 The role of Linnea Reese was created for and by  Louise Fletcher (qv) who herself was the daughter of two deaf  parents and knew sign language. The role was eventually played by  Lily Tomlin (qv). Tomlin concluded that things worked out in the  end because Tomlin was offered Nurse Ratched in  _One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975)_ (qv) and turned it down, so  in a sense they simply traded roles.