Anne Bancroft
 | This biography needs additional citations for verification. (August 2010) |
Anne Bancroft | |
|---|---|
 Studio Publicity Photo, 1952. | |
| Born | Anna Maria Louisa Italiano September 17, 1931 |
| Died | June 6, 2005 (aged 73) Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Uterine cancer |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1951–2005 |
| Spouse(s) |
Martin May
(m. 1953; div. 1957) |
| Children | Max Brooks |
| Parent(s) | Michael G. Italiano Mildred (née DiNapoli) Italiano |
Anna Maria Louisa Italiano[1] (September 17, 1931 – June 6, 2005), known professionally as Anne Bancroft, was an American actress associated with the method acting school, having studied under Lee Strasberg.[2] Respected for her acting prowess and versatility, Bancroft was acknowledged for her work in film, theatre and television. She won one Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globes, two Tony Awards and two Emmy Awards, and several other awards and nominations.[3][4]
After her film debut in Don't Bother to Knock (1952) and a string of supporting film roles during the 1950s, she won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her lead role in The Miracle Worker (1962) as the teacher of teenage Helen Keller, reprising her role in the Broadway stage play. She won both an Oscar for her work in the film, and a Tony for the same role in the play. On Broadway in 1965, she played a medieval nun obsessed with a priest (Jason Robards) in John Whiting's play The Devils, based on the Aldous Huxley novel The Devils of Loudun. She was perhaps best known as the seductress, Mrs. Robinson, in The Graduate (1967), a role that she later stated had come to overshadow her other work.
Bancroft received several other Oscar nominations and continued in lead roles until the late 1980s. She played a ballet dancer in The Turning Point (1977), and in Agnes of God (1985), she played the mother superior of a convent who clashes with a psychiatrist played by Jane Fonda over dealings with a troubled young novice nun played by Meg Tilly. In 1987, she starred with Anthony Hopkins in 84 Charing Cross Road. She appeared in several movies directed or produced by her second husband, comedian Mel Brooks, including the award-winning drama The Elephant Man as well as comedies To Be or Not to Be and Dracula: Dead and Loving It.
In the 1990s she returned to supporting roles in films, but continued to play lead roles in television films. She received Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, for The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (2003), as well as an Emmy nomination for 2001's Haven.
Bancroft died of uterine cancer in 2005 at the age of 73. She was survived by her mother, sisters, husband Mel Brooks, and son Max Brooks.
Early life
Bancroft was born Anna Maria Louisa Italiano in the Bronx, New York, the middle of three daughters of Mildred (née DiNapoli; 1908–2010), a telephone operator, and Michael G. Italiano (1905–2001), a dress pattern maker.[5][6]
Bancroft's parents were both children of Italian immigrants. In an interview, she stated her family was originally from Muro Lucano, in the province of Potenza.[7] She was brought up Catholic.[8] She was raised in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx,[9] later moving to 1580 Zerega Ave. and graduated from Christopher Columbus High School in 1948. She later attended HB Studio, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Actors Studio and the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women at the University of California, Los Angeles. After appearing in a number of live television dramas under the name Anne Marno, she was told to change her surname for her film debut in Don't Bother to Knock.
Career
In 1958, Bancroft made her Broadway debut as lovelorn, Bronx-accented Gittel Mosca opposite Henry Fonda (as the married man Gittel loves) in William Gibson's two-character play Two for the Seesaw, directed by Arthur Penn. For Gittel, she won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play. (Though her role was quite equal to Fonda's, he, an established film actor, was the star, and so she was eligible in the featured category.)
"Annie's a very gutsy girl. I swear I wouldn't hesitate to put her in at shortstop for the New York Yankees."
Arthur Penn
director of The Miracle Worker[10]
She subsequently won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play in 1960, again with playwright Gibson and director Penn, when she played Annie Sullivan, the young woman who teaches the child Helen Keller to communicate in The Miracle Worker. She took the latter role to Hollywood, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress, with Patty Duke repeating her own success as Keller alongside Bancroft in the 1962 film version of the play. She had returned to Broadway to star in Mother Courage and Her Children, so Joan Crawford accepted Bancroft's Oscar on her behalf, and later presented the award to her in New York. Bancroft is one of the few actors to have won an Academy Award and a Tony Award for the same role. Bancroft co-starred as a medieval nun obsessed with a priest (Jason Robards) in the 1965 Broadway production of John Whiting's play The Devils. Produced by Alexander H. Cohen and directed by Michael Cacoyannis, it ran for 63 performances.[11]
Bancroft received a second Academy Award nomination in 1965 for her performance in The Pumpkin Eater. Her best-known role during this period was Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate (1967), for which she received a third Academy Award nomination. In the film, she played an unhappily married woman who seduces a family friend, the much younger recent college graduate played by Dustin Hoffman. In the movie, Hoffman's character later dates and falls in love with her daughter. Bancroft was ambivalent about her appearance in The Graduate; she stated in several interviews that the role overshadowed all of her other work. Despite her character becoming an archetype of the "older woman" role, Bancroft was only six years older than Hoffman.
