Cast

Patty Duke

Acting

Cast

Patty Duke

Known for

Acting

Born

1946-12-14

From

Elmhurst, Queens, New York, United States

Died

2016-03-29

Also known as Anna Marie Duke, Patty Duke-Astin, Anna Pearce

Biography

Anna Marie Duke (December 14, 1946 - March 29, 2016), known professionally as Patty Duke, was an American actress. Beginning her acting career in commercials and playing bit parts in television and movies, her breakthrough role was as Helen Keller in the Broadway version of "The Miracle Worker" (1959 - 1961). For the 1962 film adaptation, Duke reprised her role, which won the Academy Award for best supporting actress - at age 16, she was the youngest person ever to win an Oscar (a record later broken by Tatum O'Neal in 1973). Other early films included Billie (1965), Valley of the Dolls (1967), and Me, Natalie (1969). On television, Duke starred in the popular teen sitcom The Patty Duke Show (1963 - 1966), playing a dual role and garnering the first of ten Emmy nominations. She won Emmys for her roles in television film My Sweet Charlie (1970), miniseries Captains and the Kings (1976), and the 1979 TV movie version of The Miracle Worker (1979), this time portraying Annie Sullivan. She served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1985 - 1988. Off-screen, Duke's life was often tumultuous. Born in Elmhurst, New York, to Frances Margaret (McMahon), a cashier, and John Patrick Duke, a cab driver and handyman, her acting career began at age eight when she was turned over to her brother Ray Duke's managers, John and Ethel Ross, who changed her name and engaged in exploitative behavior. Duke was married four times: to director Harry Falk from 1965 - 1969; to writer Michael Tell in 1970 (with whom she became mother to actor Sean Astin); to actor John Astin from 1972 - 1985 (with who she became mother to actress Mackenzie Astin); and to drill sergeant Michael Pearce from 1986 until her death (with whom she had two stepdaughters and an adopted son Kevin). In 1982, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which was the subject of her second book, "A Brilliant Madness: Living with Manic Depression Illness" (1992). Duke was also a political advocate for issues such as the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment), AIDS awareness, and nuclear disarmament. She died on March 29, 2016, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, of sepsis from a ruptured intestine.

Patty Duke

Patty Duke

Biography

Amityville: The Evil Escapes

Valley of the Dolls

Fatal Judgement

The Miracle Worker

The Swarm

A Killer Among Friends

Me, Natalie

A Season for Miracles

Prelude to a Kiss

Billie

Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby

Amazing Love

Little John

Love Finds A Home

Sex at 24 Frames Per Second

Curse of the Black Widow

By Design

Harvest of Fire

When He Didn't Come Home

No Child of Mine

Bigger Than the Sky

Willy/Milly

Love Lessons

The Miracle Worker

I Love Liberty

Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive

Something So Right

Wuthering Heights

Murder Without Conviction

Swiss Family Robinson

The Power and the Glory

Fire!

Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door

September Gun

Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure

Absolute Strangers

Race Against Time: The Search for Sarah

Kimberly

4D Man

A Christmas Memory

The Daydreamer

Country Music Holiday

Before and After

My Sweet Charlie

Inside 'the Swarm'

You'll Like My Mother

Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace

Meet Me in St. Louis

Deadly Harvest

Fight for Life

She Waits

Family of Strangers

When the Vows Break

Always Remember I Love You

Killer on Board

The Violation of Sarah McDavid

Journey to the Unknown

Please Don't Hit Me, Mom

An American Girl

Unanswered Prayers

Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1

Nightmare

The Babysitter

To Face Her Past

Two on a Bench

The Patty Duke Show: Still Rockin' in Brooklyn Heights

A Family Upside Down

Best Kept Secrets

The Women's Room

The Storyteller

George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation

Hard Day at Blue Nose

The Goddess

Last Wish

Happy Anniversary

If Tomorrow Comes

Cries from the Heart