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Anna Maria Louisa Italiano was born on Sept. 17, 1931, in the Bronx to Italian immigrant parents. Her father, Michael, was a patternmaker, and her mother, Mildred, a telephone operator. By the time she was 2 years old she was learning to sing and dance.
"Why play with dolls," she recalled years later, "when you can sing 'I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate' on the street corner?"
Even so, by the time she left high school she had decided to become a laboratory technician. Instead, her mother insisted that she attend the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Her first Broadway show "Two For The Seesaw". She won a Tony for Best Supporting actress. Anne then began a long career in Television doing The Kraft Hour, Playhouse 90 and working alongside some other movie star hopefuls like Marlon Brando, Shirley Booth, and up and coming producing mogul Rod Serling.
Rehearsing.
There was never a question as to who would play Annie Sullivan in the broadway production of The Miracle Worker. Bancroft was the first choice, and won her second Tony Award in a row (right after "Seesaw"). This time for Best Actress.
Everyone pays their dues.
Her first big break comes in a Marilyn Monroe picture called "Don't Bother To Knock". An outstanding performance by Monroe it also carries a unique and interesting performance by a young stage actress, Annie Bancroft, as a nightclub singer (she was dubbed) who's worried about the phsychotic babysitter (Monroe) across the alley. A brilliant creepy movie, and a performance that gets Bancroft noticed.
Bancroft wins an Oscar for Best Actress for the screen version of "The Miracle Worker" as does Patty Duke. The movie is errie and electrifying. It's a role she held very dear. The movie had an affect on me for the rest of my life. I remember seeing it on TV when I was very young, and I never forgot it. The fight scene in the diningroom between the two of them is outrageous. It's as close to seeing the play with Anne as we'll ever get. It is a performance unlike any other of her generation. Rich, and explosive.
Joan Crawford accepted the Oscar on the night Bancroft won. Anne was actually on stage that night returning to her role as Annie Sullivan. Anne beat out Bette Davis for her portrayal of Baby Jane, in "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane", and when she held the Oscar in her hands, she gave a speech that made Davis curl up in a ball for the rest of her life. Joan was in Heaven.
Anne meets and immediately falls in love with funny man Mel Brooks. Their marriage lasts until her death.
Bancroft carves out another role as the downtrodden wife of Peter Finch driven to madeness by his philandering in the movie "The Pumpin Eater". An Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
By this time she was more than ready to portray the alpha female. A role that was first offered to Doris Day, after she turned it down because it was "too risque" Bancroft jumped at it. An iconic performance, and one that would solidify her in pop culture forever. Another Oscar nomination.
The scene where Hoffman bangs his head on the wall when they're first on the hotel, was improvised by Hoffman. He is actually laughing. Before the wall incident, Mike Nichols (the director) asked Dustin to hold Bancroft's breast. The actress, unaware of this during the shooting, merely reacted by glancing downward, heaving, and removing his hand as if it were a dirty glove. It's a brilliant moment, and one Hoffman did not expect. He banga his head on the wall to keep from laughing. Once Anne was in character, there was very little that got her out.
Bancroft nearly died from the diet she went on to play the fading ballerina Diva. The water in MacClaine's face at the bar moment was improvised by Anne. If you watch closely you can see Shirley's TRULY surprised look.
Anne teamed with her husband Mel to do "To Be Or Not To Be". Mel always referred to her as the funny one.
She starred in "Agnes of God" and "Night Mother" earning Academy Award nominations for both roles. She then took a small role in "The Elephant Man", playing a stage-y stage actress coming to visit the deformed yet celebrated John Merrik. There's a scene after she first meets with John (a magnifiect John Hurt) and they begin a small conversation. She never openly reacts to Merriks' hideously deformed face, until a moment when he turns around. Bancroft takes a slight pause, and grabs onto a nearby shelf above the fireplace. Not too long, not to quick, but just enough to catch her breath, and almost faint dead away. It's a "10 Second Oscar" as Mitchell would say.
