Anne Bancroft

1952–1962: Initial work and breakthrough

Bancroft made her screen debut with a major role in the 1952 Marilyn Monroe-led psychological thriller Don't Bother to Knock. She appeared in 14 films over the next five years, including Treasure of the Golden Condor (1953), Gorilla at Large (1954), Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954), New York Confidential (1955) and Walk the Proud Land (1956).

After three weeks of location work on The Last Hunt (1955), a horse got out of control causing Bancroft to land hard on the horn of her saddle. Due to hospitalization she was replaced as the Native American girl by Debra Paget; although some of her long distance shots were retained in finished film.^[11][12]

In 1957, Bancroft was directed by Jacques Tourneur in a David Goodis adaptation, Nightfall. In 1958, she made her Broadway debut as lovelorn, Bronx-accented Gittel Mosca opposite Henry Fonda (as the married man Gittel loves) in William Gibson's two-character play Two for the Seesaw, directed by Arthur Penn.^[10][13] For the role, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.^[13]

Bancroft won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play in 1960, again with playwright Gibson and director Penn, when she played Annie Sullivan, the young woman who teaches the child Helen Keller to communicate in The Miracle Worker.^[14] She reprised her role in the 1962 film and won the Academy Award for Best Actress, with Patty Duke repeating her own success as Keller alongside Bancroft.^[15] As Bancroft had returned to Broadway to star in Mother Courage and Her Children, Joan Crawford accepted the Oscar on her behalf and later presented the award to her in New York.^[16]

1963–1985: Success, decline and comeback

Bancroft co-starred as a medieval nun obsessed with a priest (Jason Robards) in the 1965 Broadway production of John Whiting's play The Devils. Produced by Alexander H. Cohen and directed by Michael Cacoyannis, it ran for 63 performances.^[17]

Bancroft received a second nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Pumpkin Eater (1964).^[19] Bancroft achieved stardom when she played the starring role as Mrs. Robinson in the romantic comedy-drama The Graduate (1967).^[20] In the film, she played an unhappily married woman who seduces the son of her husband's business partner, the much younger recent college graduate played by Dustin Hoffman.^[19] In the film, Hoffman's character later dates and falls in love with her daughter.^[20] Bancroft was ambivalent about her appearance in The Graduate; she said in several interviews that the role overshadowed her other work. Despite her character becoming an archetype of the "older woman" role, Bancroft was only 36 years old at the time—just eight years older than her onscreen daughter Katharine Ross and six years older than Hoffman. The film, and her performance, received widespread critical acclaim, earning her a third nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. A CBS television special, Annie: The Women in the Life of a Man (1970), won Bancroft an Emmy Award for her singing and acting.^[21]

Bancroft is one of ten actors to have won both an Academy Award and a Tony Award for the same role (as Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker),^[22] and one of very few entertainers to win an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony award. This rare achievement is also known as the Triple Crown of Acting. She followed that success with a second television special, Annie and the Hoods (1974), which was telecast on ABC and featured her husband Mel Brooks as a guest star.^[23] She made an uncredited cameo in the film Blazing Saddles (1974), directed by Brooks. She made a career comeback with the ballet drama The Turning Point (1977), followed by the neo-noir mystery film Agnes of God (1985), which earned her two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress.^[24][25]

Bancroft made her debut as a screenwriter and director in Fatso (1980), in which she starred with Dom DeLuise.^[26]

Bancroft was the original choice to play Joan Crawford in the film Mommie Dearest (1981), but backed out and was replaced by Faye Dunaway.^[27][28] She was also a front-runner for the role of Aurora Greenway in Terms of Endearment (1983), but declined so that she could act in the remake of To Be or Not to Be (1983) with Brooks.^[29] In 1988, she played Harvey Fierstein's mother in the film version of his play Torch Song Trilogy.

1986–2005: Final film and television roles

During the 1990s and early 2000s, Bancroft took supporting roles in a number of films in which she co-starred with major film stars, including Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Love Potion No. 9 (1992), Malice (1993), Point of No Return (1993), Home for the Holidays (1995), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), G.I. Jane (1997), Great Expectations (1998), Keeping the Faith (2000), Up at the Villa (2000) and Heartbreakers (2001). She lent her voice to the animated film Antz (1998).^[30][31]

Bancroft also starred in several television movies and miniseries, receiving six Emmy Award nominations (winning once for herself and shared for Annie, The Women in the Life of a Man),^[32][33] eight Golden Globe nominations (winning twice)^[34] and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Her last appearance was as herself in a 2004 episode of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm.^[35] She was cast in Spanglish (2004) later in the year, but had to bow out due to a medical emergency.^[36] Her last project was the animated feature film Delgo, released posthumously in 2008.^[37] The film was dedicated to her.

Bancroft received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6368 Hollywood Boulevard for her work in television.^[38] At the time of her star's installation in 1960,^[39] she had recently appeared in several TV series. She was also a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 1992.^[40]

Film

Television

Theater