The Only Major Actors Still Alive From One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Most of the central cast in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" were young when they appeared in Miloš Forman's 1975 movie. But with Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, and the inimitable Jack Nicholson (to name just a few of the film's stars), Forman was going to have to try really hard to mess up his adaptation of Ken Kesey's 1962 novel. Luckily, the Czech director actually did a standout job of it, delivering a film often cited as one of the 20th century's finest. After a decade of delays, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" made it to the big screen, and while Forman's direction was excellent, the movie perhaps wouldn't occupy as vaunted a position as it does without that top-notch cast.
As producer Michael Douglas explained in a 2017 Guardian piece, the cast and crew were about as committed as you could get. Not only were each of the main actors paired up with a patient to shadow from the real-life hospital in which the film was shot, but many of the actors actually slept in the wards overnight. Meanwhile, Nicholson was as unifying a force as his character in the film, "encourag[ing] everyone to bring their A-game," according to Douglas.
Sadly, very few of the original cast are still with us today. Almost 50 years after the film debuted, the members of that tightly-knit gang of actors have all either gone their separate ways or passed on. Rather than focusing on who's departed, however, allow us to celebrate the major actors still alive from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."
Jack Nicholson (Randle Patrick McMurphy)
The role of Randle McMurphy is a highlight in a career that's frankly nothing but highlights. Jack Nicholson's portrayal of a charismatic criminal who feigns insanity to get out of going to jail allowed the actor to once again showcase his unique talent for playing roguish trickster types a little too well. Nicholson was fresh off his Oscar-nominated turn in "Chinatown" when he took the role of McMurphy — he famously accepted his BAFTA award for the film from the "Cuckoo's Nest" set — and would once again receive a nomination for his role in Miloš Forman's movie. Only this time, he won.
Running down the man's career since "Cuckoo's Nest" in a paragraph is an impossible feat. Needless to say, Nicholson worked consistently in the decades following the film, churning out unforgettable performance after unforgettable performance and earning numerous awards in the process, including a further two Best Actor Oscars for 1983's "Terms of Endearment" and 1997's "As Good as It Gets." Perhaps one of the best honors he received, though, was praise from the great Stanley Kubrick, who viewed Nicholson as possessing one "unactable" quality that made him such an ineluctable dramatic force: intelligence.
What's Jack up to these days? Well, the man basically disappeared from acting after 2010's "How Do You Know?" You may have seen the headlines about the now 86-year-old being holed up in his LA home, wasting away alone, but the truth is nobody really knows what he's up to or how he's doing. If anything, the Hollywood vet is surely enjoying some quiet time after one of the most prolific and impressive careers the industry has ever seen.
Danny DeVito (Martini)
Danny DeVito reprised the role of Oregon State Hospital patient Martini in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," having previously played him in the 1971 off-Broadway production of the story. The character's childlike quality highlighted the oppressiveness of Louise Fletcher's Nurse Ratched, and DeVito had clearly settled into the role nicely by the time shooting on the movie began. That's not surprising, considering he'd been playing Martini on-stage before filming and then shadowed a real-life patient at the hospital specifically for the film.
Like Jack Nicholson, DeVito's post-"Cuckoo's Nest" career is tough to pack into a paragraph or two. What's more, the actor has been so successful there's surely no one reading this that isn't aware of the man's accomplishments. For me, the now-79-year-old will forever remain a legend for playing the Penguin in Tim Burton's 1992 masterpiece "Batman Returns" — which remains the best Batman movie ever made. The man himself is still proud enough of that role to state publicly that he believes he was a better Penguin than Colin Farrell in "The Batman," and even suggest he'd be open to reprising it. Interestingly enough, DeVito took that part because his old buddy and "Cuckoo's Nest" co-star Jack Nicholson, who played the Joker in 1989's "Batman," convinced him to do so.
Younger fans will, of course, know DeVito as Frank Reynolds from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," which the actor has now been a part of for 15 out of 16 seasons. In 2023, he was still going strong, and, alongside the 16th season of "It's Always Sunny," could be seen in two film projects — "Haunted Mansion" and "Poolman" — as well as providing his voice talents to Universal's animated adventure "Migration."
