Overview
Born | in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA |
Died | in New York City, New York, USA (uterine cancer) |
Birth Name | Anna Maria Louise Italiano |
Nicknames | Annie Obi-Wan |
Height | 5′ 6″ (1,68 m) |
Mini Bio
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 Troublez-moi ce soir (1952) in 1952 and over the next five years appeared in a lot of undistinguished movies as a supporting actress, such as Panique sur la ville (1954), New York confidentiel (1955) and La fille aux bas noirs (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 Miracle en Alabama (1962), for which she won an Oscar. Bancroft went on to give acclaimed performances in Le mangeur de citrouilles (1964), Trente minutes de sursis (1965), Les griffes du lion (1972), Le prisonnier de la seconde avenue (1975), Elephant Man (1980), Etre ou ne pas être (1983), 84 Charing Cross Road (1987) and other movies as lead actress, but her most famous role would be as Mrs. Robinson in Le lauréat (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 Miss Cobaye (1992), Nom de code: Nina (1993), Week-end en famille (1995), À armes égales (1997), De grandes espérances (1998) and Il suffit d’une nuit (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.