Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson *

Anne Bancroft, an actress for fifty years, has died of uterine cancer in New York. She was 73. Of her many roles, she might be best known today for playing the older seductress to Dustin Hoffman's Benjamin in The Graduate. One of the key scenes was filmed in the Lobby Bar at the Ambassador Hotel. Bancroft won the Oscar for best actress for The Miracle Worker and was nominated in the category four other times, including for The Graduate. Husband Mel Brooks announced that she died yesterday. * 4 p.m. update: Channel 7 leads its news with Bancroft, Channel 2 goes with the Alhambra freeway standoff. Susan A. Kitchens has an early blog tribute.