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.
94 movies · 51 shows
Power of the Air
2018·4.0
Amazing Love
2012·6.6
Unanswered Prayers
2010·3.0
Love Finds A Home
2009·6.7
Gotta Get Off This Merry-Go-Round: 'Valley of the Dolls'
2006·0.0
The Divine Ms. Susann
2006·0.0
The Dish on Dolls
2006·0.0
Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door
2006·5.9
Bigger Than the Sky
2005·5.4
Murder Without Conviction
2004·6.0
Playboy: Sex at 24 Frames Per Second
2003·5.3
Little John
2002·6.4
Miracle on the Mountain: The Kincaid Family Story
2001·4.5
Love Lessons
2000·7.0
A Season for Miracles
1999·7.0
Kimberly
1999·4.5
Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1
1999·9.0
The Patty Duke Show: Still Rockin' in Brooklyn Heights
1999·10.0
When He Didn't Come Home
1998·5.2
A Christmas Memory
1997·6.2
To Face Her Past
1996·6.0
Harvest of Fire
1996·5.8
Race Against Time: The Search for Sarah
1996·7.0
When the Vows Break
1995·4.0
Cries from the Heart
1994·6.0
One Woman's Courage
1994·5.5
No Child of Mine
1993·5.0
Family of Strangers
1993·5.7
A Killer Among Friends
1992·7.1
Prelude to a Kiss
1992·5.6
Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive
1992·4.9
Last Wish
1992·10.0
Absolute Strangers
1991·0.0
Always Remember I Love You
1990·8.0
Call Me Anna
1990·5.0
Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure
1989·6.0
Amityville: The Evil Escapes
1989·4.6
Hitch-Hikers
1989·9.0
Fatal Judgement
1988·7.0
Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace
1988·7.1
Fight for Life
1987·6.0
Willy/Milly
1986·5.4
George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation
1986·0.0
A Time to Triumph
1986·8.0
Best Kept Secrets
1984·7.3
September Gun
1983·5.5
Please Don't Hit Me, Mom
1983·6.5
Something So Right
1982·5.9
By Design
1982·4.7
I Love Liberty
1982·0.0
The Violation of Sarah McDavid
1981·4.5
The Girl on the Edge of Town
1981·0.0
The Babysitter
1980·5.7
Mom, the Wolfman and Me
1980·7.0
The Women's Room
1980·4.4
The Miracle Worker
1979·6.8
Before and After
1979·3.5
Hanging by a Thread
1979·6.6
The Swarm
1978·5.1
A Family Upside Down
1978·7.0
Having Babies III
1978·4.8
Inside 'the Swarm'
1978·8.0
The Storyteller
1977·9.0
Killer on Board
1977·5.9
Curse of the Black Widow
1977·5.2
Rosetti and Ryan: Men Who Love Women
1977·10.0
Fire!
1977·7.1
Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby
1976·3.5
Hard Day at Blue Nose
1974·0.0
Nightmare
1974·7.0
You'll Like My Mother
1972·6.3
Deadly Harvest
1972·8.0
She Waits
1972·5.9
If Tomorrow Comes
1971·7.5
Two on a Bench
1971·6.3
Birdbath
1971·7.0
My Sweet Charlie
1970·6.8
Me, Natalie
1969·5.6
Journey to the Unknown
1969·0.0
Valley of the Dolls
1967·6.0
Valley of the Dolls: A World Premiere Voyage
1967·5.0
Jacqueline Susann and the Valley of the Dolls
1967·8.0
The Daydreamer
1966·5.1
Billie
1965·5.0
The Power and the Glory
1963·9.0
The Miracle Worker
1962·7.9
4D Man
1959·5.8
Meet Me in St. Louis
1959·6.0
Happy Anniversary
1959·6.5
Swiss Family Robinson
1958·10.0
The Goddess
1958·6.0
Wuthering Heights
1958·8.0
An American Girl
1958·7.0
Country Music Holiday
1958·6.0