Mel Brooks & Anne Bancroft

COMING SOON!

They met on a chatshow and he followed her for three days. Soon they were married and have stayed together for over 30 years. A Hollywood success story.

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Anne Bancroft
born: 17-09-1931
birth place: New York, USA
died: 06-06-2005

Oscar winning actress, writer and director, Anne Bancroft’s birth name was Anna Maria Louisa Italiano; born to Italian first generation American parents Michael and Mildred Italiano, in the Bronx area of New York City.

She was the middle sister to Joanne and Phyllis. From the age of four, Bancroft was already attending dancing and acting lessons.

After graduating and having had various formal dramatic arts’ tuition, Bancroft’s career started in live television under the name Anne Marno. In 1952, having changed her name to Bancroft, she made her cinema debut in Don’t Bother to Knock that starred Marilyn Monroe.

Four years on and having married Martin May (whom within four years she would divorce) Bancroft went into theatre and won a Tony Award after appearing opposite Henry Fonda in the Broadway production of Two for the Seesaw.

In 1960 she picked up her second Tony for The Miracle Worker, where her character taught a blind and deaf girl to communicate. It was subsequently made into a film where Bancroft went on to win an Oscar for her lead role together with a BAFTA for ‘Best Foreign Actress’ – Bancroft won this latter award again for The Pumpkin Eater (1964).

During a variety show in 1961, Bancroft met Mel Brooks. Three years on they were married and stayed together for over 40 years (until her death) – they had a son Max in ’72, who is a screenwriter.

Mel Brooks called his wife “Obi-Wan Kenobi” after she encouraged him to turn his film The Producers (1968) into a musical – it went on to be a resounding success!

In 1967 came the role, that overshadowed her career, Mrs Robinson, in The Graduate. Playing Dustin Hoffman’s girlfriend’s mother, she was only six years older. The film won an Oscar and Bancroft gained an Oscar nomination for her seductive lead.

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