A CBS television special, Annie: the Women in the Life of a Man (1970), won Bancroft an Emmy Award for her singing and acting.[12] Bancroft is one of very few entertainers to win an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony award. She followed that success with a second television special, Annie and The Hoods (1974), which was telecast on ABC and featured her husband Mel Brooks as a guest star. She made an uncredited cameo in the film Blazing Saddles (1974), directed by Brooks. She received a fourth Academy Award nomination for her performance in The Turning Point (1977) opposite Shirley MacLaine, and a fifth nomination for her performance in Agnes of God (1985) opposite Jane Fonda.
Bancroft made her debut as a screenwriter and director in Fatso (1980), in which she starred with Dom DeLuise. Bancroft was also the original choice to play Joan Crawford in the film Mommie Dearest (1981), but backed out at the eleventh hour, and was replaced by Faye Dunaway. She was also a front-runner for the role of Aurora Greenway in Terms of Endearment (1983), but declined so she could act in the remake of To Be or Not to Be (1983), with her husband Mel Brooks.[13]
In the 1990s and the first half of the 2000s, Bancroft took supporting roles in a number of films in which she co-starred with major film stars—including Honeymoon in Vegas (1992) with Nicolas Cage, Love Potion No. 9 (1992) with Sandra Bullock, Malice (1993) with Nicole Kidman, Point of No Return (1993) with Bridget Fonda, Home for the Holidays (1995) with Robert Downey Jr. and directed by Jodie Foster, How to Make an American Quilt (1995) with Winona Ryder, G.I. Jane (1997) with Demi Moore, Great Expectations (1998) with Gwyneth Paltrow, Keeping the Faith (2000) with Ben Stiller, and Heartbreakers (2001) with Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sigourney Weaver and Gene Hackman. She also lent her voice to the animated film Antz (1998), which also featured performances from Jennifer Lopez, Sharon Stone, and Woody Allen.
Bancroft also starred in several television movies and miniseries, receiving six Emmy Award nominations (winning twice), eight Golden Globe nominations (winning twice), and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Her final appearance was as herself in a 2004 episode of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm. Her last project was the animated feature Delgo, released posthumously in 2008.
She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6368 Hollywood Boulevard, for her work in television.[14] At the time of her star's installation (1960),[15] she had recently appeared in several TV series. Bancroft is also a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 1992.[16]
Marriage and family
Bancroft's first husband was lawyer Martin May; they married in 1953, separated in 1955,[17] and divorced in 1957.[1][18]
In 1961, Bancroft met Mel Brooks at a rehearsal for the Perry Como variety show (Kraft Music Hall). Bancroft and Brooks married on August 5, 1964, at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau near New York City Hall, and remained married until her death. Their son, Maximillian "Max" Brooks, was born on May 22, 1972.
Bancroft and Mel Brooks were seen three times on the screen together: once dancing a tango in Brooks's Silent Movie (1976); in his remake of To Be or Not to Be (1983); and in the episode entitled "Opening Night" (2004) of the HBO show, Curb Your Enthusiasm. They were also in Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), but never appeared together. Brooks produced the film The Elephant Man (1980), in which Bancroft acted. He also was executive-producer for the film 84 Charing Cross Road (1987) in which she starred. Both Brooks and Bancroft appeared in season six of The Simpsons. According to the DVD commentary, when Bancroft came to record her lines for the episode "Fear of Flying", the Simpsons writers asked if Brooks had come with her (which he had); she joked, "I can't get rid of him!"
In a 2010 interview, Brooks credited Bancroft as being the guiding force behind his involvement in developing The Producers and Young Frankenstein for the musical theatre. In the same interview, he said of their first meeting in 1961, "From that day, until her death on June 5, 2005, we were glued together."[19]
In April 2005, two months before her death, Bancroft became a grandmother when her daughter-in-law Michelle gave birth to a boy, Henry Michael Brooks.[20]
Death
Anne Bancroft died, age 73, of uterine cancer on June 6, 2005, at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan.[21] Her death surprised many, even some of her friends. She was intensely private and had not released details of her illness.[22] She is interred at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York, near her parents, Mildred (who died in April 2010, five years after Anne) and Michael Italiano. A white marble monument with a weeping angel adorns her grave. Her last film, Delgo, was dedicated to her memory.
