Anne Bancroft

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Anne Bancroft (1997)

Anne Bancroft , actually Anna Maria Louisa Italiano (born September 17, 1931 in the Bronx , New York , † June 6, 2005 ibid), was an American citizen of Italian descent. As an actress , she received an Oscar in 1963 for her role in Licht im Dunkel , but most famous was her portrayal of Mrs. Robinson in The Graduation (1967). She also shone on Broadway with her sensitive portrayal of “strong” women. The writer Max Brooks is her son from her marriage to Mel Brooks , to whom she was married for over 40 years.

Education, theater and first film roles

Anne Bancroft's family was of Italian descent. Her father was a model tailor , her mother a telephone operator. She completed her acting training at the renowned American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan . After a few roles on television , she got her first film role in Temptation on 809 in 1952 , in which Marilyn Monroe also starred. During the shooting, the production company 20th Century Fox requested the change of its name, because “Italiano” could have been harmful to her or the film.

At the theater she appeared in 1958 with Henry Fonda in the Broadway production Two for the Seesaw , for which she was awarded the Tony Award ; and in 1959 she had her next stage role in The Miracle Worker ( Licht im Dunkel ) . For her portrayal in the film adaptation of the play, she won an Oscar for best actress in 1963 . In the film, she played, directed by Arthur Penn and based on the script by William Gibson, the teacher of the deaf and blind Helen Keller (played by Patty Duke ).

In addition, she remained loyal to the theater, e.g. B. in Brecht's mother Courage and her children (1963) and in The Devils (1965). After The Little Foxes and A Cry of Players (1967/68), however, she took a break from the stage for almost ten years until the play Golda (1977).

Breakthrough in film as Mrs. Robinson and marriage to Mel Brooks

The play and the film Miracle Worker were also published in German under the title Licht im Dunkel and Unter anders Sonne . From 1964 further leading roles followed in films such as Seven Women and Bedroom Quarrel , for which she received the Actor Award of the Cannes Film Festival in 1964 and the Golden Globe Award in 1965 .

Worldwide fame brought her the role of Mrs. Robinson in the film The Graduation (1967) with Dustin Hoffman as a partner, for which she was awarded another Golden Globe. Her only directorial work was the film Fetty - The fat one starts! (1980), but its success was only moderate.

Bancroft with Mel Brooks at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival

From 1953 to 1957 Bancroft was married to Martin A. May. In 1964 she married the actor and director Mel Brooks , whom she met in 1961 on the Perry Como TV show . The son Max Brooks comes from this connection . She starred in numerous films with Brooks; including 1983 in his remake of Ernst Lubitsch's Being or Not being . However, she proved her comedic talent z. B. also in Das Nervenbündel (1975) on the side of Jack Lemmon .

Even in old age, the actress was still a valued actress of strong and sometimes bizarre female roles. She played in 1995, directed by Jodie Foster in a star-studded in Home for the Holidays abundantly eccentric mother Adele of Robert Downey Jr. and Holly Hunter , on the side of her husband Charles Durning does not make family life just easier. Everything is in faith! (2000) played Bancroft a Jewish mother, whose son Jake, a rabbi (played by Ben Stiller ), hides his love affair with a non-Jewish woman. One of her most impressive achievements in the later years of her career was the role of a mother of a travesty star in Das Kuckucksei (1988), who cannot understand that her son's homosexuality can be viewed as something normal. Among other things, she also played in the TV movie Haven with Natasha Richardson and Kenneth Welsh .

Bancroft's grave in Valhalla

Anne Bancroft died of uterine cancer at the age of 73 in New York's Mount Sinai Hospital . She was buried near her parents Mildred and Michael Italiano at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla ( Mount Pleasant, New York ).

Filmography (selection)

Theater roles

  • Two for the Seesaw (1958)
  • The Miracle Worker (1959)
  • Mother Courage and Her Children (1963)
  • The Devils (1965)
  • The Little Foxes (1967)
  • A Cry of Players (1968)
  • Golda (1977)
  • Duet for One (1981)
  • Occupant (2002)

Awards

Oscar / Best Actress

Golden Globe Award

  • 1963: nominated as best leading actress for light in the dark
  • 1965: Best Actress for Bedroom Dispute
  • 1968: Best Actress in The Graduation Exam
  • 1978: nominated as best leading actress for Am Wendpunkt
  • 1984: nominated as best leading actress for To Be or Not to Be
  • 1985: nominated as best leading actress for The Divine
  • 1986: Nominated as best leading actress for Agnes - Angels in Fire
  • 1987: Nominated for Best Actress for Night, Mother

BAFTA Award

  • 1963: Best leading actress for Licht im Dunkel
  • 1965: Best Actress for Bedroom Dispute
  • 1969: nominated as best leading actress for the final exam
  • 1973: nominated as best leading actress for The Young Lion
  • 1976: nominated as best leading actress for Das Nervenbündel
  • 1979: nominated as best leading actress for Am Wendpunkt
  • 1988: Best Actress for Between the Lines

Tony

  • 1958: Nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Two for the Seesaw
  • 1959: Nominated for Best Actress for The Miracle Worker
  • 1977: Nominated as best leading actress for Golda

In addition to numerous other film awards such as six Emmys , she was once nominated for the Golden Raspberry , namely in 1989 as the worst supporting actress for singing buddies .

In 1991 she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame . Anne Bancroft has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6368 Hollywood Boulevard.

Web links

Commons : Anne Bancroft  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b entry at filmreference.com
personal data
SURNAME Bancroft, Anne
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Italiano, Anna Maria Louisa (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH September 17, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Bronx , New York City , New York , United States
DATE OF DEATH June 6, 2005
Place of death New York City , New York , United States