
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.
144 acting credits
Acting · 144

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962

Hawaii Five-0
2010

Frasier
1993

The Mike Douglas Show
1961

Golden Globe Awards
1944

The Love Boat
1977

Glee
2009

Hawaii Five-O
1968

Judging Amy
1999

The Virginian
1962

Hotel
1982

Touched by an Angel
1994

Tony Awards
1956

The Merv Griffin Show
1962

Ben Casey
1961

Drop Dead Diva
2009

The Dick Cavett Show
1968

Night Gallery
1970

Intimate Portrait
1993

Family Law
1999

The Oscars
1953

The Streets of San Francisco
1972
Good Day Live
2001

Liv and Maddie
2013

The Ed Sullivan Show
1948

Police Story
1973

Kraft Television Theatre
1947

Ghost Story
1972

The Patty Duke Show
1963

The Torkelsons
1991

Entertainment Tonight
1981

DuPont Show of the Month
1957

The Sixth Sense
1972

Shindig!
1964

Journey to the Unknown
1968

J.J. Starbuck
1987

Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951

Captains and the Kings
1976

It Takes Two
1982

George Washington
1984

George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation
1986

The Miracle Worker
1962

Hail to the Chief
1985

The Swarm
1978

Backstory
2000

Sex at 24 Frames Per Second
2003

Valley of the Dolls
1967

Curse of the Black Widow
1977

First Years
2001

Me, Natalie
1969

Women in White
1979

Prelude to a Kiss
1992

Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure
1989

Love Finds A Home
2009

A Matter of Justice
1993

Amityville: The Evil Escapes
1989

Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1
1999

The Goddess
1958

A Killer Among Friends
1992

A Family Upside Down
1978

Little John
2002

Willy/Milly
1986
Amazing Grace
1995
Karen's Song
1987

Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive
1992

The Perry Como Show
1956

Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby
1976

Amazing Love
2012

Happy Anniversary
1959

I Love Liberty
1982

Kimberly
1999

The Daydreamer
1966

Murder Without Conviction
2004

Before and After
1979

Something So Right
1982

Wuthering Heights
1958

Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace
1988

4D Man
1959

Family of Strangers
1993
George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation
1986

To Face Her Past
1996

The Violation of Sarah McDavid
1981

Always Remember I Love You
1990

Hanging by a Thread
1979

Billie
1965

The Women's Room
1980

The Miracle Worker
1979

Miracle on the Mountain: The Kincaid Family Story
2001

Best Kept Secrets
1984

Fire!
1977

Please Don't Hit Me, Mom
1983

Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door
2006

One Woman's Courage
1994

Two on a Bench
1971

A Season for Miracles
1999

A Christmas Memory
1997

The Power and the Glory
1963

If Tomorrow Comes
1971

Unanswered Prayers
2010

Race Against Time: The Search for Sarah
1996

No Child of Mine
1993

The Storyteller
1977

Bigger Than the Sky
2005

Inside 'the Swarm'
1978
Swiss Family Robinson
1958

Nightmare
1974

Meet Me in St. Louis
1959

Deadly Harvest
1972

You'll Like My Mother
1972

Having Babies III
1978

She Waits
1972

When He Didn't Come Home
1998

Valley of the Dolls: A World Premiere Voyage
1967

Country Music Holiday
1958

When the Vows Break
1995

Journey to the Unknown
1969

Hanging by a Thread
1979

September Gun
1983

Last Wish
1992

The Patty Duke Show: Still Rockin' in Brooklyn Heights
1999

Rosetti and Ryan: Men Who Love Women
1977

Cries from the Heart
1994

Killer on Board
1977
Fatal Judgement
1988

Call Me Anna
1990

Fight for Life
1987

Gotta Get Off This Merry-Go-Round: 'Valley of the Dolls'
2006

Mom, the Wolfman and Me
1980

Harvest of Fire
1996

My Sweet Charlie
1970

Absolute Strangers
1991
An American Girl
1958

A Time to Triumph
1986

The Babysitter
1980

By Design
1982

Hitch-Hikers
1989

The Girl on the Edge of Town
1981

Birdbath
1971

Love Lessons
2000

Power of the Air
2018

Hard Day at Blue Nose
1974

The Dish on Dolls
2006

Jacqueline Susann and the Valley of the Dolls
1967
The Divine Ms. Susann
2006