Cast of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" Quiz

Answer: Dean R. Brooks

Brooks, born in 1916 in Everett, Washington, was cast as Dr. John Spivey for the film. Dr. Spivey is the head psychiatrist at the mental hospital where Randall McMurphy was transferred to in order to get treatment. He spoke to McMurphy about his case and at one point told him that he did not believe McMurphy was mentally ill.

There was a meeting with many staff at the hospital to discuss what to do with McMurphy and Dr. Spivey asked Nurse Ratched to give her opinion. Near the end of the film, Dr. Spivey was seen rushing to Billy Bibbitt's side to see what was wrong and discovered he had killed himself. Brooks' only acting credit was as Dr. Spivey in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".

Answer: Louise Fletcher

Fletcher, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, portrayed Nurse Ratched. Nurse Ratched was the head nurse at the hospital and she supervised the therapy sessions. For the first session, Nurse Ratched wanted to discuss Mr. Harding's problems with his wife and nobody at first wanted to comment.

Then, the patients started to talk. At another session, Mr. McMurphy asked Nurse Ratched if they could change the schedule so he could watch the World Series. Nurse Ratched said that it could be changed if there was a majority vote to change it.

The first time they voted, Nurse Ratched said she only counted three votes and it was not enough to change ward policy. On the second vote, there were nine votes and 18 members of the ward so there was still no majority vote. Right after Nurse Ratched adjourned the session, Chief Bromden voted and McMurphy demanded that Nurse Ratched turn on the television but she refused. Nurse Ratched told everyone right after they saw Billy Bibbitt's dead body that they had to keep going with their daily routine, which prompted McMurphy to attack her.

Some orderlies pulled McMurphy off of Nurse Ratched and she ordered he have a lobotomy. Fletcher guest starred on the TV series "ER", "7th Heaven" and "It's All Relative". In 1976, Fletcher won an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her role as Nurse Ratched in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". Other Oscar nominees for Best Actress in a Leading Role that year were Glenda Jackson of "Hedda", Carol Kane of "Hester Street", Isabelle Adjani of "L'Histoire d'Adele H." and Ann-Margaret of "Tommy". In 2003, the American Film Institute ranked Nurse Ratched as the fifth most iconic movie villain/villainess of all time out of 50 listed (and the second most iconic villainess, right after The Wicked Witch of the West from "The Wizard of Oz").

Answer: Danny DeVito

DeVito, born on November 17th, 1944 in Asbury Park, New Jersey, landed the part of Mr. Martini. Martini was seen at the first therapy session and Nurse Ratched asked him if he had anything to say about Harding's problems with his wife. Martini did not contribute anything to the discussion.

A little bit later, Martini was playing Monopoly and it was when Harding's piece landed on Boardwalk that Martini slipped a hotel on there to try and get Harding to pay him. Harding told Martini he had to pay money to get a hotel on Boardwalk.

There was a time in the movie when many patients played Blackjack and Martini kept telling McMurphy to "hit him" when it was not his turn. Near the end of the film, Martini had Nurse Ratched's cap and she asked him to give it back to her and Martini obliged. DeVito had roles in the films "Twins", "Hoffa" and "Batman Returns".

Answer: Mimi Sarkisian

Sarkisian played Nurse Pilbow in "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest". Nurse Pilbow was often seen right beside Nurse Ratched during the therapy sessions and helped her out. There was one scene where she told Mr. McMurphy to take his medicine and Mr. McMurphy wanted to know what was in it before he took it. Nurse Pilbow just told him it was good for him and McMurphy still refused so Nurse Ratched said that if McMurphy did not want to take his meds orally, she would find another way for him to take it but he would not like it. McMurphy took the medicine and Nurse Pilbow smiled at him. Nurse Pilbow was the first one to find Billy Bibbitt's dead body. Sarkisian's only other acting credit was in the film "The Right Stuff".

Answer: Jack Nicholson

Nicholson, born on April 22nd, 1937 in Neptune, New Jersey, had the lead role of Randall McMurphy. McMurphy faked being crazy just so he could get off his work assignment at the farm and told Dr. Spivey at their first meeting that he was once arrested for statutory rape.

