Patty Duke
Known for: 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.
Filmography
Series
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
Series
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
1961
Series
Hawaii Five-0
Sylvia Spencer
2010
Series
Frasier
Alice (voice)
1993
Series
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
1962
Series
The Love Boat
Shirlee Warner
1977
Series
The Love Boat
Lilly Mackim
1977
Series
The Love Boat
Jane Fletcher
1977
Series
Hawaii Five-O
Toni
1969
Series
Glee
Jan
2009
Series
Touched by an Angel
Nancy Williams
1994
Series
Touched by an Angel
Jean
1994
Series
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest
1968
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter
1944
Series
Judging Amy
Valerie Bing
1999
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Awards Custodian
1956
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter
1956
Good Day Live
Self
2001
Series
The Virginian
Sue Ann McRae
1962
Series
Hotel
1982
Series
Intimate Portrait
Self - Narrator (voice)
1993
Series
Intimate Portrait
Self
1993
Series
Ben Casey
1961
Series
Drop Dead Diva
2009
Series
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
1948
Series
Kraft Television Theatre
1947
Series
Family Law
Judge Sylvia Formenti
1999
Series
Night Gallery
1970
Series
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
Series
The Oscars
Self
1953
Series
Police Story
1973
Series
Liv and Maddie
Grandma Janice
2013
Series
Liv and Maddie
Great Aunt Hilary
2013
Series
The Patty Duke Show
Patty Lane / Cathy Lane
1963
Series
Entertainment Tonight
Self
1981
Series
Hollywood Squares
Self
1966
Series
Shindig!
Self - Singer
1964
Series
Ghost Story
Linda Colby
1972
Series
DuPont Show of the Month
1957
Series
The Sixth Sense
1972
Series
The Torkelsons
Catharine Jeffers
1991
Series
Captains and the Kings
Bernadette Hennessey Armagh
1976
Series
J.J. Starbuck
1987
Series
Journey to the Unknown
Barbara King
1968
Series
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Angel
1951
Series
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Sylvia
1951
Series
It Takes Two
Molly Quinn
1982
Series
Hail to the Chief
President Julia Mansfield
1985
Film
The Miracle Worker
Helen Keller
1962
Film
Prelude to a Kiss
Mrs. Boyle
1992
Series
George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation
Martha Washington
1986
Film
Valley of the Dolls
Neely O'Hara
1967
Film
Playboy: Sex at 24 Frames Per Second
Self
2003
Series
George Washington
Martha Washington
1984
Series
A Matter of Justice
1993
Series
The Perry Como Show
1956
Series
Backstory
Herself - Interviewee
2000
Series
First Years
2001
Series
Hanging by a Thread
Sue Grainger
1979
Film
A Killer Among Friends
Jean Monroe
1992
Film
Amityville: The Evil Escapes
Nancy Evans
1989
Film
The Swarm
Rita
1978
Series
Women in White
Cathy Payson
1979
Film
Me, Natalie
Natalie Miller
1969
Film
Love Finds A Home
Mary
2009
Film
Curse of the Black Widow
Laura Lockwood
1977
Film
Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby
Rosemary Woodhouse
1976
Karen's Song
Karen Matthews
1987
Amazing Grace
Hannah Miller
1995
Film
Billie
Billie
1965
Film
A Season for Miracles
Angel
1999
Film
By Design
Helen
1982
Film
Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1999
Film
You'll Like My Mother
Francesca Kinsolving
1972
Film
When He Didn't Come Home
Faye Dolan
1998
Film
Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door
