Acting
Patty Duke
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.
Movies with Patty Duke
Valley of the Dolls
1967
The Swarm
1978
Me, Natalie
1969
The Miracle Worker
1962
Billie
1965
Sex at 24 Frames Per Second
2003
Prelude to a Kiss
1992
Amityville: The Evil Escapes
1989
Fatal Judgement
1988
Love Finds A Home
2009
By Design
1982
September Gun
1983
Last Wish
1992
Killer on Board
1977
I Love Liberty
1982
Little John
2002
The Goddess
1958
A Season for Miracles
1999
The Power and the Glory
1963
Fight for Life
1987
No Child of Mine
1993
The Daydreamer
1966
A Killer Among Friends
1992
Harvest of Fire
1996
The Babysitter
1980
The Storyteller
1977
Call Me Anna
1990
Something So Right
1982
Before and After
1979
Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure
1989
Willy/Milly
1986
Love Lessons
2000
Amazing Love
2012
Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby
1976
If Tomorrow Comes
1971
The Women's Room
1980
4D Man
1959
Wuthering Heights
1958
Kimberly
1999
A Christmas Memory
1997
The Miracle Worker
1979
Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door
2006
Nightmare
1974
Bigger Than the Sky
2005
Inside 'the Swarm'
1978
To Face Her Past
1996
Deadly Harvest
1972
Power of the Air
2018
Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1
1999
Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace
1988
Absolute Strangers
1991
Curse of the Black Widow
1977
The Violation of Sarah McDavid
1981
One Woman's Courage
1994
Family of Strangers
1993
Having Babies III
1978
Please Don't Hit Me, Mom
1983
You'll Like My Mother
1972
Best Kept Secrets
1984
Cries from the Heart
1994
My Sweet Charlie
1970
Happy Anniversary
1959
Always Remember I Love You
1990
A Family Upside Down
1978
Two on a Bench
1971
Rosetti and Ryan: Men Who Love Women
1977
Hanging by a Thread
1979
She Waits
1972
The Dish on Dolls
2006
When the Vows Break
1995
Fire!
1977
Unanswered Prayers
2010
Miracle on the Mountain: The Kincaid Family Story
2001
Meet Me in St. Louis
1959
Race Against Time: The Search for Sarah
1996
An American Girl
1958
When He Didn't Come Home
1998
Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive
1992
Country Music Holiday
1958
George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation
1986
The Divine Ms. Susann
2006
The Patty Duke Show: Still Rockin' in Brooklyn Heights
1999
Mom, the Wolfman and Me
1980
A Time to Triumph
1986
Murder Without Conviction
2004
Swiss Family Robinson
1958
Valley of the Dolls: A World Premiere Voyage
1967
Hitch-Hikers
1989
Gotta Get Off This Merry-Go-Round: 'Valley of the Dolls'
2006
Journey to the Unknown
1969
Hard Day at Blue Nose
1974
The Girl on the Edge of Town
1981
Jacqueline Susann and the Valley of the Dolls
1967
Birdbath
1971
TV Shows with Patty Duke
Hawaii Five-0
2010
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
Frasier
1993
Glee
2009
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
The Love Boat
1977
Golden Globe Awards
1944
Hawaii Five-O
1968
Intimate Portrait
1993
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
Tony Awards
1956
Judging Amy
1999
The Virginian
1962
Ben Casey
1961
The Dick Cavett Show
1968
Touched by an Angel
1994
Hotel
1982
Drop Dead Diva
2009
Good Day Live
2001
Night Gallery
1970
The Oscars
1953
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948
Liv and Maddie
2013
Ghost Story
1972
Family Law
1999
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
Kraft Television Theatre
1947
Police Story
1973
The Torkelsons
1991
Shindig!
1964
The Sixth Sense
1972
The Patty Duke Show
1963
Entertainment Tonight
1981
DuPont Show of the Month
1957
Journey to the Unknown
1968
J.J. Starbuck
1987
Backstory
2000
It Takes Two
1982
Captains and the Kings
1976
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
George Washington
1984
George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation
1986
Hanging by a Thread
1979
Hail to the Chief
1985
The Perry Como Show
1956
First Years
2001
Karen's Song
1987
Women in White
1979
A Matter of Justice
1993
Amazing Grace
1995