One of the great actresses of our time. Very sad...)-:
A fine actress. She will be missed.
From allmovie.com:
A dark-haired, earthy beauty and a versatile actress, Anne Bancroft has actually had two film careers. The first, which took place during the 1950s, was generally undistinguished and featured her in films that usually failed to fully utilize her talents. The second, which began in the early '60s, established her as an actress of great acclaim in films like The Miracle Worker and granted her screen immortality with roles such as that of the iconic Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate.
A first generation Italian-American hailing from the Bronx, Bancroft (born Anna Maria Louisa Italiano) was four years old when she began taking acting and dancing lessons. Billing herself as Anne Marno, she began appearing on television in 1950. Two years later she signed a contract with Fox and launched a six-year career in second-string Westerns and crime dramas that began with Don't Bother to Knock in 1952. By 1958, Bancroft had enough of Hollywood and turned her attentions to Broadway, where she spent the next five years. She proved her mettle as a serious dramatic actress by winning a Tony for Two for the Seesaw in 1958. Two years later, she won her second Tony and a New York Drama Critics Award for her portrayal of Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker. Armed with these triumphs, Bancroft returned to Hollywood to appear in the movie version of The Miracle Worker (1962), reprising her role opposite Patty Duke who played Helen Keller. Her performance earned her an Oscar for Best Actress; unable to attend the ceremony because she was performing on Broadway in Mother Courage, she was presented with the award by Joan Crawford a week later on the Broadway stage.
Bancroft followed this victory with a string of emotional dramas that included The Pumpkin Eater, which was released in 1964, the same year she married filmmaker/comedian Mel Brooks. Just when it would look like she would be typecast in such dramas, Bancroft showed up in Mike Nichols' seminal comedy The Graduate, playing Mrs. Robinson, the ultimate "older woman," to Dustin Hoffman's confused Benjamin Braddock. Her role in the landmark film won her an Oscar nomination, to say nothing of a permanent dose of notoriety. Although Bancroft seemed destined for a stellar career and she remained one of the more well-respected actresses in Hollywood, a long string of so-so films kept her from reaching major stardom. Still, Bancroft turned in a number of memorable performances in films such as The Turning Point (1977), The Elephant Man (1980), To Be or Not to Be (her 1983 collaboration with husband Brooks), Agnes of God (1985), 84 Charing Cross Road (1986), and Torch Song Trilogy (1988). Throughout the 1990s, she continued to be visible onscreen, appearing in films like How to Make an American Quilt (1995), Home for the Holidays (1995), and Great Expectations (1998). In 1980, Bancroft made her debut as a director/screenwriter in the darkly comic Dom DeLuise vehicle Fatso. — Sandra Brennan
She was awesome!
I loved her range - from Mrs. Robinson to The Turning Point to Charing Cross Road to Home for the Holidays (a Thanksgiving Tradition in my house!)
Her ability to do drama, comedy and just plain act will make her a legend. She must have been a hell of a woman to be married to Mel Brooks all these years.
" Italiano " ...Gee , I wonder if she was of Italian extraction ? ;)
Anne Bancroft was a talented comedienne, very much underappreciated. One of my favorites is "Love Potion #9," a screwball movie in which she played the gypsy palm reader. Anybody remember it?
RIP. She had some great roles in her golden years:
Great Expectations (crazy Mrs. Dinsmoore)
G.I. Jane (the Senator)
Point of No Return (Bridget Fonda's etiquette coach)
Malice (Nicole Kidman's grifter Mom)
My favorite of her movies is "84 Charing Cross Road"
Rest in Peace, Anne
"To be or not to be . . . "
RIP....
I'll always remember how she put on those stockings.
They called the couple the Beauty and the Beast. She was a class act. Was she ill?
Condolences to Mr. Brooks, family and friends.
ping
Condolences to Mr. Brooks. A great actress and a great lady. May she rest in peace.
A sad day for Mel Brooks.
May she rest in peace.
I always liked her. Ironic that Encore just had 'night Mother on. Ann and Sissy Spacek.......very good acting but darn depressing movie. RIP Miss Bancroft, I'll miss you.
Coo Coo Ka Chew Mrs. Robinson.........
Anne and Mel, one of the great love stories. Forty plus years of marriage and still in love. ( sad ending) Prayers to the family.