NEW YORK -- Actress Anne Bancroft, noted for her role as the seductive mother Mrs. Robinson in the 1967 movie classic "The Graduate," has died.

She was 73.

Bancroft was married twice -- the second time to actor-filmmaker Mel Brooks, from 1964 until her death.

The actress died of cancer Monday at Mount Sinai hospital, Brooks' spokesman John Barlow said Tuesday.

Bancroft won the 1962 Best Actress Oscar as the teacher of a young Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker." It was the same role for which she'd won the Tony Award on Broadway.

Patty Duke, who played Keller to Bancroft's Sullivan, told the AP that "there aren't superlatives enough in the world" to describe what it was like to work with Bancroft, adding that "on most nights we performed it felt as if we were one."

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Anne Bancroft Filmography

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But it was Bancroft's scene early in "The Graduate" that solidified her place in film history -- when Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) delivered the famous line, "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. ... Aren't you?"

Bancroft was playing the mother of Elaine Robinson (Katherine Ross), Benjamin's girlfriend.

After her win for "The Miracle Worker," Bancroft earned four additional Oscar nominations: for Best Actress for 1964's "The Pumpkin Eater," 1967's "The Graduate," 1977's "The Turning Point" and 1985's "Agnes of God."

Despite Bancroft's Oscar and the four other nominations, "The Graduate" overshadowed her other achievements. Bancroft complained to a 2003 interviewer that with all her work, people were still talking about "Mrs. Robinson."

Born in 1931 in The Bronx, New York, Bancroft's film debut came in 1952's "Don't Bother to Knock," according to the Internet Movie Database.

In addition to her Oscar-winning and nominated performances, Bancroft over the years starred in such films as "The Hindenburg," "The Elephant Man" and "Honeymoon in Vegas." Most recently, Bancroft starred as Ben Stiller's mother in the 2000 romantic comedy "Keeping the Faith" and as a con artist opposite Sigourney Weaver in the 2001 crime caper "Heartbreakers."

Bancroft also appeared in four of Brooks' films. She had an uncredited cameo in the filmmaker's "Blazing Saddles" and starred in "Silent Movie," "To Be or Not to Be" and "Dracula: Dead and Loving It."

She also directed frequent Brooks star Dom DeLuise in the 1980 comedy "Fatso" -- a film which she also wrote.

Inspired by Brooks' stage version of the film "The Producers," Bancroft returned to Broadway in 2002 for the first time since 1981, appearing in Edward Albee's "Occupant."

On television, Bancroft starred as Mary Magdalene in the 1977 mini-series "Jesus of Nazareth" and most recently, appeared as herself on the comedy series "Curb Your Enthusiasm" in 2004.

According to the Internet Movie Database, Bancroft had also voiced a role for the upcoming animated film "Delgo," which also features the voices of Val Kilmer and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Besides her husband, Bancroft is survived by her son, daughter-in-law and grandson.

The lights on Broadway will be dimmed Wednesday night in Bancroft's honor, the League of American Theatres said.

Funeral services for Bancroft will be private.