Anne Bancroft

Anne Bancroft
Studio publicity photograph, c. 1952
Born
Anna Maria Louisa Italiano

(1931-09-17)September 17, 1931
New York City, U.S.
DiedJune 6, 2005(2005-06-06) (aged 73)
New York City, U.S.
Resting placeKensico Cemetery
Other namesAnne Marno
Education
OccupationActress
Years active1951–2005
Spouses
  • Martin May
    (m. 1953; div. 1957)
  • (m. 1964)
ChildrenMax Brooks

Anne Bancroft (born Anna Maria Louisa Italiano; September 17, 1931 – June 6, 2005)[1] was an American actress and director. Respected for her acting prowess and versatility, Bancroft received an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Tony Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Cannes Film Festival Award.[2][3] She is one of 24 thespians to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting.

Associated with the method acting technique, having studied under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, Bancroft made her film debut in the noir thriller Don't Bother to Knock in 1952, and appeared in 14 other films over the following five years. In 1958, she made her Broadway debut with the play Two for the Seesaw, winning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. The next year she portrayed Anne Sullivan in the original Broadway production of The Miracle Worker, winning the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. After her continued success on stage, Bancroft's film career was revived when she was cast in the acclaimed film adaptation of The Miracle Worker (1962) for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her film career progressed with Oscar nominated performances in The Pumpkin Eater (1964), The Graduate (1967), The Turning Point (1977), and Agnes of God (1985).

Bancroft continued to act in the later half of her life, with prominent roles including Mary Magdalene in Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth (1977), The Elephant Man (1980), To Be or Not to Be (1983), Garbo Talks (1984), 84 Charing Cross Road (1987), Torch Song Trilogy (1988), Home for the Holidays (1995), G.I. Jane (1997), Great Expectations (1998), and Up at the Villa (2000). She received multiple Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including for the television films Broadway Bound (1992), Deep in My Heart (1999), for which she won, and The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (2003). She died in 2005, at the age of 73, as a result of uterine cancer. She was married to director, actor, and writer Mel Brooks, with whom she had a son, author Max Brooks.

  1. ^ "Anne Bancroft". The Daily Telegraph. June 9, 2005. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
  2. ^ 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...
  3. ^ Willis, John A.; Barry Monush, eds. (2005). Screen World 2004. Vol. 55. New York: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. p. 7. ISBN 9781557836397. OCLC 56656049. 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.