Bancroft, Anne

Related Category: Theater: Biographies

1931–2005, American actress, b. New York City as Anna Maria Italiano. Her New York stage debut in Two for the Seesaw (1958) was a major triumph. She was acclaimed for her performance in The Miracle Worker (1959) and won an Academy Award for the 1962 film version. Her role as the predatorily seductive Mrs. Robinson in Mike Nichols' The Graduate (1967) is a cinema classic. An extremely versatile and active performer, Bancroft starred in dozens of films, including The Pumpkin Eater (1964), Seven Women (1966), The Turning Point (1977), Agnes of God (1985), Torch Song Trilogy (1988), Great Expectations (1998), and Up at the Villa (2000). With husband Mel Brooks, she appeared in Silent Movie (1975) and To Be or Not To Be (1983). In 1980, she directed her first movie, Fatso, in which she also acted. After a 21-year absence from the stage, Bancroft starred as sculptor Louise Nevelson in Albee's off-Broadway play Occupant (2002).