As I noted The Bronx Goes to Hollywood, there is quite a strong connection between New York and the Hollywood film industry. In addition to the many classic movies set in the Big Apple, there have been many Hollywood stars who came from New York. At Parkchester Library, we are currently presenting a series of films starring, written by, or directed by men and women who were born in our own borough, the Bronx. The next movie in the series (The Graduate, starring Bronx native Anne Bancroft) will be shown on Wednesday, December 14 at 10 AM.

Anne Bancroft was born on September 17, 1931 near Westchester Square in the Bronx—just about a twenty minute walk from Parkchester Library. She was raised in a “typical Italian Catholic family,” and from a young age she enjoyed performing. As her mother put it: “Anne was always an actress; when she was three years old she’d run into the street where the WPA workers were digging and sing for them.” She also employed her talents in school, taking roles in productions such as The Three Little Bears at P.S. 12 and Curse You, Jack Dalton! at Christopher Columbus High School.¹

For the latter, she performed under the name “Anne Tulane” rather than her real name, Anna Maria Louise Italiano. This was only the first of a few name changes: later she worked in radio as “Anne St. Raymond” and in television as “Annie Marno.” She finally became “Anne Bancroft” in 1951 when she signed a contract with 20th Century Fox and moved to Hollywood.²

In addition to her work in the film industry, Bancroft also won fame on Broadway after her 1958 debut in Two For the Seesaw.³ Although the character she portrayed in this breakout role was also from the Bronx, Bancroft was hesitant to attribute her success to this commonality. “I don’t believe that accents or background…has anything to do with it. I think it was because emotionally, I was built a great deal like the girl…and it was the emotional life of the girl that I felt similar to…”⁴

These powerful emotions, which Bancroft referred to as her “natural resource,” were evident in both her preparation for and realization of the dramatic roles she took on during her long career.⁵ After being cast as Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker, for example, Bancroft “spent weeks studying a group of handicapped children in New York’s Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and even taped her own eyes shut to experience the sensations of blindness.”⁶ Peter Finch, her co-star in The Pumpkin Eater, recalled an intensity which also speaks to Bancroft’s passion for her art: “I had to remind myself she was only acting. I thought she was going to kill me.”⁷

This dedication led Bancroft to win numerous awards, including an Oscar, two Golden Globes, two Emmys, and two Tonys. Over the course of her Hollywood career, Bancroft appeared in over fifty films. Her most famous roles were likely Annie Sullivan (The Miracle Worker) and Mrs. Robinson (The Graduate); she also played minor roles in several films made by her second husband, Mel Brooks.⁸

Bancroft passed away in 2005.
 

1 The Odyssey of Ruby Pepper, p. 2 (Films in Review vol. 31, January 1980)

2 The Odyssey of Ruby Pepper p.2–4

3 Interview with Anne Bancroft (conducted for the book Actors Talk About Acting)

4 The Odyssey of Ruby Pepper p. 7

5 Interview with Anne Bancroft

6 A Worker of Miracles p. 127 (Life, vol. 37, no. 13, September 28, 1959)

7 The Odyssey of Ruby Pepper p. 11

8 Anne Bancroft, ProQuest