Patty Duke Biography

Anna Marie "Patty" Duke (December 14, 1946 - March 29, 2016) was an American actress, appearing on stage, film, and television. Her first big break came from her Academy Award winning performance at age 16 for portraying Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (1962), a role that she had originated on Broadway. The following year she was given her own show, The Patty Duke Show, in which she played "identical cousins" Cathy and Patty Lane. She later progressed to more mature roles such as that of Neely O'Hara in the film Valley of the Dolls (1967). Over the course of her career, she received ten Emmy Award nominations and three Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Duke also served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1985 to 1988.

Duke was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1982, after which she devoted much of her time to advocating for and educating the public on mental health issues.

Early life

Duke was born in Elmhurst, Queens, New York, the youngest of three children of Frances Margaret ( McMahon; 1913-1993), a cashier, and John Patrick Duke (1913-1964), a handyman and cab driver. She was of Irish, and more distant German, descent.

Duke, her brother Raymond, and her sister Carol experienced a difficult childhood. Their father was an alcoholic, and their mother suffered from clinical depression and was prone to violence. When Duke was six, her mother forced her father to leave the family home. When Duke was eight, her care was turned over to talent managers John and Ethel Ross, who, after promoting Patty's brother, were looking for a girl to add to their stable of child actors.

The Rosses' methods of managing Duke's career were often unscrupulous and exploitative. They consistently billed Duke as being two years younger than she actually was and padded her resume with false credits. They gave her alcohol and prescription drugs, took unreasonably high fees from her earnings and made sexual advances to her.

In addition, the Rosses made Duke change her name. "Anna Marie is dead," they said, "you're Patty now." They hoped that Patty Duke would duplicate the success of Patty McCormack.

Career

Acting

1950s-1990s

One of Duke's early acting roles was in the late 1950s, on the soap opera The Brighter Day. She also appeared in print ads and in television commercials. In 1959, at the age of 12, Duke appeared on The $64,000 Question and won $32,000; her category of expertise was spelling. In 1962, it was revealed that the game show had been rigged, and she was called to testify before a panel of the United States Senate. Duke eventually testified before Congressional investigators"?and broke into tears when she admitted she'd been coached to speak falsely.

Also in 1959, Duke appeared in a television adaptation of Meet Me in St. Louis as Tootie Smith, the role that had been originated in the film version by Margaret O'Brien. Duke's first major starring role was playing Helen Keller (with Anne Bancroft as Anne Sullivan) in the Broadway play The Miracle Worker, which ran from October 1959 to July 1961. During the run, Duke's name was elevated above the play's title on the theater's billboard, believed to be the first time this had been done for such a young star. The play was subsequently made into a 1962 film, for which Duke received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. At 16, Duke was the youngest person at that time to have received an Academy Award in a competitive category. Duke returned to television, this time starring with Laurence Olivier and George C. Scott in a television production of The Power and the Glory (1961).

Duke's own series, The Patty Duke Show, created by Sidney Sheldon especially for her, began airing in September 1963. At that time, it was not known that Duke had bipolar disorder; but Sheldon did notice that she had two distinct sides to her personality and thus developed the concept of identical cousins with contrasting personalities. Duke portrayed both main characters: Patricia "Patty" Lane, a fun-loving American teenager who occasionally got into trouble at school and home, and her prim and proper "identical cousin" from Scotland, Catherine "Cathy" Lane. William Schallert portrayed Patty's father, Martin; Jean Byron played her mother, Natalie; Paul O'Keefe was her younger brother, Ross; and Eddie Applegate portrayed her boyfriend Richard Harrison. The show also featured such high-profile guest stars as Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Paul Lynde and Sal Mineo. The series lasted three seasons and earned Duke an Emmy Award nomination. In 1999, the program's characters were revisited and updated in The Patty Duke Show: Still Rockin' in Brooklyn Heights, with Cindy Williams taking on the villain role of Sue Ellen Turner when Kitty Sullivan was unable to reprise her role.

