Anna Marie "Patty" Duke was an American actress of stage, film, and television. First becoming famous as a child star, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16 for the role of Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker, and later starring in her self-titled sitcom, The Patty Duke Show for three years. She progressed to more adult roles such as Neely O'Hara in the 1967 film Valley of the Dolls . Duke was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1982; afterwards she then devoted much of her time to advocating and educating the public on mental health issues. She was later elected president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1985 to 1988.Duke died on the morning of March 29, 2016, at the age of 69, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, of sepsis from a ruptured intestine.
She had been diagnosed as being manic-depressive, and had co-authored a book about the disorder, "A Brilliant Madness: Living with Manic-Depressive Illness".
Adopted a son, Kevin Pearce (born 1988), with Michael Pearce.
President of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) (1985-1988).
She was the youngest actress at the time (12) to have her name above the marquee title on Broadway ("The Miracle Worker") and the youngest ever (16) to have a television series bearing her name ( "The Patty Duke Show" ).
Her second marriage to Michael Tell came about suddenly during a particular virulent manic attack, ignited by a broken romance with Desi Arnaz Jr.. The marriage lasted 13 days.
According to her book "Call Me Anna", she was pregnant and unmarried when she met Michael Tell and she married him to give the unborn child a name. Sean was conceived around the time she was involved with John Astin.
She earned a gold record for her single, "Dont Just Stand There", which reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and #6 on the Cash Box Chart. Her other charting singles on Billboard and Cash Box include "Say Something Funny" (#22 & #31), "Funny Little Butterflies" (#77 & #51) and "Whenever She Holds You" (#64 & #63). Her debut album, also titled "Dont Just Stand There," reached #90 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart.
Grandmother of actress Ali Astin , Isabella Louise Astin and Elizabeth Louise Astin.
Won the Theatre World Award for Best Debut Performance for her performance as Helen Keller in the stage version of "The Miracle Worker" during the 1959-1960 Broadway season.
Early in her career, she appeared in television commercials, including one for the Remco Movieland Drive-In Theatre toy.
Sister of Ray Duke and Carol Duke Kennedy. Patty was the youngest of the three.
Underwent single bypass heart surgery on November 3, 2004 at Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur dAlene, Idaho.
Parents are John Patrick and Frances Duke; her father was an alcoholic and left the family when Patty was very young.
(June 2005) Spoke at the memorial service for her friend and mentor, Anne Bancroft.
She won an Oscar for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker , making her one of 17 actors to win the Award for playing a real person who was still alive at the evening of the Award ceremony (as of 2015). The other sixteen actors and their respective performances are: Spencer Tracy for playing Father Edward Flanagan in Boys Town , Gary Cooper for playing Alvin C. York in Sergeant York , Jason Robards for playing Ben Bradlee in All the Presidents Men , Robert De Niro for playing Jake La Motta in Raging Bull , Sissy Spacek for playing Loretta Lynn in Coal Miners Daughter , Jeremy Irons for playing Claus Von Bullow in Reversal of Fortune , Susan Sarandon for playing Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking , Geoffrey Rush for playing David Helfgott in Shine , Julia Roberts for playing Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich , Jim Broadbent for playing John Bayley in Iris (2001/I) , Helen Mirren for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen , Sandra Bullock for playing Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side , Melissa Leo for playing Alice Eklund-Ward in The Fighter , Christian Bale for playing Dickie Eklund in The Fighter , Meryl Streep for playing Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady and most recently Eddie Redmayne for playing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything .
Early in her career, she won the top prize on the game show "The $64,000 Question" .
At the time she won her Best Supporting Actress Oscar, she was the youngest person ever to win an Oscar in a competitive category. (In 1973, Tatum ONeal became the youngest person to win a competitive Academy Awards at age 10). This is partially because AMPAS discontinued their practice of awarding miniature Oscars to "child" actors following Hayley Mills mini-statuette in 1961 for Pollyanna , allowing actors of all ages to compete for "regular" Academy Awards.
Although she had been on stage and in film for over five years at the time she appeared in Valley of the Dolls , she said it was her co-star Sharon Tate who taught her how to use make-up to her best advantage.
Though she professionally went by Patty Duke, to friends she was Anna (her birth name) Pearce (her married last name).
Moved, with husband Michael Pearce , to Idaho in 1990.
Her mother, Frances Duke, died in 1993.
Sean Patrick Astin was born February 25, 1971, in Santa Monica, California to Patty Duke. This was long reported that his father was John Astin (famous for playing Gomez on "The Addams Family" among other things) whom Duke married nearly 18 months later on August 5, 1972. DNA testing later proved that his biological father was Michael Tell, to whom Duke was shortly married to (June 26-July 9, 1970) before the marriage was annulled.
