Actress Anne Bancroft Dies At 73

American actress Anne Bancroft, best known for her role as the seductive "Mrs. Robinson" in the 1967 movie The Graduate has died of cancer.

A spokesman for Bancroft's husband, film director Mel Brooks, says the 73-year-old actress died on Monday of cancer at a New York hospital.

Bancroft was born Anna Maria Italiano in 1931 in New York. Her lengthy film and theater career included an Oscar-winning performance in the 1962 movie The Miracle Worker, in which she portrayed a teacher.

Bancroft also won a Tony award for her performance in the same role in the stage version of The Miracle Worker.

But she remains best known by the general public for her role in The Graduate, in which she played a wealthy housewife who seduces her daughter's friend - played by Dustin Hoffman.

Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.