Anne Bancroft, Stage and Film Star Dies at 73

Just the other day Max and I were watching a re-run of Mad About You. It's an episode that stars Mel Brooks. Max was laughing hysterically. I was laughing too, but I'd seen that one a few times already. I mentioned to Max that he was Anne Bancroft's husband, and admired what a funny and talented couple they were. I remember drifting off and thinking there must be a lot of humor in that house. It must be like our house, where we laugh and try to make eachother laugh all the time.

I started crying this morning when I read this headline. She was a dynamic actress, and stars in one of my all time favorite holiday movies, Home for the Holidays.

Anne Bancroft, the stage and film star whose signature triumphs in a 50-year career ranged from the courageous Annie Sullivan in "The Miracle Worker" to the hungrily seductive Mrs. Robinson in "The Graduate," died on Monday at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan. She was 73 and had homes in Manhattan and Los Angeles. The cause was uterine cancer, said John Barlow, a spokesman for Ms. Bancroft's husband, Mel Brooks.

Graced with a sultry voice and expressive mouth, Ms. Bancroft could appear both tough and vulnerable, and she eagerly sought out nearly every kind of role, maturing effortlessly over the decades. She lent a singular potency to parts as varied as Brecht's "Mother Courage" and the mother superior of a convent, and from an aging ballerina to Prime Minister Golda Meir of Israel. She repeatedly won praise for her work, as well as an Academy Award and two Tonys.