Work
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Two for the Seesaw | Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play |
| 1959 | The Miracle Worker | Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play |
| 1963 | Mother Courage and Her Children | |
| 1965 | The Devils | |
| 1967 | The Little Foxes | |
| 1968 | A Cry of Players | |
| 1977 | Golda | Nominated—Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play |
| 1981 | Duet for One | |
| 2002 | Occupant |
Film
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Suspense | TV series, one episode: "Night Break", as Anne Marno. | |
| 1951 | The Ford Theatre Hour | TV series, three episodes, as Anna Marno. | |
| 1950–51 | Studio One in Hollywood | Maria Cassini | TV series, three episodes, as Anne Marno. |
| 1951 | The Adventures of Ellery Queen | TV series, one episode: "The Chinese Mummer Mystery", as Anne Marno. | |
| 1951 | Danger | TV series, two episodes: "The Killer Scarf" and "Murderer's Face", as Anne Marno. | |
| 1951 | The Web | TV series, one episode: "The Customs of the Country" as Ann Marno. | |
| 1951 | Lights Out | Helen | TV series, one episode: "The Deal", as Anne Marno. |
| 1953 | Omnibus | TV series, one episode: "The Capital of the World" | |
| 1953 | Kraft Theatre | TV series, one episode: "To Live in Peace" | |
| 1954–1957 | Lux Video Theatre | Lolita/Sally/Kendal Browning/Ann Sommers/Herself | TV series, five episodes |
| 1956–57 | Climax! | Audrey/Elena | TV series, two episodes: "Fear Is the Hunter" (Audrey) and "The Mad Bomber" (Elena) |
| 1957 | Playhouse 90 | Isobel Waring/Julie Bickford | TV series, two episodes: "So Soon to Die" (Isobel Waring) and "Invitation to a Gunfighter" (Julie Bickford) |
| 1957 | Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre | Isabelle Rutledge | TV series, one episode: "Episode in Darkness" (Isabelle Rutledge) w/Dewey Martin & John Anderson |
| 1957 | The Alcoa Hour | Alegre/Giselle | TV series, two episodes: "Key Largo" (Alegre) and "Hostages to Fortune" (Giselle) |
| 1958 | The Frank Sinatra Show | Carol Welles | TV series, one episode: "A Time to Cry" |
| 1960 | Person to Person | Herself | TV series documentary, Episode 7.35 |
| 1960 | Gala Adlai on Broadway | Herself: Performer | TV Movie |
| 1962 | Password All-Stars | Herself | TV series, one episode: "Anne Bancroft vs. Robert Goulet" |
| 1962–1964 | What's My Line? | Herself: Mystery Guest | TV series, three episodes |
| 1964 | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Faye Benet Garret | TV series, one episode: "Out on the Outskirts of Town" |
| 1967 | ABC Stage 67 | Virginia | TV series, one episode: "I'm Getting Married" |
| 1969 | The Kraft Music Hall | Herself | TV series, Episode 2.23 |
| 1970 | Arthur Penn, 1922-: Themes and Variants | TV documentary | |
| 1970 | This Is Tom Jones | Herself | TV series documentary, Episode 3.1 |
| 1970 | Annie: The Women in the Life of a Man | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety or Musical Program – Variety and Popular Music | |
| 1974 | Annie and the Hoods | Herself: Hostess | TV Movie |
| 1977 | Jesus of Nazareth | Mary Magdalene | Miniseries; Parts 1 and 2 |
| 1978 | The Stars Salute Israel at 30 | Herself | TV Movie |
| 1978 | Lørdagshjørnet | Herself | TV series, one episode: "Mel Brooks", also archive footage[24] |
| 1978 | Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color | Herself | TV series, one episode: "Mickey's 50" |
| 1978 | Mickey's 50 | Herself | documentary |
| 1979 | The Muppets Go Hollywood | Herself | TV Movie, uncredited |
| 1980 | Shogun | Narrator of US home video version (voice) | TV movie |
| 1982 | Marco Polo | Marco's mother | Miniseries |
| 1982 | Women I Love: Beautiful But Funny | Herself | TV Movie |
| 1983 | An Audience with Mel Brooks | Herself | TV special |
| 1990 | Freddie and Max | Maxine (Max) Chandler | TV series, six episodes |
| 1992 | Broadway Bound | Kate Jerome | TV movie Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Miniseries or a Movie |
| 1992 | Mrs. Cage | Lillian Cage | Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie |
| 1994 | Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All | Lucy Marsden (age 99–100) | TV movie Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Miniseries or a Movie |
| 1994 | Great Performances | Mrs. Fanning | TV series, one episode: "Paddy Chayefsky's 'The Mother'" |
| 1994 | The Simpsons | Dr. Zweig | Voice role, one episode: "Fear of Flying" |
| 1996 | Homecoming | Abigail Tillerman | TV Movie Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie |
| 1998 | The Secret World of 'Antz' | Herself | TV documentary |
| 1998 | Living with Cancer: A Message of Hope | Narrator | TV documentary |
| 1999 | Deep in My Heart | Geraldine 'Gerry' Eileen Cummins | TV movie Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Miniseries or a Movie |
