The first time Mel Brooks set his eyes on Anna Bancroft on Broadway in 1961, he knew he wanted her to be in his life. “She was wearing a stunning white dress, and she was singing in a sultry voice a Gertrude Niesen favorite, “I Wanna Get Married.” She was just incredibly beautiful,” Brooks recounted in his 2021 memoir “All About Me!” via Vulture. In 1964, the couple got married. Eight years later, their son Max — the couple’s only child together — was born.
Unsurprisingly, during their marriage, they also collaborated together on different movies, including “The Elephant Man,” where Brooks served as producer and Bancroft as an actor. Beyond the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, Brooks and Bancroft’s commitment to each other was unwavering. “You know, it took because Anne and I both grew up during the marriage, we both grew up, we both knew what was really important, and what love meant and … what doing for each other meant,” Brooks said in PBS’s “Mel Brooks: Make a Noise,” per People.
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Sadly, after four decades of marriage, Brooks’s happily-ever-after fairy tale with Bancroft was cut short. In June 2005, the “Deep in My Heart” star died of uterine cancer. “Living this life without her is not easy,” Brooks admitted in an interview with People. As for why he never dated or got married again, Brooks, now in his ’90s, told The New York Times: “Once you are married to Anne Bancroft, others don’t seem to be appealing. It’s as simple as that.”
