Happy
Birthday, Annie!
September 17, 2011
Our individuality is all, all, that we have... blessed in the twinkle of the morning star is the one who nurtures it and rides it, in grace and love and wit. ~ Tom Robbins
Eighty years ago today, an amazing individual came to the planet, graced it with velvety exuberance, amazing talent, utter grace, unmatched wit... and left it, and us, changed forever. Her smile lit up the world. Her eyes could break our hearts, warm us to our marrow, or scare the hell out of us, depending on what she was choosing to convey. Take a moment and do something a little special to remember her today! I can't imagine what my life would have been like without her, and I do not even want to try.
A fanne named Ellie in London writes:
I just wanted to add that I am currently designing a new tattoo for myself which will be a pin-up of Mrs. Robinson and everything will be Anne-related! She is so phenomenal!
Interesting item from Mike Nichols:
He explained that Bancroft was always his first choice to play Mrs. Robinson despite speculation that he originally wanted Doris Day for the part. Nichols explained that he told Bancroft that the key to Mrs. Robinson is the character’s anger at having sold out for a life of wealth. He said Bancroft once told him, “I feel as though I never lost my anger after that.” Nichols described Bancroft as never having done the expected thing in any of her subsequent roles.
source
Fatso conjures up nice reflections, and dangers, of growing up Italian here.
Looking for some light reading? It's not really Anne-related, but it's still enjoyable because it's about Dustin Hoffman. Anne is only mentioned, but do continue reading if you've got some time to spare -- The Day Dustin Hoffman's House Blew Up.
My wife and I (and our three-year-old son) lived at 16 West 11th Street in a house owned by Joe Hazan and his wife, the painter Jane Freilicher. We lived on the third floor. Dustin Hoffman and his wife and daughter lived on the second floor. Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft owned a house down the street and rented half of it to James Goldman, who wrote The Lion in Winter. Barbara Harris rented an apartment across the street. Actress Cynthia Harris and her husband, producer Gene Wolsk, owned a house. Among these artists, actors, writers, there was a certain contact. But generally, as in most of Manhattan, there was something insular and isolated about the lives of the people on the street. Until the house at 18 West 11th Street exploded.
more
Mel Brooks Remembers Love Anne Bancroft: "We Were Glued Together"
(Sigh) so nice. Here.
I've decided to keep the candles for Anne going all year long. If you ever want to light a candle for her, the group I created exclusively for her candles is at this link. The candles only stay lit for a couple of days, but I find it very comforting to stop and light one during the week and remember Annie. I hope to see you there sometime!
If you would like to share memories or thoughts about any of Anne's performances, I'd love to include them here for fellow fannes to enjoy.
If you enjoyed your visit & would like to help keep this site going:
Remembrance is love's last gift.
June 4, 2011
Rebooting my life after a terribly, um, challenging winter and spring... thanks for your patience.
Patty Duke directs the show that made her famous
She and Bancroft became lifelong friends. During rehearsals at Interplayers, Duke sported the charm bracelet that Bancroft gave her – which includes two boxing gloves, representing their fight scene.
more
Nice interview with Mel here.
Brooks winds up our conversation with a lyrical memory from Florida. His mother retired to Miami Beach, and Brooks and his late wife, Anne Bancroft, had a place on nearby Fisher Island. When in Florida, he enjoyed going to the Gulfstream and Hialeah horse racetracks.
Hialeah, especially, was amazing when the pink flamingos that roosted in the infield would fly around the track. "Ah, the flamingos at Hialeah,'' Brooks says. "It would make your heart stop it was so beautiful.''
Funnyman Mel Brooks apparently is getting the last laugh in real estate, too. The director of ribald comedy classics such as Blazing Saddles, The Producers and Young Frankenstein has listed his 4,000-square-foot, oceanview condominium in a Santa Monica, Calif., high-rise for $5,995,000.
The ninth-floor unit was created from four contiguous apartments and features hardwood floors, built-in cabinets and floor-to-ceiling sliding glass panels that enhance the killer Pacific Ocean views.
Brooks was married to actress Anne Bancroft, who died of cancer in 2005. He is said to own at least five residences scattered in both California and New York.
source
I hate reading a tease like this and not hearing the entire story!
Ziegler's acting includes recurring and guest roles in many notable TV series and films, and she is probably the voice on your cell phone’s GPS, so kindly stop yelling at her (although she herself was once yelled at by Anne Bancroft).
source
A fannetastic article, but why in the world would they leave out Anne in the "family of writers??"
The Brooks Family of Writers: Michelle, Max and Mel
Max describes how his mother shaped his personality. “She was very analytical. She was always perceived by the public as Mrs. Robinson but that’s not who she was. Her favorite book was The Microbe Hunters, about the discovery of viruses. She’d read caveman stories and books about human evolution and early farmers to me when I was a kid. My dad was fascinated by history. These two people were like Russian spies or sleeper agents – not anything like how the world saw them.”
If anything bothers Max about growing up as Mel’s and Anne’s son, it’s the rudeness. “We couldn’t go out without being interrupted, especially by Jewish guys my dad’s age who would try to convince him they could’ve been Mel Brooks had they not gone to dental school and that my dad was just lucky and they were just as funny.
(much more at the link here)
Max is growing his own sugar these days.
Anne's gorilla flick is showcased at this blog, with great pics like this one!
courtesy C. Parker
October 22, 2010
Hedy has sent
word that Garbo Talks is available for instant viewing on Netflix!
courtesy toutlecine.com
Paul sent this from the Jeopardy archive... nice! "I'll take Women's Firsts for $800, Alex."
Very interesting item here (although the first sentence makes me cringe). Sony has a new program to provide DVDs on demand -- even if only one customer wants them -- for just $19.94 plus shipping!!
Performances by Anne Bancroft, Kirk Douglas, Omar Sharif and other silver-screen stars are available digitally, but too many of their films lack enough fans (
) to justify, from a commercial standpoint, the printing of entire runs of DVDs leaving unfulfilled those viewers who would pay for them.
Making matters worse, some — by no means all — fans of those classics lack the equipment or inclination to stream or download movies to their television sets. What’s a movie studio to do?
To solve this long-tail riddle, Sony’s Columbia Classics’ new Screen Classics by Request department will manufacture any film from a catalog with 100 titles for starters, in the DVD format, accepting orders by web or phone. Titles available at launch include The Pumpkin Eater (1964, Anne Bancroft, Peter Finch), Footsteps in the Fog (1955, Stewart Granger, Jean Simmons), The Juggler (1953, Kirk Douglas), I Never Sang For My Father (1970, Melvyn Douglas and Gene Hackman) and Genghis Kahn (1965, Omar Sharif).