| 1999 | AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Dustin Hoffman | Herself | TV special documentary |
| 2000 | The Rosie O'Donnell Show | Herself | |
| 2000 | The Living Edens | Narrator | TV series documentary, one episode: "Anamalai: India's Elephant Mountain" |
| 2001 | Exhale with Candice Bergen | Herself | TV series, one episode |
| 2001 | Haven | Mama Gruber | Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Miniseries or a Movie |
| 2003 | The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone | Contessa | TV movie Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Miniseries or a Movie Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie |
| 2004 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Herself | TV series, one episode: "Opening Night" |
See also
References
- ^ a b "Anne Bancroft". The Daily Telegraph. June 9, 2005. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Strasberg, Lee. Strasberg at the Actors Studio: Tape-recorded Sessions, Theatre Communications Group (1965) back cover
- ^ Frank Northen Magill (October 1, 1987). Magill's Cinema Annual: 1987. Gale. ISBN 978-0-89356-406-3. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
...Anne Bancroft, one of the world's most respected and versatile actresses...
- ^ A. Willis, John (2005). "Screen World". 55.
An impassioned, clever, and gifted actress who has been equally brilliant in both drama and comedy, emerging as one of the most enduring and respected performers of her generation.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Anne Bancroft profile, filmreference.com; accessed September 29, 2014.
- ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths ITALIANO, MICHAEL G." The New York Times. April 13, 2001. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
- ^ "Anne Bancroft: God bless you, Mrs. Robinson" (in Italian). liberaeva.com. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
- ^ "Mel Brooks – Director, Actor, Writer and Producer". h2g2. BBC. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
- ^ "About Our Neighborhood: Bronx Little Italy". Retrieved April 10, 2016.
- ^ Rausch, Andrew J. Hollywood's All-Time Greatest Stars, Citadel Press (2003) p. 10
- ^ "The Devils" profile, IBDb.com; accessed September 29, 2014.
- ^ Annie: the Women in the Life of a Man
- ^ Rausch, Andrew J. (2003). Hollywood's All-Time Greatest Stars: A Quiz Book. Citadel Press. ISBN 9780806524696.
- ^ Hollywood Walk of Fame
- ^ "Anne Bancroft". walkoffame.com. Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
- ^ "On Stage, and Off". New York Times. December 6, 1991.
- ^ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19551114&id=smhQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CxAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6678,1106042&hl=en
- ^ Leonard, Tom (April 12, 2008). "Anne Bancroft: 1931-2005 Here's to you, Mrs Robinson". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Carucci, John (March 3, 2010). "Brooks Recalls Anne Bancroft as Wife, Collaborator – Mel Brooks Reminisces of Wife Anne Bancroft as Anniversary of Their First Meeting Draws Near". Associated Press. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
- ^ "The Brooks Family of Writers: Michelle, Max and Mel". November 9, 2010. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
- ^ Staff writer (June 8, 2005). "Graduate Star Anne Bancroft Dies – Oscar-Winning Actress Anne Bancroft, Who Starred Opposite Dustin Hoffman in Film Classic The Graduate, Has Died". BBC News. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
- ^ Burleigh, James (June 8, 2005). "Anne Bancroft dies of cancer at 73". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ The Raid (1954) at IMDb
- ^ "Lørdagshjørnet" Mel Brooks (1978) at IMDb
External links
- 1931 births
- 2005 deaths
- 20th Century Fox contract players
- 20th-century American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
- Actresses from New York City
- American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni
- American film actresses
- American people of Italian descent
- American people of Lucanian descent
- Actresses of Italian descent
- American Roman Catholics
- American stage actresses
- American television actresses
- American Theater Hall of Fame inductees
- American voice actresses
- Best Actress Academy Award winners
- Best Actress BAFTA Award winners
- Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (film) winners
- Best Foreign Actress BAFTA Award winners
- Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film) winners
- Burials at Kensico Cemetery
- Deaths from cancer in New York
- Deaths from uterine cancer
- Mel Brooks
- People from the Bronx
- Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners
- Tony Award winners
- UCLA Film School alumni