The magnificence of Anne Bancroft

[Cyrano]

Anna Maria Italiano from the Bronx, NY, was known to us as Anne Bancroft. She woefully said that "No matter what else I've done, I'll always be remembered as "Mrs. Robinson" (in "The Graduate").

Tonight, PBS ran the film "The Miracle Worker" with Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke in which Anne Bancroft played Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller's teacher. If you haven't seen it, try to catch it. Yes, Anne Bancroft as the teacher of the blind, deaf child Helen Keller, and Patty Duke as Helen Keller, both won Academy Awards for this film. But no award could possibly recognize the magnificence of their performances.

Anna Maria Italiano, as much as most of us loved your portrayal as Mrs. Robinson, I hope that future generations will get to see "The Miracle Worker." Yes, you will always be Mrs. Robinson and you've been immortalized in Paul Simon's song. But as much as I loved you in that role, I don't believe anything will ever surpass your earlier portrayal of Annie Sullivan.

How many actresses get two roles like that in a lifetime? And how many could have turned them into screen icons? You're gone now, but the original art form or this country is film. And you will always rank among the greatest.

[Skittles]

1. a wonderful actress

so talented

[MonkeyFunk]

2. Oh, I cried when she died

I loved in her in so many movies. "Garbo Talks" and "Agnes of God" were two of my favorites. She was great in "Torch Song Trilogy", too. And "The Turning Point". OK, she was great in everything.

[Cyrano]

3. Until watching last night's rerun of "The Miracle Worker," I too

had fallen into the trap of remembering her only as Mrs. Robinson.

[Taverner]

4. I still can't beleive her husband outlived her