God bless you, please, Mrs. Robinson, heaven holds a place.

Actress Anne Bancroft, 73, who came to define a generation of outdated parents attempting to relate to the apathetic next generation with an Oscar-nominated performance in the 1967 classic "The Graduate," has died from cancer. With more than 50 television and film performances to her credit, Bancroft was nominated for five Oscars in her lifetime, winning Best Actress in 1963 for "The Miracle Worker."

She was born Anna Maria Italiano in 1931 in the Bronx, New York, and made her film debut in 1953's "Don't Bother to Knock." Mostly known as a supporting actress for the next decade, it was Arthur Penn's "Worker," in which Bancroft's Annie Sullivan taught Helen Keller (Patty Duke) how to communicate, that made the actress an above-the-title name. The '60s would prove to be her best decade, as critically acclaimed turns in high-profile films like "The Pumpkin Eater," "7 Women" and "The Slender Thread" kept her among the ranks of Hollywood's most powerful dramatic actresses.

It was a sly turn as the cold, manipulating Mrs. Robinson in 1967's "The Graduate," however, that allowed Bancroft to create one of the most enduring characters in cinematic history. Bored with her marriage and quietly distraught over a world marching on without her, the chain-smoking, hard-drinking housewife added the word "desperate" to the phrase long before Teri Hatcher and friends would similarly seek to recapture their own youth through that of another. Simon & Garfunkel composed a blockbuster ode to the character, the film received seven Oscar nominations, and the groundbreaking Mrs. Robinson stereotype continues to play itself out in relationships ranging from Finch and Stifler's mom to Ashton and Demi.

The '60s were also good to Bancroft for another reason: a comedy writer and aspiring film director named Mel Brooks. The two were married in 1964, and Bancroft would occasionally appear in such Brooks productions as "Blazing Saddles" and 1983's World War II comedy "To Be or Not to Be," in which the two shared leading roles.

Although Bancroft's visibility lessened as the years went by, she kept busy with performances in everything from the 1980 David Lynch drama "The Elephant Man" to 1992's Nicolas Cage comedy "Honeymoon in Vegas." Her probable final performance, voicing a character alongside Val Kilmer and Jennifer Love Hewitt in the animated film "Delgo," is expected to be released later this year.