AKA Anna Maria Louise Italiano

Born: 17-Sep-1931
Birthplace: Bronx, NY
Died: 6-Jun-2005
Location of death: New York City
Cause of death: Cancer - other

Gender: Female
Religion: Roman Catholic
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Actor

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate

Anne Bancroft was the daughter of Italian immigrants, and studied drama at New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She worked in live television, then came to Hollywood and appeared in several forgettable films, before returning to New York to work on stage. "The studios wanted to give me the Monroe-type sex buildup," she later said. "I wanted to develop my acting, not my body." On Broadway, she won Tonys for Two for the Seesaw with Henry Fonda, and The Miracle Worker with Patty Duke and Patricia Neal. She also starred as Golda Meir in the 1977 production of Golda.

In films, Bancroft was best known for her performance as the seductive Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate with Dustin Hoffman. She won her only Oscar playing Anne Sullivan, the teacher who reached deaf and blind Helen Keller, in The Miracle Worker. She was also nominated for Harold Pinter's The Pumpkin Eater, The Graduate, The Turning Point, and Agnes of God. Her other noteworthy films include Neil Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue, Lynch's The Elephant Man, 'Night, Mother, Torch Song Trilogy, and 84 Charing Cross Road. She wrote and directed only one film, the unique and underrated Fatso, starring the sadly comic Dom DeLuise as a man wrestling with obesity, and features Bancroft as his sister, urging him to lose weight.

Bancroft was married for four decades to comic moviemaker Mel Brooks, and appeared in three of her husband's comedies, Silent Movie, To Be or Not to Be, and Dracula: Dead and Loving It. She also appeared as an extra in a church scene in Blazing Saddles, "for the sheer fun of it."

Father: Michael Italiano
Mother: Mildred DiNapoli
Sister: Joanne Italiano
Sister: Phyllis Italiano (aka Phyllis Wohl/Mallah)
Husband: Martin May (oil heir, m. 1-Jul-1953, div. 13-Feb-1957)
Husband: Mel Brooks (filmmaker, m. 5-Aug-1964, one son)
Son: Max Brooks (writer for SNL, b. Jun-1972)

    University: American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Manhattan, NY

    Oscar for Best Actress 1963 for The Miracle Worker
    Golden Globe 1965 for The Pumpkin Eater
    Golden Globe 1968 for The Graduate
    Emmy 1970 for Annie, the Women in the Life of a Man
    Emmy 1999 for Deep in My Heart
    Tony 1958 for Two For the Seesaw
    Tony 1960 for The Miracle Worker
    Hollywood Walk of Fame 6368 Hollywood Blvd.
    National Women's Hall of Fame

    FILMOGRAPHY AS DIRECTOR
    Fatso (1980)

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (31-Mar-2003)
    Heartbreakers (23-Mar-2001)
    Up at the Villa (5-May-2000)
    Keeping the Faith (5-Apr-2000)
    Antz (19-Sep-1998) [VOICE]
    Great Expectations (30-Jan-1998)
    Critical Care (6-Oct-1997)
    G.I. Jane (22-Aug-1997)
    The Sunchaser (29-May-1996)
    Homecoming (14-Apr-1996)
    Dracula: Dead and Loving It (22-Dec-1995)
    Home for the Holidays (3-Nov-1995)
    How to Make an American Quilt (6-Oct-1995)
    Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All (1-May-1994)
    Mr. Jones (8-Oct-1993)
    Malice (29-Sep-1993)
    Point of No Return (19-Mar-1993)
    Love Potion No. 9 (13-Nov-1992)
    Honeymoon in Vegas (28-Aug-1992)
    Torch Song Trilogy (14-Dec-1988)
    84 Charing Cross Road (13-Feb-1987)
    'Night Mother (5-Sep-1986)
    Agnes of God (21-Aug-1985)
    Garbo Talks (12-Oct-1984)
    To Be or Not To Be (1983)
    The Elephant Man (3-Oct-1980)
    Shogun (edited) (15-Sep-1980) [VOICE]
    Fatso (1980)
    The Turning Point (Nov-1977)
    Jesus of Nazareth (3-Apr-1977)
    Silent Movie (16-Jun-1976) Herself
    Lipstick (1-Apr-1976)
    The Hindenberg (25-Dec-1975)
    The Prisoner of Second Avenue (14-Mar-1975)
    Young Winston (Jul-1972)
    The Graduate (21-Dec-1967)
    7 Women (4-May-1966)
    The Slender Thread (23-Dec-1965)
    The Pumpkin Eater (Jun-1964)
    The Miracle Worker (23-May-1962)
    Nightfall (23-Jan-1957)
    Walk the Proud Land (1956)
    The Last Frontier (7-Dec-1955)
    The Raid (4-Aug-1954)
    Demetrius and the Gladiators (18-Jun-1954)
    The Kid from Left Field (1953)
    Don't Bother to Knock (18-Jul-1952)

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