Anne Bancroft was already a distinguished actress with an
impressive list of stage, film and TV credits when she was offered -- and almost
turned down -- the role that would become a '60s icon: Mrs. Robinson, the sexy,
middle-aged ... moreseductress in 1967's "The Graduate." Bancroft (born Anna Maria Louise Italiano)
was bemused by how Mrs. Robinson eclipsed other noteworthy performances,
including her Tony-winning run on Broadway in "Two for the Seesaw" (opposite Henry Fonda), and the role of Helen Keller's teacher in the
stage and movie versions of "The Miracle Worker." Bancroft's stage work, which
rescued her from an early career in B movies, equipped her to become one of the
most respected and versatile actresses of the '60s and '70s, earning multiple
Academy Award nominations and the Oscar for best actress (for "The Miracle
Worker"). Bancroft costarred in real life with second husband Mel Brooks, the comedian, director and producer, with whom
she appeared in 1983's "To Be or Not To Be."