After the cancellation of The Patty Duke Show in 1966, Duke began her adult acting career by playing Neely O'Hara in Valley of the Dolls (1967). The film was a box-office success, but audiences and critics had a difficult time accepting all-American-teenager Duke as an alcoholic, drug-addicted singing star. While the film has since become a camp classic"?thanks in large part to Duke's over-the-top performance"?at the time, it almost ruined her career. In 1969, Duke starred in Me, Natalie, in which she played an "ugly duckling" Brooklyn teenager struggling to make a life for herself in the Bohemian world of Greenwich Village. Duke won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) for the role.

Duke returned to television in 1970, starring in a made-for-TV movie, My Sweet Charlie. Her portrayal of a pregnant teenager on the run won Duke her first Emmy Award. Her acceptance speech was rambling, angry and disjointed, leading many in the industry to believe she was drunk or using drugs at the time. In fact, Duke was experiencing a manic phase of her bipolar disorder, which would remain undiagnosed until 1982. She received her second Emmy in 1977 for the TV miniseries Captains and the Kings and her third in 1980 for a TV version of her 1979 stage revival of The Miracle Worker, this time playing Anne Sullivan to Melissa Gilbert's Helen Keller. Her turns in the made-for-TV movies The Women's Room (1980) and George Washington (1984) both garnered her Emmy nominations. In the 1980s, Duke was cast in a number of short-lived TV series: the ABC sitcom It Takes Two, from Soap and Benson creator Susan Harris, was cancelled after one season; Hail to the Chief, in which she appeared as the first female President of the United States; and a comedy, Karen's Song, which aired on the fledgling Fox network.

Duke's film roles in the 1980s included the Canadian film By Design (1981), which garnered her a Genie Award nomination for Best Foreign Actress, and the made-for-TV movie A Time to Triumph (1986), the true story of Concetta Hassan, a woman who struggles to support her family after her husband is injured but who eventually becomes a United States Army helicopter pilot. In 1990, Duke's autobiography, Call Me Anna, was adapted for television; she played herself from her mid-30s onward. In 1992, Duke portrayed the mother of Meg Ryan's character in the film adaptation of the play Prelude to a Kiss. Duke received an Emmy nomination in 1999 for her appearances in three episodes of Touched by an Angel.

In 1985, Duke was the second woman, after Kathleen Nolan, to be elected president of the Screen Actors Guild, a post she held until 1988. Her tenure as president was marked by factional in-fighting and controversy, however, she gained respect for managing to maintain solidarity among the Guild's members. During her term, she led industrial actions and contract negotiations and oversaw the relocation of the guild's headquarters.

Later years

Duke gradually reduced her work schedule in the 2000s, but took occasional TV roles, including guest appearances on shows such as Glee and the reboot of Hawaii Five-0. In 2011, she joined the cast of the drama The Protector. She also returned to the stage on occasion "? in 2002 as Aunt Eller in a revival of Oklahoma! on Broadway and in 2009 as Madame Morrible in the San Francisco production of the musical Wicked. In May 2011, Duke directed the stage version of The Miracle Worker at the now defunct Interplayers Theater in Spokane, Washington.

In 2011, Duke appeared in public service announcements for the U.S. government, promoting the social security website. In several, she appeared as Patty and Cathy using split-screen effects. In others, she appeared with George Takei wearing a Star Trek-like costume. In 2015, Duke made her final TV appearance, guest-starring on Liv and Maddie as Grandma Janice and Great-aunt Hilary, a pair of identical twins.

Singing

Duke had a successful singing career, including two Top 40 hits in 1965, "Don't Just Stand There" (#8) and "Say Something Funny" (#22). She also performed on TV shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show.

