Anne Bancroft

'Anne Bancroft' (qv) 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, both of whom were the children of Italian immigrants. She made her cinema debut in _Don't Bother to Knock (1952)_ (qv) 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)_ (qv), _New York Confidential (1955)_ (qv) and _The Girl in Black Stockings (1957)_ (qv). 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)_ (qv), for which she won an Oscar. Bancroft went on to give acclaimed performances in _The Pumpkin Eater (1964)_ (qv), _The Slender Thread (1965)_ (qv), _Young Winston (1972)_ (qv), _The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975)_ (qv), _The Elephant Man (1980)_ (qv), _To Be or Not to Be (1983)_ (qv), _84 Charing Cross Road (1987)_ (qv) and other movies as lead actress, but her most famous role would be as Mrs. Robinson in _The Graduate (1967)_ (qv). Her status as the predatory "older woman" in the film is iconic, although in real life she was only eight years older than 'Katharine Ross' (qv) and six years older than 'Dustin Hoffman' (qv). 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)_ (qv), _Point of No Return (1993)_ (qv), _Home for the Holidays (1995)_ (qv), _G.I. Jane (1997)_ (qv), _Great Expectations (1998)_ (qv) and _Up at the Villa (2000)_ (qv). She also started to make some TV films, including _Deep in My Heart (1999)_ (qv) 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' (qv), and her only child, 'Max Brooks' (qv), who was born in 1972. Her final film, the animated feature _Delgo (2008)_ (qv), was released posthumously in 2008 and dedicated to her memory.::Volker Boehm