Biography:
Anna Maria Louisa Italiano was born Sept. 17, 1931, in the Bronx to Italian
immigrant parents.
Her father, Michael, was a patternmaker, and her mother, Mildred was a telephone
operator.
By the time Anne was 2 years old she was learning to sing and dance.
At seventeen years of age, she began her acting studies at New York's American
Academy of Dramatic Arts.
A graduate of the Academy in Manhattan, she was signed on by Twentieth Century-Fox
in 1952.
The studio gave her a choice of names...
...
(read more...)
; she picked Bancroft "because it sounded
dignified." Her nickname? Annie.
From July 1st 1953 - February 1957, she was married to Martin May, a building
contractor. Their marriage ended in divorce.
On December 21st, 1959 Anne appeared on the cover of Time Magazine.
In 1964, Anne Bancroft married award-winning comedian/filmmaker/musician The
Producers creator, Mel Brooks -- born Melvin Kaminsky.
They met on the set of a TV talk show. Mel later paid a woman who worked on the show
to tell him which restaurant Anne was going to eat at that night so he could
"accidentally" bump into her again and strike up a conversation.
In 1972, Bancroft had a son, Maximilian Brooks.
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In her other early films she co-starred with Cornel Wilde, Susan Hayward and Victor
Mature.
In 1980 Bancroft made her debut as a director/screenwriter in 'Fatso', with comic
Dom DeLuise.
The 1984 remake of the 1942 comedy classic To Be Or Not To Be was one of a number of
collaborations with her husband.
In a 1992 interview with The Times' Bernard Weinraub she admitted to taking parts
"even if they are one page," because "there are very few good scripts, even for
Julia Roberts."
In 1999, Bancroft received a Best Supporting Actress Emmy for her role in the
TV-movie 'Deep in My Heart.'
In 1999, she also became the fifteenth performer to win the Triple Crown of acting.
An Oscar: Best Actress, 'The Miracle Worker' (1962), Tonys: Best Supporting
Actress-Play, 'Two for the Seesaw' (1958) Best Actress-Play, 'The Miracle
Worker' (1960), and an Emmy: Best Supporting Actress-Miniseries/Movie, 'Deep in My
Heart' (1999).
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