Patty Duke
Acting • Born 1946-12-14 – Died 2016-03-29
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.
Filmography
148 credits
The Miracle Worker
Movie • 1962
Helen Keller
Valley of the Dolls
Movie • 1967
Neely O'Hara
The Goddess
Movie • 1958
Emily Ann Faulkner (Child)
Prelude to a Kiss
Movie • 1992
Mrs. Boyle
Hitch-Hikers
Movie • 1989
Love Finds A Home
Movie • 2009
Mary
I Love Liberty
Movie • 1982
Self
Willy/Milly
Movie • 1986
Doris Niceman
The Swarm
Movie • 1978
Rita
Swiss Family Robinson
Movie • 1958
Lynda
Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive
Movie • 1992
Jean Williams
Billie
Movie • 1965
Billie
Happy Anniversary
Movie • 1959
Debbie Walters
Fire!
Movie • 1977
Dr. Peggy Wilson
A Christmas Memory
Movie • 1997
Sook
Amazing Love
Movie • 2012
Helen
Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1
Movie • 1999
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Call Me Anna
Movie • 1990
Anna Marie Duke/ Patty Duke
Little John
Movie • 2002
Sylvia
Inside 'the Swarm'
Movie • 1978
Self
You'll Like My Mother
Movie • 1972
Francesca Kinsolving
The Power and the Glory
Movie • 1963
Coral
When He Didn't Come Home
Movie • 1998
Faye Dolan
Race Against Time: The Search for Sarah
Movie • 1996
Natalie Porter
Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby
Movie • 1976
Rosemary Woodhouse
Journey to the Unknown
Movie • 1969
Barbara King
Me, Natalie
Movie • 1969
Natalie Miller
Family of Strangers
Movie • 1993
Beth Thompson
Best Kept Secrets
Movie • 1984
Laura Dietz
Miracle on the Mountain: The Kincaid Family Story
Movie • 2001
Anne Kincaid
Two on a Bench
Movie • 1971
Macy Kramer
If Tomorrow Comes
Movie • 1971
Eileen Phillips
Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace
Movie • 1988
Althea Sloan
The Miracle Worker
Movie • 1979
Anne Sullivan
My Sweet Charlie
Movie • 1970
Marlene Chambers
Love Lessons
Movie • 2000
Sunny Andrews
The Daydreamer
Movie • 1966
Thumbelina (voice)
The Women's Room
Movie • 1980
Lily
A Family Upside Down
Movie • 1978
Wendy
Amityville: The Evil Escapes
Movie • 1989
Nancy Evans
Hanging by a Thread
Movie • 1979
Sue Grainger
A Killer Among Friends
Movie • 1992
Jean Monroe
Fight for Life
Movie • 1987
Shirley Abrams
Killer on Board
Movie • 1977
Norma Walsh
The Babysitter
Movie • 1980
Liz Benedict
Birdbath
Movie • 1971
Velma Sparrow
Fatal Judgement
Movie • 1988
Anne Capute
Rosetti and Ryan: Men Who Love Women
Movie • 1977
Sylvia Crawford
The Patty Duke Show: Still Rockin' in Brooklyn Heights
Movie • 1999
Patty Lane / Cathy Lane MacAllister
Harvest of Fire
Movie • 1996
Annie Beiler
The Violation of Sarah McDavid
Movie • 1981
Sarah McDavid
Last Wish
Movie • 1992
Betty Rollin
By Design
Movie • 1982
Helen
Absolute Strangers
Movie • 1991
Judge Ray
When the Vows Break
Movie • 1995
Barbara Parker
She Waits
Movie • 1972
Laura Wilson
Kimberly
Movie • 1999
Dr. Feinstenberger
Please Don't Hit Me, Mom
Movie • 1983
Barbara Reynolds
George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation
Movie • 1986
Martha Washington
The Girl on the Edge of Town
Movie • 1981
Martha Swenson
The Storyteller
Movie • 1977
Sue Davidoff
Cries from the Heart
Movie • 1994
Terry
A Season for Miracles
Movie • 1999
Angel
Always Remember I Love You
Movie • 1990
Ruth Monroe
4D Man
Movie • 1959
Marjorie Sutherland
Curse of the Black Widow
Movie • 1977
Laura Lockwood
Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door
Movie • 2006
Bridget Connolly
To Face Her Past