Mental health advocacy

In 1987, Duke revealed in her autobiography that she had been diagnosed with manic depression (now called bipolar disorder) in 1982, becoming one of the first public figures to speak out about personal experience of mental illness. Her treatment, which included the use of lithium as a medication and therapy, successfully stabilized her moods. She subsequently became an activist for mental health causes. She lobbied the United States Congress and joined forces with the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Alliance on Mental Illness in order to increase awareness, funding and research for people with mental illness. In 2007, Duke appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, talking about her bipolar disorder.

Memoirs

Duke wrote three books: her autobiography, Call Me Anna () in 1987 and Brilliant Madness: Living with Manic Depressive Illness () in 1992. A third book, In The Presence of Greatness—My Sixty Year Journey as an Actress () (with William J. Jankowski), is a collection of essays about the actress's experiences with other artists and celebrities. It was published posthumously in February 2018.

Recognition

On August 17, 2004, Duke received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to the motion picture industry. On December 14, 2007, her 61st birthday, Duke was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters degree from the University of North Florida for her work in advancing awareness of mental health issues. On March 6, 2010, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Personal life

Duke was married four times and had three children.

In 1965, Duke married director Harry Falk, who was 13 years her senior. During their marriage, she had repeated mood swings, drank heavily, became anorexic and overdosed on pills a number of times. The couple divorced in 1969.

In early 1970, at the age of 23, Duke became involved with three men at the same time: 17-year-old Here's Lucy star Desi Arnaz, Jr., actor John Astin, who was 16 years her senior, and rock promoter Michael Tell. The relationship with Arnaz was widely publicized, due in part to the vocal and public opposition of Arnaz's mother, actress and production company executive Lucille Ball. By late spring, Duke and Arnaz had broken off their relationship.

In June 1970, Duke learned she was pregnant and married Michael Tell on June 26, 1970, during a manic phase, in order to "give (her child) a name". Their marriage lasted 13 days before ending in an annulment on July 9, 1970; Her son, actor Sean Astin, was born on February 25, 1971. Duke said in her 1987 autobiography that the marriage to Tell was never consummated and that Astin was the actual biological father of Sean. There were several chapters emphasizing the lie about her relationship with Tell and the paternity of her son. She later told Sean that Arnaz Jr. was Sean's biological father. It turned out that all three statements were incorrect: in 1994, Sean Astin underwent biological testing to determine his paternity and the results showed that Astin's biological father is actually Tell.

Duke married John Astin in August 1972. Astin adopted Sean and the couple had a son, actor Mackenzie Astin, in 1973. Duke and Astin worked together extensively during their marriage and she took his name professionally, becoming "Patty Duke Astin". Duke adopted Astin's three sons, and years later in 1998 Astin's sons reversed the adoption with Duke's approval. The couple divorced in 1985.

Duke married her fourth husband, drill sergeant Michael Pearce, in 1986, and remained married to him until her death 30 years later. Duke and Pearce had met during the production of A Time to Triumph, for which Pearce served as a consultant. The couple moved to Hayden, Idaho and adopted a son, Kevin, who was born in 1988. From her marriage to Pearce until her death in 2016, Duke occasionally used the name "Anna Duke-Pearce" in her writings and other professional work.

Duke had three granddaughters by her eldest son Sean: actress Alexandra, Elizabeth, and Isabella.

Death

Duke died on the morning of March 29, 2016 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho of sepsis from a ruptured intestine at the age of 69. Sean invited the public to contribute to a mental health foundation in his mother's name, the Patty Duke Mental Health Initiative. She was interred at Forest Cemetery in Coeur d'Alene.

