FAQ

As of February, 2026, the most prominent cast members still living are:

Jack Nicholson - R.P. McMurphy

Danny DeVito - Martini

Brad Dourif - Billy Babbit

Christopher Lloyd - Taber

Mwako Cumbuka - Warren

Michael Berryman - Ellis

Mews Small - Candy

Mimi Sarkisian - Nurse Pilbow

Pleading insanity to get out of labor duties while in prison, Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) is admitted to a mental hospital where he finds kindred spirits with many of the inpatients, but his rabble-rousing ways get him in serious trouble with Head Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher).

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1962 novel by American author Ken Kesey (1935-2001). The novel was adapted for the movie by screenwriters Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman. The movie won the 1976 Academy Award for Best Motion Picture.

It is a line from the book. When Chief Bromden (Will Sampson) receives electroshock therapy, he says a line from a nursery rhyme as part of his pained babble: "...one flew east, one flew west, one flew over the cuckoo's nest." The full verse is "Wire, briar, limber-lock, Three geese in a flock, One flew east, one flew west, And one flew over the cuckoo's nest." This scene is not in the movie. "Cuckoo" is slang for "insane", so "cuckoo's nest" refers to the asylum.

The movie follows the book decently close, however scenes like how McMurphy got the tub room available as a second day room, how the men leave for the fishing trip (along with who goes), and how McMurphy and Chief end up in the Disturbed ward are either omitted or changed completely. The most notable difference is that, in the book, the story is told from the point-of-view of Chief Bromden, not from that of Randle McMurphy.