He made a bet with other patients that he could get under Ratched's skin so badly that she would not recognize herself anymore. There was one therapy session where Mr. Cheswick kept bothering Nurse Ratched about getting his cigarettes and she denied them to him, so Mr. McMurphy broke the glass window to the nurses' station and got the cigarettes for Cheswick.

As a result, both McMurphy and Cheswick had electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). At the end of the movie, Chief Bromden suffocated McMurphy to death. Nicholson had parts in the films "Wolf", "The Departed" and "Anger Management".

In 1976, Nicholson won an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his role of Randall McMurphy in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".

Other Oscar nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role that year were Al Pacino for "Dog Day Afternoon", James Whitmore for "Give 'em Hell, Harry!", Maximilian Schell for "The Man in the Glass Booth" and Walter Matthau for "The Sunshine Boys".

Answer: William Redfield

Redfield, a native of New York City, was cast as Mr. Harding for this film. Mr. Harding had problems with his wife and it was revealed that he was a voluntary patient and could leave whenever he wanted. During two basketball games played in the film, Mr. Harding played for the patients' team but did not do well.

When the patients left the hospital one day and went to get a boat to go fishing, Harding caught a lot of fish. Harding and Mr. Taber fought at many times throughout the film. Redfield guest starred on the TV series "The Bob Newhart Show", "Medical Center" and "Bewitched".

He died on August 17th, 1976 at the age of 49.

Answer: Sydney Lassick

Lassick, born in 1922 in Chicago, Illinois, played Mr. Cheswick in this movie. Mr. Cheswick was a patient that was committed to the hospital so the only way he could get out was if the hospital staff authorized his release. Cheswick liked to play Blackjack with the other patients and really wanted to watch the World Series. Cheswick got in trouble when he threw a fit about Nurse Ratched holding onto his cigarttes.

He was punished by receiving electroconvulsive therapy and, when he was told to go to the room to get the treatment, it took many orderlies to drag him there since he objected to it. Lassick starred in the films "Carrie", "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit" and "Man On the Moon".

He passed away on April 12th, 2003 at the age of 80.

Answer: Will Sampson

Sampson landed the part of Chief Bromden for the film. The Chief was described by Billy Bibbitt as a "deaf and dumb Indian". The Chief raised his hand to vote to change the schedule to allow the patients to watch the World Series but it was right after the meeting ended so his vote did not count. Right before McMurphy was about to get electroconvulsive therapy, he realized that the Chief could talk and this shocked him.

At the film's end, Chief Bromden suffocated McMurphy to death, broke open a window and escaped from the hospital. Sampson had guest starring roles on the TV series "The Yellow Rose", "Wildside", and "Vega$".

He passed away on June 3rd, 1987 at the age of 53.

Answer: Christopher Lloyd

Lloyd, born on October 22nd, 1938 in Stamford, Connecticut, was cast as Mr. Taber for the film. Mr. Taber and Mr. Harding fought a lot and had disputes, such as when Mr. Martini tried to cheat at Monopoly. Mr. Harding explained the rules to Mr. Martini and Mr. Taber told him to play the game, which aggravated Harding. Taber also touched Harding, which upset him.

When Harding dared Mr. Taber to touch him again, Taber did, but Harding did nothing. Taber cheered when Chief Bromden broke out of the hospital and escaped to freedom. Lloyd had roles in the films "Back to the Future", "The Pagemaster" and "Angels in the Outfield".

Answer: Brad Dourif

Dourif, a native of Huntington, West Virginia, got the part of Billy Bibbitt. Bibbitt's biggest problem was stuttering and his mother was very good friends with Nurse Ratched. There were a couple of times in the movie when Ratched spoke to Bibbitt about his bad behavior and said she wondered what his mother would think of him. Bibbitt was caught sleeping with a woman named Candy one night and Nurse Ratched had her escorted out of the hospital. Ratched threatened to tell Billy's mother about what happened and Billy begged her not to do it.

The next time we saw Billy Bibbitt, he was dead since he used a piece of broken glass to kill himself. Dourif had guest starring stints on the TV series "Law & Order", "Ponderosa", and "The Magnificent Seven".

In 1976, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role of Billy Bibbitt in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" but lost the Oscar to George Burns of "The Sunshine Boys". Other Oscar nominees for Best Supporting Actor that year were Chris Sarandon for "Dog Day Afternoon", Jack Warden for "Shampoo" and Burgess Meredith for "The Day of the Locust".