Patty Duke
Acting
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.
Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby
as Rosemary Woodhouse
Age 29 (now 69)
Gotta Get Off This Merry-Go-Round: 'Valley of the Dolls'
as Neely O'Hara/Self
Age 59 (now 69)
Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door
as Bridget Connolly
Age 59 (now 69)
Miracle on the Mountain: The Kincaid Family Story
as Anne Kincaid
Age 54 (now 69)
The Patty Duke Show: Still Rockin' in Brooklyn Heights
as Patty Lane / Cathy Lane MacAllister
Age 52 (now 69)
Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Age 52 (now 69)
Race Against Time: The Search for Sarah
as Natalie Porter
Age 49 (now 69)
Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive
as Jean Williams
Age 45 (now 69)
Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure
as Carolyn Henry
Age 42 (now 69)
Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace
as Althea Sloan
Age 41 (now 69)
George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation
as Martha Washington
Age 39 (now 69)
The Violation of Sarah McDavid
as Sarah McDavid
Age 34 (now 69)
Rosetti and Ryan: Men Who Love Women
as Sylvia Crawford
Age 30 (now 69)
Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby
as Rosemary Woodhouse
Age 29 (now 69)
Valley of the Dolls: A World Premiere Voyage
as Interviewee
Age 21 (now 69)
Jacqueline Susann and the Valley of the Dolls
George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation
as Martha Washington
Age 39 (now 69)
Captains and the Kings
as Bernadette Hennessey Armagh
Age 29 (now 69)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as Self
Age 15 (now 69)
Gathering insights...
Also Known As
Anna Marie Duke, Patty Duke-Astin, Anna Pearce, Patty Duke Astin
IMDB
nm0001157