Anne Bancroft dies

  Anne Bancroft won an Oscar in 1962 for her powerfully moving portrayal of Annie Sullivan, the inspiring teacher of the young Helen Keller in the film 'The Miracle Worker'. It was one of her proudest moments but it was her role as the rapaciously seductive, bored middle-class housewife, in 'The Graduate' five years later, that worked miracles for her career.

Bancroft avoided the trap of type-casting in her later work but she would always be frustrated at the near-obsession with her as the sultry Mrs Robinson. 'The Graduate' would cement her in the public consciousness, and launch her young co-star, the object of her cinematic affections, Dustin Hoffman.

He became a movie star while Anne Bancroft became known for her willingness to take on a challenging range of personas: as Golda Meir in the stage play, 'Golda' ; Mary Magdalene in Franco Zeffirelli's 'Jesus of Nazareth'; as Winston Churchill's American mother in the television series 'Young Winston'; the author, Helene Hanff in the film, '84 Charing Cross Road' and as the eccentric Miss Havisham in an adaptation of Dickens' 'Great Expectations'.

Anne Bancroft was also a regular in the comedy films made by her beloved second husband Mel Brooks,with whom she had a son. Showing impeccable instincts, she persuaded Brooks to create a stage musical out of his film 'The Producers'. It's become one of Broadway's most successful shows.

More than fifty years ago, this New York-born daughter of Italian immigrants was persuaded by Hollywood studio bosses to change her name -- Anna Maria Italiano -- to help her career. It was one of the few compromises made by one of America's finest and most artistically uncompromising actresses.

Karen O'Brien, BBC News

Vocabulary:

rapaciously seductive: sexually very hungry; if someone is rapacious they have a great appetite for something

worked miracles: here: produced great events

avoided the trap of type-casting: managed not to play similar roles in other films

sultry: causing or showing great sexual attraction

cement: join together; here: to establish permanently

launch: begin; here: to give somebody the first chance to perform

personas: characters a person takes on; here: parts in a film

beloved: dearly loved

impeccable instincts: faultless abilities to act in a certain way (without having to learn it)

compromises: agreements that are acceptable to both people in an argument (with each not getting 100% of what they asked for originally)

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