Bridget Connolly
2006
Film
I Love Liberty
Self
1982
Film
Meet Me in St. Louis
Tootie Smith
1959
Film
The Dish on Dolls
Neely O'Hara (archive footage)
2006
Fatal Judgement
Anne Capute
1988
Film
Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive
Jean Williams
1992
Film
Two on a Bench
Macy Kramer
1971
Film
Last Wish
Betty Rollin
1992
Film
The Violation of Sarah McDavid
Sarah McDavid
1981
Film
Absolute Strangers
Judge Ray
1991
Film
Mom, the Wolfman and Me
Deborah Bergman
1980
Film
No Child of Mine
Lucille Jenkins
1993
Film
Bigger Than the Sky
Mrs. Keene / Earlene
2005
Film
Kimberly
Dr. Feinstenberger
1999
Film
When the Vows Break
Barbara Parker
1995
Film
Amazing Love
Helen
2012
Film
Power of the Air
Charlene Summers
2018
Film
Always Remember I Love You
Ruth Monroe
1990
Film
The Power and the Glory
Coral
1963
Film
Rosetti and Ryan: Men Who Love Women
Sylvia Crawford
1977
Film
Miracle on the Mountain: The Kincaid Family Story
Anne Kincaid
2001
Film
A Family Upside Down
Wendy
1978
Film
A Time to Triumph
1986
Film
The Goddess
Emily Ann Faulkner (Child)
1958
Film
Cries from the Heart
Terry
1994
Film
If Tomorrow Comes
Eileen Phillips
1971
Film
Please Don't Hit Me, Mom
Barbara Reynolds
1983
Film
Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure
Carolyn Henry
1989
Film
My Sweet Charlie
Marlene Chambers
1970
George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation
Martha Washington
1986
Film
Gotta Get Off This Merry-Go-Round: 'Valley of the Dolls'
Self / Neely O'Hara (archive footage)
2006
Film
The Miracle Worker
Anne Sullivan
1979
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace
Althea Sloan
1988
Film
Willy/Milly
Doris Niceman
1986
Film
Journey to the Unknown
Barbara King
1969
The Divine Ms. Susann
Self (archive footage)
2006
Film
Little John
Sylvia
2002
Film
To Face Her Past
Beth Bradfield
1996
Film
The Patty Duke Show: Still Rockin' in Brooklyn Heights
Patty Lane / Cathy Lane MacAllister
1999
Film
The Daydreamer
Thumbelina (voice)
1966
Film
She Waits
Laura Wilson
1972
Film
One Woman's Courage
Grace McKenna
1994
Film
The Girl on the Edge of Town
Martha Swenson
1981
Film
Valley of the Dolls: A World Premiere Voyage
Interviewee
1967
Film
Wuthering Heights
Young Cathy
1958
Film
Family of Strangers
Beth Thompson
1993
Film
A Christmas Memory
Sook
1997
Film
The Storyteller
Sue Davidoff
1977
Film
Fire!
Dr. Peggy Wilson
1977
Film
Inside 'the Swarm'
Self
1978
Film
Something So Right
Jeanne Bosnick
1982
Film
Harvest of Fire
Annie Beiler
1996
Film
Hard Day at Blue Nose
Adelaide
1974
Film
Best Kept Secrets
Laura Dietz
1984
Film
Unanswered Prayers
Irene
2010
Film
Jacqueline Susann and the Valley of the Dolls
1967
Film
The Women's Room
Lily
1980
Film
The Babysitter
Liz Benedict
1980
Film
Killer on Board
Norma Walsh
1977
Film
September Gun
Sister Dulcina
1983
Film
Before and After
Carole Matthews
1979
Film
Love Lessons
Sunny Andrews
2000
Film
4D Man
Marjorie Sutherland
1959
Film
Murder Without Conviction
Mother Joseph
2004
Film
Country Music Holiday
"Sis" Brand
1958
Film
Call Me Anna
Anna Marie Duke/ Patty Duke
1990
Film
Happy Anniversary
Debbie Walters
1959
Film
Fight for Life
Shirley Abrams
1987
Swiss Family Robinson
Lydia
1958
Film
Deadly Harvest
Jenny
1972
An American Girl
Augusta Davis
1958
Film
Nightmare
Jan Richards
1974
Film
Race Against Time: The Search for Sarah
Natalie Porter
1996
Film
Having Babies III
Leslee Wexler
1978
Film
Birdbath
Velma Sparrow
1971
Film
Hitch-Hikers
1989