Movie • 1996
Beth Bradfield
One Woman's Courage
Movie • 1994
Grace McKenna
September Gun
Movie • 1983
Sister Dulcina
No Child of Mine
Movie • 1993
Lucille Jenkins
Valley of the Dolls: A World Premiere Voyage
Movie • 1967
Interviewee
Hard Day at Blue Nose
Movie • 1974
Adelaide
Meet Me in St. Louis
Movie • 1959
Tootie Smith
Before and After
Movie • 1979
Carole Matthews
Bigger Than the Sky
Movie • 2005
Mrs. Keene / Earlene
A Time to Triumph
Movie • 1986
Sex at 24 Frames Per Second
Movie • 2003
Self
Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure
Movie • 1989
Carolyn Henry
Unanswered Prayers
Movie • 2010
Irene
Having Babies III
Movie • 1978
Leslee Wexler
Wuthering Heights
Movie • 1958
Young Cathy
An American Girl
Movie • 1958
Augusta Davis
Power of the Air
Movie • 2018
Charlene Summers
Nightmare
Movie • 1974
Jan Richards
Murder Without Conviction
Movie • 2004
Mother Joseph
Deadly Harvest
Movie • 1972
Jenny
Mom, the Wolfman and Me
Movie • 1980
Deborah Bergman
Something So Right
Movie • 1982
Jeanne Bosnick
Gotta Get Off This Merry-Go-Round: 'Valley of the Dolls'
Movie • 2006
Neely O'Hara/Self
Jacqueline Susann and the Valley of the Dolls
Movie • 1967
The Divine Ms. Susann
Movie • 2006
Self (archive footage)
The Dish on Dolls
Movie • 2006
Neely O'Hara (archive footage)
Country Music Holiday
Movie • 1958
"Sis" Brand
The Love Boat
TV • 1977
Shirlee Warner
Judging Amy
TV • 1999
Valerie Bing
Touched by an Angel
TV • 1994
Nancy Williams
Hawaii Five-O
TV • 1968
Toni
The Torkelsons
TV • 1991
Catharine Jeffers
The Streets of San Francisco
TV • 1972
Hotel
TV • 1982
Frasier
TV • 1993
Alice (voice)
The Merv Griffin Show
TV • 1962
Self
Night Gallery
TV • 1970
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Angel
Intimate Portrait
TV • 1993
Self - Narrator (voice)
Police Story
TV • 1973
Family Law
TV • 1999
Judge Sylvia Formenti
Hail to the Chief
TV • 1985
President Julia Mansfield
The Virginian
TV • 1962
Sue Ann McRae
Shindig!
TV • 1964
Self - Singer
The Patty Duke Show
TV • 1963
Patty Lane / Cathy Lane
The Sixth Sense
TV • 1972
Ben Casey
TV • 1961
Drop Dead Diva
TV • 2009
George Washington
TV • 1984
Martha Washington
Captains and the Kings
TV • 1976
Bernadette Hennessey Armagh
Amazing Grace
TV • 1995
Hannah Miller
The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self
Karen's Song
TV • 1987
Karen Matthews
The Perry Como Show
TV • 1956
Ghost Story
TV • 1972
Linda Colby
First Years
TV • 2001
It Takes Two
TV • 1982
Molly Quinn
J.J. Starbuck
TV • 1987
Hawaii Five-0
TV • 2010
Sylvia Spencer
Intimate Portrait
TV • 1993
Self
Touched by an Angel
TV • 1994
Jean
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV • 1948
Self
The Mike Douglas Show
TV • 1961
Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Sylvia
Journey to the Unknown
TV • 1968
Barbara King
Good Day Live
TV • 2001
Self
DuPont Show of the Month
TV • 1957
Backstory
TV • 2000
Herself - Interviewee
A Matter of Justice
TV • 1993
Entertainment Tonight
TV • 1981
Self
Glee
TV • 2009
Jan
The Love Boat
TV • 1977
Lilly Mackim
Women in White
TV • 1979
Cathy Payson
George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation
TV • 1986
Martha Washington
The Dick Cavett Show
TV • 1968
Self - Guest
Liv and Maddie
TV • 2013
Grandma Janice
Liv and Maddie
TV • 2013
Great Aunt Hilary
Kraft Television Theatre
TV • 1947
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Presenter
The Love Boat
TV • 1977
Jane Fletcher