrounded by family. Earlier today, she said to her family about her beloved home, “I can’t believe I created something so meaningful to my well-being.”

Hollywood & Media Deaths 2022: A Photo Gallery

Although forever linked with her most famous character, Fletcher enjoyed an acting career that spanned more than 60 years and included...

“Why did Rock Hudson star in this movie?” I kept asking myself while watching Seconds for the third or fourth time this past week. By many accounts, the shoot wasn’t a particularly pleasant one, with at least two scenes – the infamous “stomp those grapes!” near-orgy and the drunken party – pushing the star wildly out of his comfort zone. He was slightly past his prime, but still commanding starring roles in mainstream hits. His success with Doris Day meant he was mostly doing comedies, but he still got some dramatic work in here and there (though 1963’s A Gathering of Eagles, the last drama he did before Seconds, was not well-received critically or commercially). And if he did want to push himself dramatically, why a science fiction film about mortality? Hudson not only accepted the part, but actively lobbied for it, winning over director John Frankenheimer, who preferred the more...

People.com is reporting that actor Rod Taylor died Wednesday at the age of 84 of natural causes.

His daughter Felicia Taylor, a former CNN correspondent, confirmed the news Thursday.

“My dad loved his work. Being an actor was his passion – calling it an honorable art and something he couldn’t live without,” she said in a statement.

“He once said, ‘I am a poor student sitting at the feet of giants, yearning for their wisdom and begging for lessons that might one day make me a complete artist,” she continued, “ ‘so that if all goes well, I may one day sit beside them.”

Born on Jan 11, 1930 in Sydney, Australia, Rod Taylor is best remembered for his starring roles in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963) and George Pal’s The Time Machine (1960). He also provided the voice of Pongo in Disney’s 101 Dalmatians (1961). Taylor also starred in TV’s “The Twilight Zone...