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1958	Country Music Holiday	'Sis' Brand
1958	'	Emily Ann Faulkner (age 8)
1959	4D Man	Marjorie Sutherland
1959	Happy Anniversary	Debbie Walters
1962	'	Helen Keller
1965	Billie	Billie Carol
1966	'	Thumbelina (voice)
1967	Valley of the Dolls	Neely O'Hara
1969	Me, Natalie	Natalie Miller
1972	You'll Like My Mother	Francesca Kinsolving
1978	'	Rita
1981	By Design	Helen
1985	Gifts of Greatness	Amy Lowell	Video
1986	Willy/Milly	Doris Niceman
1992	Prelude to a Kiss	Mrs. Boyle
1999	Kimberly	Dr. Feinstenberger
2005	Bigger Than the Sky	Mrs. Keene / Earlene
2008	'	Susan Metler
2012	Amazing Love	Helen
2018	Power of the Air	Charlene Summers	Completed

Television

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1956	Armstrong Circle Theatre	Marianne Doona / Angelina Rico	"SOS from the Andrea Doria", "Flare-Up"
1957	Armstrong Circle Theatre	Gina	"Have Jacket, Will Travel"
1958	DuPont Show of the Month	Young Cathy	"Wuthering Heights"
1958	Kraft Television Theatre	Betty / Roberta	"A Boy Called Ciske", "Death Wears Many Faces"
1958	Kitty Foyle	Molly Scharf (young)	TV series
1958	Swiss Family Robinson	Lynda	TV film
1958	'	Kathy	"One Red Rose for Christmas"
1958-59	'	Ellen Williams Dennis	TV series
1959	'	Sonya Alexandrovna / Robin Kent	"Family Happiness", "Seed of Guilt"
1959	Meet Me in St. Louis	'Tootie' Smith	TV film
1959	Once Upon a Christmas Time	Lori	TV film
1961	'	Coral	TV film
1962	Ben Casey	Janie Wahl	"Mrs. McBroom and the Cloud Watcher"
1962	'	Penelope	"The Duchess and the Smugs"
1963	Wide Country	Cindy Hopkins	"To Cindy, with Love"
1963	Best of Patty Duke	Patty Lane / Cathy Lane	TV film
1963-1966	'	Patty Lane / Cathy Lane	Lead role
1967	'	Sue Ann McRae	"Sue Ann"
1969	Journey to the Unknown	Barbara King	"The Last Visitor"
1970	My Sweet Charlie	Marlene Chambers	TV film
1970	Matt Lincoln	Sheila	"Sheila"
1970	'	Sheila	TV film
1971	Two on a Bench	Macy Kramer	TV film
1971	Night Gallery	Holly Schaeffer	"The Diary"
1971	If Tomorrow Comes	Eileen Phillips	TV film
1972	She Waits	Laura Wilson	TV film
1972	Deadly Harvest	Jenny	TV film
1972	'	Elizabeth	"With Affection, Jack the Ripper"
1972	Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law	Lois	"Love Child"
1973	Hawaii Five-O	Toni	"Thanks for the Honeymoon"
1973	Ghost Story	Linda Colby	"Graveyard Shift"
1974	Nightmare	Jan Richards	TV film
1974	ABC's Wide World of Entertainment	Adelaide	"Hard Day at Blue Nose"
1974	'	Melanie Kline	"Miss Kline, We Love You"
1974	Insight	Margie	"The One-Armed Man"
1975	Police Story	Daniele	"Sniper"
1975	Police Woman	Larue Collins	"Nothing Left to Lose"
1975	Marcus Welby, M.D.	Kate Gannard	"Unindicted Wife"
1976	Phillip and Barbara	Barbara Logan	TV film
1976	'	Susan Rosen	"The Thrill Killers: Parts 1 & 2"
1976	Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby	Rosemary Woodhouse	TV film
1976	Captains and the Kings	Bernadette Hennessey Armagh	TV miniseries
1976	Insight	Annie Grogan	"For the Love of Annie"
1977	Insight	Loretta Berg	"A Slight Drinking Problem"
1977	Fire!	Dr. Peggy Wilson	TV film
1977	Rosetti and Ryan	Sylvia Crawford	"Men Who Love Women"
1977	Curse of the Black Widow	Laura Lockwood / Valerie Steffan	TV film
1977	Killer on Board	Norma Walsh	TV film
1977	'	Sue Davidoff	TV film
1978	A Family Upside Down	Wendy	TV film
1978	Insight	Nelli Grubb	"Second Chorus"