I love her in "Garbo Talks". It's a small movie not a lot of people remember, but there's a scene at the end, when Garbo is next to her at her bedside, and bancroft's character tells her the story of her life, and the size of her feet, that is one of the best monologues I've seen. She's one of those rare actors who can sustain a long take and fill every moment. Streep and Hepburn are the only other women that come to mind.
It was Anne that pushed Mel to do the stage version of "The Producers". It went on to win more Tonys than any other musical in Broadway history.
As The Mother in Firestein's "Torch Song". A shocking movie at the time.
She directed, produced and starred in "Fatso" a black comedy with Dom Deluise.
I love this picture of her. So happy. So elegant. A smart, intellectual woman with talent and enthusiasm for her craft. An original. Goodbye Anne. Peace.
"Why play with dolls," she recalled years later, "when you can sing 'I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate' on the street corner?"
Even so, by the time she left high school she had decided to become a laboratory technician. Instead, her mother insisted that she attend the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Her first Broadway show "Two For The Seesaw". She won a Tony for Best Supporting actress. Anne then began a long career in Television doing The Kraft Hour, Playhouse 90 and working alongside some other movie star hopefuls like Marlon Brando, Shirley Booth, and up and coming producing mogul Rod Serling.
Rehearsing.
There was never a question as to who would play Annie Sullivan in the broadway production of The Miracle Worker. Bancroft was the first choice, and won her second Tony Award in a row (right after "Seesaw"). This time for Best Actress.
Everyone pays their dues.
Her first big break comes in a Marilyn Monroe picture called "Don't Bother To Knock". An outstanding performance by Monroe it also carries a unique and interesting performance by a young stage actress, Annie Bancroft, as a nightclub singer (she was dubbed) who's worried about the phsychotic babysitter (Monroe) across the alley. A brilliant creepy movie, and a performance that gets Bancroft noticed.
Bancroft wins an Oscar for Best Actress for the screen version of "The Miracle Worker" as does Patty Duke. The movie is errie and electrifying. It's a role she held very dear. The movie had an affect on me for the rest of my life. I remember seeing it on TV when I was very young, and I never forgot it. The fight scene in the diningroom between the two of them is outrageous. It's as close to seeing the play with Anne as we'll ever get. It is a performance unlike any other of her generation. Rich, and explosive.
Joan Crawford accepted the Oscar on the night Bancroft won. Anne was actually on stage that night returning to her role as Annie Sullivan. Anne beat out Bette Davis for her portrayal of Baby Jane, in "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane", and when she held the Oscar in her hands, she gave a speech that made Davis curl up in a ball for the rest of her life. Joan was in Heaven.
Anne meets and immediately falls in love with funny man Mel Brooks. Their marriage lasts until her death.
Bancroft carves out another role as the downtrodden wife of Peter Finch driven to madeness by his philandering in the movie "The Pumpin Eater". An Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
By this time she was more than ready to portray the alpha female. A role that was first offered to Doris Day, after she turned it down because it was "too risque" Bancroft jumped at it. An iconic performance, and one that would solidify her in pop culture forever. Another Oscar nomination.
The scene where Hoffman bangs his head on the wall when they're first on the hotel, was improvised by Hoffman. He is actually laughing. Before the wall incident, Mike Nichols (the director) asked Dustin to hold Bancroft's breast. The actress, unaware of this during the shooting, merely reacted by glancing downward, heaving, and removing his hand as if it were a dirty glove. It's a brilliant moment, and one Hoffman did not expect. He banga his head on the wall to keep from laughing. Once Anne was in character, there was very little that got her out.
Bancroft nearly died from the diet she went on to play the fading ballerina Diva. The water in MacClaine's face at the bar moment was improvised by Anne. If you watch closely you can see Shirley's TRULY surprised look.
Anne teamed with her husband Mel to do "To Be Or Not To Be". Mel always referred to her as the funny one.
