Anne Bancroft
The studio that originally issued a contract to Anne Bancroft viewed her only as a Marilyn Monroe type of actress. But they were wrong. As Bancroft had said at the time, she was interested in developing her acting talent, not her body. Bancroft eventually left Hollywood and moved back to
New York , and there has never been a doubt since whether she was doing the right thing or not.
Born as Anna Maria Louisa Italiano on September 17, 1931, in the Bronx, New York, Bancroft attended the
American
Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Actors Studio, and the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women at UCLA. It was while rehearsing alone during her lunch hour at the
American
Academy of Dramatic Arts that she was discovered and asked to audition for the television show Studio One.
Bancroft went on to appear in several other television shows under the name Anne Marno. She landed her first film, Don’t Bother to Knock, a few years later, starring with Richard Widmark and Marilyn Monroe. It’s not clear why she abandoned the stage name of Anne Marno, but the studio advised her that her given name was too ethnic, and gave her other options. She chose Bancroft because she thought it sounded more dignified.
Working for the studio, Bancroft appeared in a handful of movies, but unhappy with the sexpot roles the studio was giving her, she moved back to
New York . She appeared in television again on Playhouse 90 and Lux Video Theatre. Moving back to
New York allowed Bancroft to appear on Broadway in Two for the Seesaw, starring with Henry Fonda. This earned Bancroft her first Tony Award; she received her second with The Miracle Worker, playing the part of Annie Sullivan.
Later returning to the role of Annie Sullivan, Bancroft reprised the role in the film version of The Miracle Worker, starring with a young Patty Duke. Bancroft went on to receive an Academy Award for this movie, which led to more gutsy roles in movies such as The Pumpkin Eater, also starring Peter Finch and James Mason, and 7 Women with Sue Lyon, Margaret Leighton, and Eddie Albert.
The role Bancroft is most known for is that of Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate, playing opposite Dustin Hoffman. Bancroft was the older woman who lured her daughter’s boyfriend into her own bed, making the name Mrs. Robinson iconoclastic in society when referring to seductive older women. In reality, Bancroft was only six years older than Hoffman. For years Bancroft would meet men who told her that she was their first sexual fantasy because of this role..
Bancroft returned to television for Annie, the Women in the Life of a Man, appearing with husband Mel Brooks, and won an Emmy Award for this part. After this she went back to acting in movies, starring as Winston Churchill’s mother in Young Winston. She also continued her biographical movie turn, starring in Hindenburg with George C. Scott. Bancroft not only co-starred in, but also wrote and directed Fatso, which also co-starred Dom DeLuise.
Soon, Bancroft’s leading lady roles were replaced with supporting or starring roles rich in character. One such example is Bancroft’s appearance in the miniseries Shogun as the narrator. She also played in The Elephant Man, as the actress who takes an interest in the disfigured man. Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, and John Gielgud starred as well. In Garbo Talks Bancroft starred as a woman dying of a brain tumor whose last wish is to meet Greta Garbo. In Agnes of God she starred as Mother Superior, and appeared alongside Jane Fonda and Meg Tilly.
As she matured, Bancroft’s roles got more interesting and full of character. In ‘Night Mother she starred as the mother who had just learned her daughter, played by Sissy Spacek, intended to commit suicide. She starred as Harvey Fierstein’s mother in Torch Song Trilogy, as the title role in Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, and as one in a group of older women making a quilt for a young bride (Winona Ryder) in How to Make an American Quilt.
After a young marriage to Martin May, Bancroft met Mel Brooks on a talk show. He followed her out to dinner that night, waiting for a chance to talk to her more. They eventually married and had one child. As a couple, they also produced movies together such as Silent Movie, To Be or Not to Be, and The Elephant Man. Bancroft died on June 6, 2005, of uterine cancer. |
