Slap & Tickle

Poor Mel…

Ann Bancroft, an elegant actress if there ever was one, died today of cancer. I can’t tell you how many times I watched The Miracle Worker growing up. Bancroft’s performance won her a Tony and an Oscar, and despite it being a brilliant performance that one would think it but it was her role in The Graduate that sealed her into American pop culture superstardom.

Nary a straight guy growing up has not gone through an Anne Bancroft phase—that moment after seeing The Graduate for the first time, when they start looking at older women. For some it’s fleeting, for others it can last a long, long time.

Being a little gay boy, I loved her for a number of terrific performances:

• The Turning Point—lots of drama, lots of dance, plus that incredible fight on the steps of Lincoln Center
  Garbo Talks—duh. It’s GARBO!
• Agnes of God—Why do I love nuns so much?
• The Elephant Man—So accepting of someone different… meant a lot to a 16 year-old queer boy
• Torch Song Trilogy—What can I say, it was a great big gay movie and she was in it
• How to Make an American Quilt—…um, okay, I only remember two things from this film: 1) she smoked week, and 2) Johnathon Schaech’s bod… and not in that order.
• GI Jane—Face it, the movie is trashy, at best, but Bancroft brought it up from the depths. Every scene seemed to be of her in the back of a limo, but I loved it!
• Keeping the Faith—I loved this movie, this is one of those performances where an actress knows her part and doesn't try and upstage anyone... and that made me notice her more.
• The Miracle Worker—If you want to witness an actress at the height of her craft, this is the film. Sadly, too many think of this as Patty Duke’s movie, but Anne is the one that keeps it from being a comedy. I hate to use this cliché, but her performance was truly sublime, I can not think of a more deserving Oscar performance.

While she always seemed to have such an air of dignity, what threw almost everyone was her 40-year marriage to Mel Brooks. Italian Anne, an elegant woman who carried such an air of seriousness, paired with the voracious clown (and nice Jewish boy), Mel. She became his muse—she is credited with encouraging Mel to bring The Producers to Broadway as well as inspiring several of his films. When asked by a reporter what kept such an odd pairing together, she replied, “I’d never had so much pleasure being with another human being. I wanted him to enjoy me too. It was that simple.”

Thank you, Anne. We enjoyed you as well.