She had made guest appearances on both "Hawaii Five-O" and "Hawaii Five-0" .
She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on August 17, 2004.
Received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida on December 14, 2007.
Received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, Maryland on March 6, 2010.
Gave birth to her first child at age 24, a son Sean Patrick Duke (aka Sean Astin ) on February 25, 1971. Childs father is her second ex-husband, Michael Tell.
Gave birth to her second child at age 26, a son Mackenzie Alexander Astin (aka Mackenzie Astin ) on May 12, 1973. Childs father is her third ex-husband, John Astin.
Became a grandmother for the first time at age 49 when her son Sean Astin and his wife Christine Astin welcomed a daughter, Ali Astin on November 27, 1996.
Became a grandmother for the second time at age 55 when her son Sean Astin and his wife Christine Astin welcomed a daughter, Elizabeth Louise Astin on August 6, 2002.
Became a grandmother for the third time at age 58 when her son Sean Astin and his wife Christine Astin welcomed a daughter, Isabella Louise Astin on July 22, 2005.
Was the 56th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar for The Miracle Worker at The 35th Annual Academy Awards on April 8, 1963.
When receiving her Academy Awards statuette for Miracle Worker, back in 1962, she is recorded for having the shortest talk of all Academy Awards history ceremonies. She just said: "Thank You" and got away.
Was friends with William Schallert.
Was one of 20 actresses who did not receive an Oscar nomination for their Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical Golden Globe-winning performance; hers being for Me, Natalie . The others, in chronological order, are: June Allyson for Too Young to Kiss , Ethel Merman for Call Me Madam , Jean Simmons for Guys and Dolls , Taina Elg and Kay Kendall for Les Girls , Marilyn Monroe for Some Like It Hot , Rosalind Russell for A Majority of One and Gypsy , Twiggy for The Boy Friend , Raquel Welch for The Three Musketeers , Barbra Streisand for A Star Is Born , Bernadette Peters for Pennies from Heaven , Kathleen Turner for Romancing the Stone and Prizzis Honor , Miranda Richardson for Enchanted April , Jamie Lee Curtis for True Lies , Nicole Kidman for To Die For , Madonna for Evita , Rene Zellweger for Nurse Betty , Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky , and Amy Adams for Big Eyes .
Was one of 22 Oscar-winning actresses to have been born in the state of New York. The others are Alice Brady , Teresa Wright , Anne Revere , Celeste Holm , Claire Trevor , Judy Holliday , Shirley Booth , Susan Hayward , Anne Bancroft , Barbra Streisand , Jane Fonda , Lee Grant , Beatrice Straight , Whoopi Goldberg , Mercedes Ruehl , Marisa Tomei , Mira Sorvino , Susan Sarandon , Jennifer Connelly , Melissa Leo and Anne Hathaway.
She was widely known to be a very private lady.
As a youngster, she would appear on amateur nights at the Elks club #878 in Elmhurst, Queens where she lived.
Her paternal grandparents were Irish immigrants. Her mother was of three quarters Irish and one quarter German ancestry.
Upon her death, she was cremated, alongside her mother, at Forest Cemetery in Coeur dAlene, Kootenai County, Idaho, and her ashes were given to her family.
Underwent a hysterectomy in 1978 as she was a high risk for contracting cervical cancer.
Delivered her son Sean Astin via emergency Caesarean section after it was discovered during labor that he was in the breech position. Her second son Mackenzie Astin was delivered naturally.
[on her wardrobe on "The Patty Duke Show" (1963) ] Not only did I,hate those clothes, but they put my name on some and successfully,merchandised them, so a lot of other poor girls were walking around,with the same ugly clothes I had to wear.
For the first time, I lived alone. . . in a luxury apartment on Sunset,Strip. For a few days I loved the idea, but I got lonely and restless.
As the boys grew up, my manias took the form of irritability and,unpredictable flashes of rage. It was intense.
[on where she keeps her Oscar] Oscar was a doorstop; Oscar was in the,basement. I went through a period of false humility. I thought if I had,Oscar out people would think I was full of myself. Now Oscar is in a,beautiful etagere near my front door.
Human beings have speculated about the relationship between inspiration and insanity for centuries.
From the moment we walk out the door until we come back home our sensibilities are so assaulted by the world that we have to soak up as much love as we can get simply to arm ourselves.
Without a sense of humor, I would have been gone a long time ago.
I knew from a very young age that there was something very wrong with me.
I never did quite fit the glamour mode. It is life with my husband and family that is my high now.
I have been afraid all my life that I am going to die. All my life it has been stuffed in my imagination.
For the first time, I lived alone. . . in a luxury apartment on Sunset Strip. For a few days I loved the idea, but I got lonely and restless. .
