Bancroft, Anne

Bancroft, Anne (1931-2005), American film and theatre actress, who was equally adept at comedy and dramatic roles. Born Anna Maria Louisa Italiano in the Bronx, New York, she trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She was offered a contract early on by 20th Century-Fox and made her film debut in the small part of a cabaret singer in Don’t Bother to Knock (1952). However, when Fox continued to cast her, despite an ever-thickening portfolio of good reviews, in B films such as Gorilla at Large (1954), Bancroft returned to New York.

After achieving success in the Broadway production of The Miracle Worker (1960), she returned to Hollywood to reprise the lead role in the film version (1962, directed by Arthur Penn), for which she won the Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Actress. She was also nominated for an Oscar, and won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for her next film, The Pumpkin Eater (1964). In 1967 came the role with which she was most closely associated, Mrs Robinson, who seduces young Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) in The Graduate (directed by Mike Nichols). She was the perfect foil to Jack Lemmon in The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975), and to Shirley MacLaine in The Turning Point (1977). She showed her talent for comedy in To Be or Not to Be (1983, directed by her husband Mel Brooks), and for understated pathos in 84 Charing Cross Road (1986).

Her ability to infuse even the most routine part with a dramatic energy made her increasingly in demand for supporting roles, which included Agnes of God (1985), Torch Song Trilogy (1988), Malice (1993), Home for the Holidays (directed by Jodie Foster, 1995), The Sunchaser (Michael Cimino, 1996), GI Jane (Ridley Scott, 1997), an updated retelling of Great Expectations (1998), and Heartbreakers (2001). She also continued to appear on Broadway, and to do television work, such as her poignant portrayal of the title role in The Mother (1994) and the part of the Contessa in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (2003), adapted from the novella by Tennessee Williams.