Although Anne Bancroft may be best known as Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate (1967),
there are two roles I will always remember her for.
One is Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker (1962), who struggled in teaching the blind and deaf Helen Keller.
The difficulties
for the partially blind teacher were presented unflinchingly, from finger-spelling to table manners. The scene when
Annie constantly tried to keep Helen in her seat at the dining room table proved just that. Annie's efforts truly paid
off when she took Keller outside to refill a pitcher of water, where Keller was able to
understand and recognize the word "water" after getting wet, and said the word with sign language.
Out of all the roles she portrayed, the one that I will remember the most is a fallen woman whose life is changed by the
other miracle worker, the Son of God. That fallen woman was Mary Magdalene in the 1977 miniseries Jesus of Nazareth.
Among the best moments is her final scene when she tells Jesus' disciples she had witnessed His resurrection. When
her claims were dismissed as women's fantasies, she perfectly shot back with "Was His death a fantasy?
I saw him die!" before leaving in frustration.
It may seem surprising she had been married to Mel Brooks, considering she was a serious actress and he was a comedic
director/actor. Even more astounding was they had been married for more than 40 years, something that is not heard too
often in the entertainment industry. One of my favorite anecdotes was when Brooks called Bancroft his Obi-Wan Kenobi
for encouraging him
to turn his film The Producers (1968) into a hit Broadway musical (which will be adapted on the big screen in late 2005).
The Force may have been with Brooks in Spaceballs (1987)
but, in a sense, it was with him off-screen with the help of Anne.
To paraphrase Simon and Garfunkel, here's to you, Anne Bancroft.
Quotes on Anne Bancroft
"Three days later they called me from London: Anne Bancroft has accepted!
"...Miss Bancroft told me that she had always been fascinated by the figure of Mary Magdalene. She once described
her thoughts about her acceptance of the part:
'I chanced to receive an offer from a director I respected that I couldn't refuse -- a project that gives me every
guarantee, surrounded by companions I admire totally. There's little money, but never mind. I can earn more in
other projects less exciting than this one, which at least will give me satisfaction in playing the role.'"
-excerpts from "Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus: A Spiritual Diary" (Harper & Row, 1984) by Franco Zeffirelli (originally
published in Italian under the title "Il Mio Gesu"), which detailed Zeffirelli's filming of the miniseries Jesus of
Nazareth (1977) from conception to completion.
Quotes from Bancroft herself
"I was at a point where I was ready to say I am what I am because of what I am and if you like me I'm grateful,
and if you don't, what am I going to do about it?"
"Life is here only to be lived so that we can, through life, earn the right to death, which to me is paradise.
Whatever it is that will bring me the reward of paradise, I'll do the best I can."
"The best way to get most husbands to do something is to suggest that perhaps they're too old to do it."
"When Mel told his Jewish mother he was marrying an Italian girl, she said: 'Bring her over. I'll be in the kitchen
- with my head in the oven'."
"Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson" by Simon and Garfunkel
And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson,
Hide it in a hiding place
Coo coo ca-choo, Mrs. Robinson,
God bless you, please, Mrs. Robinson,
Sitting on a sofa
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson?
Related Links
"...I happened to mention: 'Of course, the ideal Magdalene would be Anne Bancroft.' I remembered her as superb,
from Anne of the Miracles [The Miracle Worker] to The Graduate, but I realized I was asking the
impossible. She is an actress who
works seldom -- by choice. She doesn't like to be away from her home with husband, Mel Brooks, and her children.
She demands prohibitive fees mainly to discourage requests and remain at peace.
We'd like to know
A little bit about you
For our files.
We'd like to help you learn
To help yourself.
Look around you. All you see
Are sympathetic eyes.
Stroll around the grounds
Until you feel at home.
Jesus loves you more than you will know
Wo wo wo
God bless you, please, Mrs. Robinson,
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
Hey hey hey, hey hey hey
Where no one ever goes.
Put it in you pantry with your cupcakes.
It's a little secret,
Just the Robinsons' affair.
Most of all, you've got to hide it
from the kids.
Jesus loves you more than you will know
Wo wo wo
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
Hey hey hey, hey hey hey
On a Sunday afternoon,
Going to the candidates' debate,
Laugh about it,
Shout about it,
When you've got to choose,
Every way you look at it you lose.
A nation turns its lonely eyes to you
Ooo ooo ooo.
"Joltin' Joe has left and gone away"
Hey hey hey, hey hey hey
BBC News | Entertainment | Film | Graduate star Anne Bancroft dies
FAnnetasic! A Tribute to the Miraculous Anne Bancroft
The Internet Movie Database's entry on Anne Bancroft