1979	Women in White	Cathy Payson	TV film
1979	Hanging by a Thread	Sue Grainger	TV film
1979	Before and After	Carole Matthews	TV film
1979	'	Anne Sullivan	TV film
1980	'	Lily	TV film
1980	Mom, the Wolfman and Me	Deborah Bergman	TV film
1980	'	Liz Benedict	TV film
1981	Insight	Mother Alicia	"God's Guerillas"
1981	'	Martha	TV film
1981	'	Sarah McDavid	TV film
1981	Please Don't Hit Me, Mom	Barbara Reynolds	TV film
1982	Something So Right	Jeanne Bosnick	TV film
1982-83	It Takes Two	Molly Quinn	Main role
1983	September Gun	Sister Dulcina	TV film
1983	Insight	Peters	"The Hit Man"
1984	Best Kept Secrets	Laura Dietz	TV film
1984	George Washington	Martha Washington	TV miniseries
1985	Hotel	Gayla Erikson	"New Beginnings"
1985	Hail to the Chief	President Julia Mansfield	Main role
1986	'	Concetta Hassan	TV film
1986	George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation	Martha Washington	TV film
1987	It's a Living	Patty Duke	"The Evictables"
1987	Fight for Life	Shirley Abrams	TV film
1987	J.J. Starbuck	Verna Mckidden	"Pilot"
1987	Karen's Song	Karen Matthews	Main role
1988	Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace	Althea Sloan	TV film
1988	Fatal Judgement	Anne Capute	TV film
1989	Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes	Nancy Evans	TV film
1989	Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure	Carolyn Henry	TV film
1990	Call Me Anna	Anna Marie Duke	TV iflm
1990	Always Remember I Love You	Ruth Monroe	TV film
1991	Absolute Strangers	Judge Ray	TV film
1991	'	Catharine Jeffers	"Return to Sender"
1991	'	Lady Morgana (voice)	"The Trust Betrayed", "The Awakening"
1992	Last Wish	Betty Rollin	TV film
1992	Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive	Jean Williams	TV film
1992	'	Jean Monroe	TV film
1993	Family of Strangers	Beth Thompson	TV film
1993	No Child of Mine	Lucille Jenkins	TV film
1993	'	Mary Brown	TV film
1994	One Woman's Courage	Grace McKenna	TV film
1994	Cries from the Heart	Terry Wilson	TV film
1995	Amazing Grace	Hannah Miller	TV series
1995	When the Vows Break	Barbara Parker	TV film
1996	Race Against Time: The Search for Sarah	Natalie Porter	TV film
1996	Harvest of Fire	Annie Beiler	TV film
1996	To Face Her Past	Beth Bradfield	TV film
1997	Frasier	Alice (voice)	"Death and the Dog"
1997	'	Sook	TV film
1998	When He Didn't Come Home	Faye Dolan	TV film
1998	Touched by an Angel	Nancy Williams	"I Do"
1999	'	Patty Lane / Cathy Lane MacAllister	TV film
1999	'	Angel	TV film
2000	Miracle on the Mountain: The Kincaid Family Story	Anne Kincaid	TV film
2000	Love Lessons	Sunny Andrews	TV film
2001	Family Law	Judge Sylvia Formenti	"Liar's Club: Part 2"
2001	First Years	Evelyn Harrison	"There's No Place Like Homo"
2002	Little John	Sylvia	TV film
2003	Touched by an Angel	Jean	"I Will Walk with You: Parts 1 & 2"
2004	Judging Amy	Valerie Bing	"Disposable"
2004	Murder Without Conviction	Mother Joseph	TV film
2006	Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door	Bridget Connolly	TV film
2009	Love Finds a Home	Mary Watson	TV film
2009	Throwing Stones	Patti Thom	TV film
2010	Unanswered Prayers	Irene	TV film
2011	'	Beverly	"Wings", "Blood"
2011	Hawaii Five-0	Sylvia Spencer	"Mea Makamae"
2012	Drop Dead Diva	Rita Curtis	"Freak Show"
2013	Glee	Jan	"All or Nothing"
2015	Liv and Maddie	Grandma Janice / Great-Aunt Hillary	"Grandma-A-Rooney"

