(Ms. Dinsmoor) Anne Bancroft has a career rich in film, theatre and
television credits. Most recently, the Oscar, Tony and Emmy Award winner starred in the films "G.I. Jane," "Critical Care," "Home for the Holidays," "Honeymoon in Vegas" and "Point of No Return." Ms. Bancroft won the 1963 Academy Award for her work as
'Annie Sullivan' in the film version of "The Miracle Worker," a role for which she also
won the 1960 Tony Award. She was honored with four more Oscar nominations for her
appearances in "The Pumpkin Eater," which also brought her the British Academy
Award, "The Graduate," "The Turning Point" and "Agnes of God."
Other films include "The Elephant Man," "Young Winston," "The Prisoner of
Second Avenue," "To Be or Not to Be," "Night Mother," "84 Charing Cross Road" and
"Torch Song Trilogy."
A student at the American Film Institute's Womens' Directing Workshop, in
1979 she wrote, directed and starred in the motion picture "Fatso."
Ms. Bancroft's theatre credits include her Broadway stage debut opposite Henry
Fonda in "Two For the Seesaw" for which she won a Tony Award, "The Devils," Jerome Robbins' staging of "Mother Courage," Mike Nichols' revival of "The Little Foxes," "A Cry of Players," the title role in "Golda" which brought her a third Tony nomination, "Duet For One" with Max von Sydow and "The Mystery of the Rose Bouquet."
On television she starred in "Annie: The Women in the Life of a Man." She won a
1970 Emmy Award for that production, and earned two Emmy nominations in 1992 for
"Broadway Bound" and the American Playhouse presentation of "Mrs. Cage." Her
additional TV credits include "Jesus of Nazareth," "Marco Polo," "That Was The Week
That Was" and the BBC series "Freddie and Max."
Anne Bancroft as Ms. Dinsmoor
Starring as Ms. Dinsmoor, a wealthy and
bitter recluse deserted twenty years earlier on her wedding day, Bancroft again displays a keen understanding of the part, while approaching it with a characteristic no-holds-barred boldness. The Oscar©-winner has always been renowned for the truth she brings to her characters.
"Ms. Dinsmoor is one of those people whom Dickens originally knew existed,
someone who spends her life just hurting," Bancroft explains. "She hurts and then hurts
others. Unfortunately, for Ms. Dinsmoor, it's too late for her to get off this path of
hurting."
Bancroft enjoyed an instant rapport with Cuarón. "I thought Alfonso was the
funniest, most charming, most adorable man I ever met," she shares. "We started talking
about who are the royalty of different countries and I told him, 'Movie stars are the
royalty of the United States,' and he said, 'Yes, your majesty.' He was so serious that
we just laughed and laughed."