She starred in "Agnes of God" and "Night Mother" earning Academy Award nominations for both roles. She then took a small role in "The Elephant Man", playing a stage-y stage actress coming to visit the deformed yet celebrated John Merrik. There's a scene after she first meets with John (a magnifiect John Hurt) and they begin a small conversation. She never openly reacts to Merriks' hideously deformed face, until a moment when he turns around. Bancroft takes a slight pause, and grabs onto a nearby shelf above the fireplace. Not too long, not to quick, but just enough to catch her breath, and almost faint dead away. It's a "10 Second Oscar" as Mitchell would say.
I love her in "Garbo Talks". It's a small movie not a lot of people remember, but there's a scene at the end, when Garbo is next to her at her bedside, and bancroft's character tells her the story of her life, and the size of her feet, that is one of the best monologues I've seen. She's one of those rare actors who can sustain a long take and fill every moment. Streep and Hepburn are the only other women that come to mind.
It was Anne that pushed Mel to do the stage version of "The Producers". It went on to win more Tonys than any other musical in Broadway history.
As The Mother in Firestein's "Torch Song". A shocking movie at the time.
She directed, produced and starred in "Fatso" a black comedy with Dom Deluise.
I love this picture of her. So happy. So elegant. A smart, intellectual woman with talent and enthusiasm for her craft. An original. Goodbye Anne. Peace.
Comments
I'm surprising myself how broken up I am about Anne's passing. To be sitting here at my desk, tears streaming down my face, what's up with that? There was something about the way emotions played across her face, and her strength! This tiny woman, whose whole attitude, demeanor and talent made a ten-foot-tall impression every time she performed. She would tap into her adrenaline and her sharp-wittedness in moments of power, anger, courage and frustration in a way that was magnificent to behold. This was not a small person putting on a bluff, gruff exterior -- this was a magnificent lioness of a woman whose brains and character and strength of will happened to be housed in a small package. This is an authentic archetype personality, which crosses all ethnic lines. Anne embodied this like no other actor ever has.
The Miracle Worker - the miracle is that Hollywood allowed her (and almost the entire Broadway cast) to star in the movie for which she had received raves and a Tony on stage, and we weren't subjected to Kim Novac as Annie Sullivan. This is one of the great performances, on a par with Laurette Taylor's Amanda Wingfield. When she and Patty Duke fought, they weren't opponents; they were battling together, in different ways, to unlock Helen's mind and free her from her deaf-blind limitations. "W-A-T-E-R. It has a name!" When finally the light dawns in little Helen and she puts it together -- this has to be one of the most electrifying moments in the theater. To experience all at once the knowledge that this is a true story about these remarkable women, with a brilliant script, brilliant acting by Anne and Patty Duke, a crescendo of a music score, the pump, the water, Patty's hand on Anne's face while Anne exultantly nods "YES!" ... this is joy, pure and simple, an emotional crescendo rarely experienced and life-changing for the soul.
I loved the way Mel Brooks and Ann Bancroft interacted as a couple. Both strong, funny, smart, animated, reveling in each other's company, in each other's love for performing. Mel would launch into some riff, and Anne would beam and giggle with him, obviously delighted. This was not the put-on face of the tolerating wife. This was adoration borne of true admiration and appreciation for his talent and wit. Yet who other than Anne could stand up and be a powerhouse equal to a character as strong as Mel's? They were both small in stature, but I bet you would know they were at the party! I loved them together so much because they were just like my grandparents, my Jewish grandpa Al and my Italian grandma Kathryn, both from Brooklyn, who seemed like they were appearing in a perpetual vaudeville act. Funny, smart, enthusiastic and irrepressible, even in their nineties Kathryn and Al shared that same delight in each other that was obvious between Anne and Mel. My heart goes out to Mel now; when a Kleig light is extinguished, it can seem very dark indeed.
All my love, dear Anne, and say hello to Laurette for me.
Yup, Stevie - the dawning understanding moment at the wall is one of the most exciting moments in a film EVER. I am covered in goosebumps right now.
- Stevie
I can't quite put my finger on it, but I intend to change it. Even if it's one student at a time.
;-)