Anne Bancroft

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Birthday:

17 September 1931, The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Birth Name:

Anna Maria Louise Italiano

Height:

168 cm

Anne Bancroft was born on September 17, 1931 in the Bronx, the daughter of Michael Italiano (1905-2001), a dress pattern maker, and Mildred DiNapoli (1908-2010), a telephone operator. She made her cinema debut in Don't Bother to Knock (1952) in 1952 and over the next five years appeared in a lot of undistinguished movies as a supporting actress, such as Gorilla at Large (1954), New York Confidential (1955) and The Girl in Black Stockings (1957). By 1957 she had grown dissatisfied with the roles she was getting, left the film industry and spent the next five years doing plays on Broadway. She returned to the screen in 1962 with her portrayal of Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker (1962), for which she won an Oscar. Bancroft went on to give acclaimed performances in The Pumpkin Eater (1964), The Slender Thread (1965), Young Winston (1972), The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975), The Elephant Man (1980), To Be or Not to Be (1983), 84 Charing Cross Road (1987) and other movies as lead actress, but her most famous role would be as Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate (1967). Her status as the predatory "older woman" in the film is iconic, although in real life she was just 36 and only six years older than co-star Dustin Hoffman. Bancroft would later express her frustration over the fact that the film overshadowed her other work. Selective for much of her intermittent career, she appeared on the screen more frequently in the '90s, playing a range of characters in such films as Love Potion No. 9 (1992), Point of No Return (1993), Home for the Holidays (1995), G.I. Jane (1997), Great Expectations (1998) and Up at the Villa (2000). She also started to make some TV films, including Deep in My Heart (1999) for which she won an Emmy. Sadly, on June 6, 2005, Bancroft passed away at the age of 73 from uterine cancer. Her death surprised many, as she had not revealed any information of her illness to the public. Among her survivors was her husband of 41 years, Mel Brooks, and her only child, Max Brooks, who was born in 1972. Her final film, the animated feature Delgo (2008), was released posthumously in 2008 and dedicated to her memory. Show less «

I was at a point where I was ready to say, "I am what I am because of what I am and if you like me I'm grateful, and if you don't, what am I...Show more »

I was at a point where I was ready to say, "I am what I am because of what I am and if you like me I'm grateful, and if you don't, what am I going to do about it?" Show less «

Life is here only to be lived so that we can, through life, earn the right to death, which to me is paradise. Whatever it is that will bring...Show more »

Life is here only to be lived so that we can, through life, earn the right to death, which to me is paradise. Whatever it is that will bring me the reward of paradise, I'll do the best I can. Show less «

The best way to get most husbands to do something is to suggest that perhaps they're too old to do it.

When [Mel Brooks] told his Jewish mother he was marrying an Italian girl, she said: "Bring her over. I'll be in the kitchen - with my head i...Show more »

When [Mel Brooks] told his Jewish mother he was marrying an Italian girl, she said: "Bring her over. I'll be in the kitchen - with my head in the oven". Show less «

[of her Mrs. Robinson role in The Graduate (1967)] Film critics said I gave a voice to the fear we all have: that we'll reach a point in our...Show more »

[of her Mrs. Robinson role in The Graduate (1967)] Film critics said I gave a voice to the fear we all have: that we'll reach a point in our lives, look around and realize that all the things we said we'd do and become will never come to be - and that we're ordinary. Show less «

[from 1984] The only reason I'm still not doing "Daughter of Gorilla at Large" is because my personal life had become a shambles. Every pict...Show more »

[from 1984] The only reason I'm still not doing "Daughter of Gorilla at Large" is because my personal life had become a shambles. Every picture I did was worse than the last one and every man I was in love with was worse than the last one. I was terribly immature. I was going steadily downhill in terms of self-respect and dignity. Show less «

[on John Ford] Marvelous but loony, tearing out pages of the script everywhere.

[1962] When I arrived in town, the movie industry was looking for sexpot glamor girls. I didn't qualify. Nor was I ever offered a top-flight...Show more »

[1962] When I arrived in town, the movie industry was looking for sexpot glamor girls. I didn't qualify. Nor was I ever offered a top-flight movie. But there isn't any bitterness on my part. I wasn't as good an actress then as I am now. Show less «

[on being married to Mel Brooks] When he comes home at night and I hear his key in the lock, I say to myself, "Oh good! The party's about to...Show more »

[on being married to Mel Brooks] When he comes home at night and I hear his key in the lock, I say to myself, "Oh good! The party's about to begin". Show less «

I can sit with anybody in a room for an hour, and by the time they leave, automatically I will know the way they talk and the way they move....Show more »

I can sit with anybody in a room for an hour, and by the time they leave, automatically I will know the way they talk and the way they move. That's my special art. Show less «

When I was in radio, I was Anna St. Raymond; when I was in television, I was Anne Marno; and then in movies I was Anne Bancroft -- if I ever...Show more »

When I was in radio, I was Anna St. Raymond; when I was in television, I was Anne Marno; and then in movies I was Anne Bancroft -- if I ever go into burlesque, I've got one picked out: Ruby Pepper. Show less «

[Driving to Mexico City for a film] When I was in Mexico on location we had this long drive from the bottom of a mountain all the way to Mex...Show more »

[Driving to Mexico City for a film] When I was in Mexico on location we had this long drive from the bottom of a mountain all the way to Mexico City. I used to get pretty bored on these drives, so I was shouting out the window, 'Hello, you people - Here I am! You lucky people you!' So then five guys in this car followed us all the way to the hotel! That's the only funny thing that happened to me back then, only it wasn't in Hollywood - it was Mexico. Nothing funny happens in Hollywood. Show less «

[on her days as a contract player at Fox] I was seduced by every script. I thought every picture was the best, and that I was Greta Garbo. I...Show more »

[on her days as a contract player at Fox] I was seduced by every script. I thought every picture was the best, and that I was Greta Garbo. It was the ability to accept these terrible lies that kept me going. Show less «