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1963	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actress	The Miracle Worker
1963	Golden Globe Award	Most Promising Newcomer - Female	The Miracle Worker
1963	Academy Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role	The Miracle Worker
1963	Laurel Awards	Top Female Supporting Performance	The Miracle Worker
1964	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Series (Lead)	The Patty Duke Show
1966	Golden Globe Award	Best TV Star - Female	The Patty Duke Show
1966	Laurel Awards	Musical Performance, Female	Billie
1970	Laurel Awards	Female Dramatic Performance	Me, Natalie
1970	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role	My Sweet Charlie
1970	Golden Globe Award	Best Actress - Comedy or Musical	Me, Natalie
1977	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series	Captains and Kings
1978	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama or Comedy Special	A Family Upside Down
1978	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series	Having Babies III
1980	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special	The Miracle Worker
1981	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Individual Achievement - Children's Programming	The Girl on the Edge of Town
1981	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special	The Women's Room
1983	Genie Awards	Best Performance by a Foreign Actress	By Design
1983	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Female Performer in a New TV Program
1984	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Individual Achievement in Religious Programming - Performers	Insight
1984	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special	George Washington
1984	Western Heritage Awards	Fictional Television Drama	September Gun
1999	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series	Touched by an Angel
2002	Temecula Valley International Film Festival	Lifetime Achievement Award
2003	TV Land Award	Favorite Dual Role Character	The Patty Duke Show
2004	TV Land Award	Favorite Dual Role Character	The Patty Duke Show
2014	Online Film & Television Association	OFTA TV Hall of Fame

Discography

Albums

Title & Billboard Peak Position	Label	Year	Notes
Don't Just Stand There (#90)	United Artists UAL 3452 (Mono)/UAS 6452 (Stereo)	1965
Patty	United Artists UAL 3492/UAS 6492	1966
Patty Duke's Greatest Hits	United Artists UAL 3535/UAS 6535	1966
TV's Teen Star	Unart M 20005 (Mono)/S 21005 (Stereo)	1967
Songs from Valley of The Dolls and Other Selections	United Artists UAL 3623/UAS 6623	1967
Patty Duke Sings Folk Songs: Time To Move On	United Artists (Unreleased )	1968	Note: After years of remaining unreleased, Patty Duke Sings Folk Songs: Time To Move On was finally released by Real Gone Music (under Capitol records) on CD and digital download in 2013.

Singles

Year	Titles (A-side, B-side)	Record Label	Peak chart positions		Album
			Billboard	Cashbox
1965	"Don't Just Stand There" b/w "Everything But Love"	United Artists 875	8	6	Don't Just Stand There
	"Say Something Funny" /	United Artists 915	22	31
	"Funny Little Butterflies"		77	51	Patty Duke's Greatest Hits
1966	"Whenever She Holds You" b/w "Nothing But You"	United Artists 978	64	63	Patty
	"Little Things Mean A Lot" b/w "The World Is Watching Us"	United Artists 50034	-	-
	"The Wall Came Tumbling Down" b/w "What Makes You Special"	United Artists 50057	-	-	Non-album tracks
	"Why Don't They Understand" b/w "Danke Schoen"	United Artists 50073	-	-	Don't Just Stand There
1967	"Come Live With Me" b/w "My Own Little Place"	United Artists 50216	-	-	Songs From 'Valley Of The Dolls
1968	"And We Were Strangers" b/w "Dona Dona"	United Artists 50299	-	-	Patty Duke Sings Folk Songs

See also

• List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees