Anne Bancroft

She married Martin May in 1953. This marriage did not last long and the couple divorced in 1957.

She met the comedian Mel Brooks in 1961 and started a relationship with him. The couple tied the knot in 1964 and was blessed with a son a few years later. They remained happily married until Bancroft’s death.

During her later years she suffered from uterine cancer and died in 2005.

She was born as Anna Maria to first generation Italian parents in New York. Her mother Mildred was a telephone operator while her father Michael Italiano was a dress pattern maker. She had two sisters.

She displayed an early interest in acting and attended dancing and acting lessons from the time she was four.

She went to Christopher Columbus High School and graduated in 1948. Then she went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts to study acting and drama. She also attended American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women at the University of California.

She adopted the screen name Anne Marno and appeared in numerous television shows. She was also trying to break into films and was selected for the movie, ‘Don’t Bother to Knock’ in 1952. While entering films she again changed her name to Anne Bancroft.

Over the next few years she did get film roles but her career did not seem to be moving forward. Disappointed at the kind of roles she was being offered she turned to theatre.

She made her Broadway debut in 1958 as Gittel Mosca, a lovelorn woman in love with a married man in the play ‘Two for the Seesaw’ which was directed by Arthur Penn. Her performance was much appreciated.

In 1960, she played the leading role of Annie Sullivan, the sight-impaired teacher of young Helen Keller in the play ‘The Miracle Worker’. She reprised this role in the film version of the same play in 1962.

Returning to Broadway, she appeared in the play ‘Mother Courage and Her Children’ in 1963. Written by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht, the play is considered to be one of the greatest of the 20th century.

She is best known for her portrayal of the English teacher, Annie Sullivan who is appointed to teach the young Helen Keller in the biographical film, ‘The Miracle Worker’. The film was an instant critical hit and won her several prestigious awards.