Patty Duke
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.
Photos
Films (93)
Power of the Air
2018 · Charlene Summers
Amazing Love
2012 · Helen
La femme de trop
2010 · Irene
Les Chemins de l'espérance
2009 · Mary
Gotta Get Off This Merry-Go-Round: 'Valley of the Dolls'
2006 · Self / Neely O'Hara (archive footage)
The Divine Ms. Susann
2006 · Self (archive footage)
The Dish on Dolls
2006 · Neely O'Hara (archive footage)
Mariage contrarié
2006 · Bridget Connolly
Le Cyrano De Portland
2005 · Mrs. Keene / Earlene
Innocence suspecte
2004 · Mother Joseph
Playboy: Sex at 24 Frames Per Second
2003 · Self
L'enfant du passé
2002 · Sylvia
Miracle on the Mountain: The Kincaid Family Story
2001 · Anne Kincaid
Love Lessons
2000 · Sunny Andrews
A Season for Miracles
1999 · Angel
Kimberly
1999 · Dr. Feinstenberger
Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1
1999 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Patty Duke Show: Still Rockin' in Brooklyn Heights
1999 · Patty Lane / Cathy Lane MacAllister
When He Didn't Come Home
1998 · Faye Dolan
A Christmas Memory
1997 · Sook
To Face Her Past
1996 · Beth Bradfield
Harvest of Fire
1996 · Annie Beiler
Race Against Time: The Search for Sarah
1996 · Natalie Porter
When the Vows Break
1995 · Barbara Parker
Cries from the Heart
1994 · Terry
One Woman's Courage
1994 · Grace McKenna
No Child of Mine
1993 · Lucille Jenkins
Family of Strangers
1993 · Beth Thompson
A Killer Among Friends
1992 · Jean Monroe
Prelude to a Kiss
1992 · Mrs. Boyle
Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive
1992 · Jean Williams
Last Wish
1992 · Betty Rollin
Absolute Strangers
1991 · Judge Ray
Always Remember I Love You
1990 · Ruth Monroe
Call Me Anna
1990 · Patty Duke, Co-Producer, Novel
Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure
1989 · Carolyn Henry
Amityville: The Evil Escapes
1989 · Nancy Evans
Hitch-Hikers
1989
Fatal Judgement
1988 · Anne Capute
Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace
1988 · Althea Sloan
Fight for Life
1987 · Shirley Abrams
Willy/Milly
1986 · Doris Niceman
George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation
1986 · Martha Washington
A Time to Triumph
1986
Best Kept Secrets
1984 · Laura Dietz
September Gun
1983 · Sister Dulcina
Please Don't Hit Me, Mom
1983 · Barbara Reynolds
Something So Right
1982 · Jeanne Bosnick
By Design
1982 · Helen
I Love Liberty
1982 · Self
The Violation of Sarah McDavid
1981 · Sarah McDavid
The Girl on the Edge of Town
1981 · Martha Swenson
The Babysitter
1980 · Liz Benedict
Mom, the Wolfman and Me
1980 · Deborah Bergman
The Women's Room
1980 · Lily
The Miracle Worker
1979 · Anne Sullivan
Before and After
1979 · Carole Matthews
The Swarm
1978 · Rita
A Family Upside Down
1978 · Wendy
Having Babies III
1978 · Leslee Wexler
Inside 'the Swarm'
1978 · Self
The Storyteller
1977 · Sue Davidoff
Killer on Board
1977 · Norma Walsh
Curse of the Black Widow
1977 · Laura Lockwood
Rosetti and Ryan: Men Who Love Women
1977 · Sylvia Crawford
Fire!
1977 · Dr. Peggy Wilson
Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby
1976 · Rosemary Woodhouse
Hard Day at Blue Nose
1974 · Adelaide
Nightmare
1974 · Jan Richards
You'll Like My Mother
1972 · Francesca Kinsolving
Deadly Harvest
1972 · Jenny
She Waits
1972 · Laura Wilson
If Tomorrow Comes
1971 · Eileen Phillips
Two on a Bench
1971 · Macy Kramer
Birdbath
1971 · Velma Sparrow
My Sweet Charlie
1970 · Marlene Chambers
Me, Natalie
1969 · Natalie Miller
Journey to the Unknown
1969 · Barbara King
Valley of the Dolls
1967 · Neely O'Hara
Valley of the Dolls: A World Premiere Voyage
1967 · Interviewee
Jacqueline Susann and the Valley of the Dolls
1967
The Daydreamer
1966 · Thumbelina (voice)
Billie
1965 · Billie
The Power and the Glory
1963 · Coral
The Miracle Worker
1962 · Helen Keller
4D Man
1959 · Marjorie Sutherland
Meet Me in St. Louis
1959 · Tootie Smith
Happy Anniversary
1959 · Debbie Walters
Swiss Family Robinson
1958 · Lydia
The Goddess
1958 · Emily Ann Faulkner (Child)
Wuthering Heights
1958 · Young Cathy
An American Girl
1958 · Augusta Davis
Country Music Holiday
1958 · "Sis" Brand
Séries (51)
Liv et Maddie
2013 · Great Aunt Hilary, Grandma Janice
Hawaii 5-0
2010 · Sylvia Spencer
Diva de l'au-delà
2009
Glee
2009 · Jan
Good Day Live
2001 · Self
First Years
2001
Backstory
2000 · Herself - Interviewee
Family Law
1999 · Judge Sylvia Formenti
Judging Amy
1999 · Valerie Bing
Amazing Grace
1995 · Hannah Miller
Touched by an Angel
1994 · Nancy Williams, Jean
Intimate Portrait
1993 · Self - Narrator (voice), Self
A Matter of Justice
1993
Frasier
1993 · Alice (voice)
The Torkelsons
1991 · Catharine Jeffers
J.J. Starbuck
1987
Karen's Song
1987 · Karen Matthews
George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation
1986 · Martha Washington
Hail to the Chief
1985 · President Julia Mansfield
George Washington
1984 · Martha Washington
It Takes Two
1982 · Molly Quinn
Hotel
1982
Entertainment Tonight
1981 · Self
Hanging by a Thread
1979 · Sue Grainger
Women in White
1979 · Cathy Payson
La croisière s'amuse
1977 · Shirlee Warner, Lilly Mackim, Jane Fletcher
Captains and the Kings
1976 · Bernadette Hennessey Armagh
Police Story
1973
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
Ghost Story
1972 · Linda Colby
The Sixth Sense
1972
Night Gallery
1970
Hawaii Five-O
1969 · Toni
Journey to the Unknown
1968 · Barbara King
The Dick Cavett Show
1968 · Self - Guest
Hollywood Squares
1966 · Self
Shindig!
1964 · Self - Singer
The Patty Duke Show
1963 · Patty Lane / Cathy Lane
The Merv Griffin Show
1962 · Self
The Tonight Show avec Johnny Carson
1962 · Self
The Virginian
1962 · Sue Ann McRae
The Mike Douglas Show
1961 · Self
Ben Casey
1961
DuPont Show of the Month
1957
The Perry Como Show
1956
Tony Awards
1956 · Self - Awards Custodian, Self - Presenter
The Oscars
1953 · Self
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951 · Angel, Sylvia
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948 · Self
Kraft Television Theatre
1947
Golden Globe Awards
1944 · Self - Presenter