She still recalls standing backstage that Oscar night with Milos Forman, the Czech-born director of "Cuckoo's Nest," and Jack Nicholson, her co-star. "Milos said, 'Now we're all going to make flops,' " she recalled. "It was true. I made 'The Heretic' -- the second 'Exorcist' -- and it was a huge flop. Milos did 'Ragtime.' And Jack did 'Missouri Breaks.' That's Czech prophecy."

But Mr. Forman made other big films, including "Amadeus." And Mr. Nicholson became, well, Jack Nicholson. But although she has worked steadily over the last two decades, Ms. Fletcher never attained stardom. She has appeared on numerous television series and in such forgettable films as "The Cheap Detective" (1978), "Strange Invaders" (1983) and "Two-Moon Junction" (1988). One of her favorite parts, as a research scientist in "Brainstorm" (1983), went unnoticed because the movie's star, Natalie Wood, died during the filming. "It's as if everybody wanted that movie to go away," Ms. Fletcher said.

"Frankly, how many parts are out there for people like me?" she said. "I'm not going to be a person who complains about roles for women; there's a long line of people doing that. I'm working. Even if I don't think something is so great, I still do it. I'm one of those actresses who have to work for a living. I don't have huge savings."

Unlike many Oscar winners, who blame agents, studio executives, the system for failing to exploit the triumph, she said she viewed the award without illusion from the outset.

"I was up for a lot of good parts, but the competition is keen," Ms. Fletcher said. "I think I'm not that easy to cast. Other actresses are associated with different kinds of roles. I'm associated with strong, sort of realistic women. I'm trying to do some comedy now. I would have loved to have done the mother's part in 'Terms of Endearment,' but if I was casting that movie, I wouldn't have put me in it either."