Christopher Lloyd (Max Taber)
Christopher Lloyd made his film debut in "Cuckoo's Nest" playing the irascible state hospital patient Max Taber. The actor would find himself working alongside co-star Danny DeVito once again just a few years later when the two landed roles in the ABC sitcom "Taxi," which ran from 1978 to 1982 and saw DeVito play dispatcher Louie De Palma and Lloyd portray Rev. Jim Ignatowski. The latter won two Emmy awards for his work on that show. But it would be his post-"Taxi" work that gained Lloyd widespread recognition among audiences.
Following his sitcom tenure, the actor went on to have a similarly impressive career to that of DeVito, perhaps most famously with the "Back to the Future" trilogy (in which he played inventor Emmett "Doc" Brown). This was the role that arguably made Lloyd a household name — though it took him some time to realize the impact of the films — and for which he's still best known today. But the Connecticut-born star didn't coast on the recognition he received for playing Doc Brown, going on to appear in multiple projects throughout the late '80s, '90s, and beyond. Highlights include his portrayal of villain Judge Doom in 1988's "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and his take on Uncle Fester in "The Addams Family" (1991) and "Addams Family Values" (1993).
One of the most impressive things about Lloyd is the fact that he's still working regularly today and often in surprisingly bombastic fare. He showed up alongside Bob Odenkirk in 2021 actioner "Nobody" and co-starred in Jake Johnson's feature directorial debut "Self Reliance" in 2023. That's on top of multiple guest appearances on TV shows from "The Mandalorian" to "NCIS" and a stage career that recently saw him play the titular king in a 2021 production of "King Lear."
Brad Dourif (Billy Bibbit)
Poor old Billy Bibbit. The anxious young patient is taken in by Randle McMurphy's shenanigans throughout "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," only to end up dying by suicide following an all-night rager organized by Nicholson's charismatic convict. Brad Dourif did an outstanding job in his first major film role (following bit parts in prior projects), earning himself an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 25. Dourif followed that up with appearances in 1978's "The Eyes of Laura Mars" and 1979's "Wise Blood" before re-teaming with "Cuckoo's Nest" director Miloš Forman for "Ragtime" (1981), in which he played an obsessive character known as "younger brother."
In the '80s, the actor began establishing himself as a horror mainstay, most notably by playing serial killer Charles Lee Ray, who transfers his soul into a Chucky doll in 1988's "Child's Play." Dourif lent his voice talents to the sequels, "Child's Play 2" (1990), "Child's Play 3" (1991), "Bride of Chucky" (1998), "Seed of Chucky" (2004), "Curse of Chucky" (2013), and "Cult of Chucky" (2017). While the 2019 "Child's Play" remake didn't feature Dourif, the Syfy/USA Network "Chucky" series does and sees Dourif providing the voice of the titular doll once more.
Dourif was also cast as Grima Wormtongue in Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, appearing in the second film "The Two Towers" (2002) and its follow-up, "The Return of the King" (2003). The actor then earned a Best Supporting Actor Emmy nomination for his performance as Doc Cochran in HBO's "Deadwood." Now 73, Dourif is still working, not only by voicing Chucky in, well, "Chucky," but by showing up in various film projects. That includes his appearance alongside his daughter and fellow "Child's Play" alum Fiona Dourif in 2021's "The Shuroo Process."
Michael Berryman (Ellis)
Though only in "Cuckoo's Nest" for a brief moment, Michael Berryman is surely worth a mention here. Since playing a patient who's subjected to excessive electroshock therapy in Miloš Forman's movie, Berryman has established himself as a horror great known for his starring role as Pluto, a member of a cannibal clan in Wes Craven's "The Hills Have Eyes," (1977) and its sequel, "The Hills Have Eyes Part II" (1985). Berryman continued to appear in horror projects throughout his career, including a role as the overall-clad Clevon in Rob Zombie's 2005 effort "The Devil's Rejects." He also played the mysterious Skull Cowboy in "The Crow," but his scenes were cut for the film's theatrical release.
Alongside his film career, Berryman has appeared in TV series like "Star Trek," "Tales from the Crypt," and "The X-Files," and has become known for his multiple convention appearances (where he regularly meets fans and promotes his various film projects). These days, those projects are mostly independent fare, but Berryman is still working hard at the age of 75, appearing in 2019's "Shed of the Dead" and the upcoming "Room 9."