Date of Birth : Sep 17th 1931
Bancroft was a contract player in the early days of her career just as the studio contract system was ending. She left Hollywood because of the poor quality of roles she was being offered and returned to New York.
In 1958 she appeared opposite Henry Fonda in the Broadway production of Two for the Seesaw, for which she won a Tony Award, and another in 1962 for The Miracle Worker. She took the latter role back to Hollywood, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1962. Bancroft had returned to Broadway to star in Mother Courage and her Children. Joan Crawford accepted on her behalf, and later presented the award to her in New York.
A highly acclaimed television special, Annie: the Women in the Life of a Man, won her an Emmy award for her singing and acting. Bancroft is one of a very select few entertainers to win an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony award.
Other major film roles were in The Pumpkin Eater, 7 Women, and what is unquestionably her best-known role as Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate. Bancroft was ambivalent about her appearance in The Graduate; she stated in several interviews that the role overshadowed all of her other work.
In 1980, she made her debut as a screenwriter and director in Fatso, in which she starred along with Dom DeLuise. She was also a front-runner for the role of Aurora Greenway in Terms of Endearment, but declined in order to act in the remake of To Be or Not to Be (1983).
Bancroft received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6368 Hollywood Boulevard for her film work.
Bancroft died of uterine cancer on June 6, 2005 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Her death came as a surprise to even some of Bancroft’s friends; she was intensely private and had not released details of her illness.