Stage and Screen Legend Anne Bancroft Passes Away

By: Jun. 07, 2005
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Anne Bancroft, who gave so many memorable performances on stage and screen, passed away of uterine cancer at Mt. Sinai Hospital on June 6th; she was 73.

Born Anna Maria Italiano in 1931 in the Bronx, the warm, earthy Bancroft trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan. She made her film debut in 1952's Don't Bother to Knock, and appeared in dozens more, with her last, Delgo in the post-production stage. She won the 1963 Academy Award for her portrayal of Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker, repeating her acclaimed Broadway performance. She also received nods for The Pumpkin Eater, The Graduate (as Mrs. Robinson, a role with which she will forever be identified), The Turning Point and Agnes of God. Other film credits include Great Expectations, a TV movie of The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, Broadway Bound, Torch Song Trilogy, 'Night, Mother, Garbo Talks, To Be Or Not To Be, The Elephant Man and The Prisoner of Second Avenue.

As a stage actress, Bancroft won Tonys in 1958 and 1960 for The Miracle Worker and Two for the Seesaw, in which she played the vulnerable Gittel Mosca in her Broadway debut. The husky-voiced actress received another nomination in 1978, for playing the title role of the Israeli prime minister in Golda. She also appeared on Broadway in Mother Courage and Her Children, The Devils, A Cry of Prayers, and Duet for One.

Bancroft is survived by her husband Mel Brooks, who she met on the set of a TV talk show and married in 1964, and with whom she had one son, Max.

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