
Patty Duke
Known for ActingBorn 1946-12-14Died 2016-03-29Elmhurst, Queens, New York, United States
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.Read more
Movies & web series
★ 10.0Find where to watch →
The Patty Duke Show: Still Rockin' in Brooklyn Heights
1999 · Movie
★ 10.0Find where to watch →
Last Wish
1992 · Movie
★ 10.0Find where to watch →
Rosetti and Ryan: Men Who Love Women
1977 · Movie
Swiss Family Robinson
★ 10.0Find where to watch →
Swiss Family Robinson
1958 · Movie
★ 9.0Find where to watch →
First Years
2001 · Series
★ 9.0Find where to watch →
Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1
1999 · Movie
★ 9.0Find where to watch →
Hitch-Hikers
1989 · Movie
★ 9.0Find where to watch →
The Storyteller
1977 · Movie
★ 9.0Find where to watch →
The Power and the Glory
1963 · Movie
★ 8.7Find where to watch →
A Matter of Justice
1993 · Series
★ 8.8Find where to watch →
Captains and the Kings
1976 · Series
★ 8.8Find where to watch →
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951 · Series
★ 8.0Find where to watch →
Liv and Maddie
2013 · Series
★ 8.2Find where to watch →
The Torkelsons
1991 · Series
★ 8.1Find where to watch →
Family Law
1999 · Series
★ 8.0Find where to watch →
Always Remember I Love You
1990 · Movie
★ 8.0Find where to watch →
A Time to Triumph
1986 · Movie
★ 7.7Find where to watch →
Hawaii Five-0
2010 · Series
★ 7.7Find where to watch →
Drop Dead Diva
2009 · Series
★ 8.0Find where to watch →
Women in White
1979 · Series
★ 8.0Find where to watch →
Inside 'the Swarm'
1978 · Movie
★ 8.0Find where to watch →
Deadly Harvest
1972 · Movie
★ 8.0Find where to watch →
Jacqueline Susann and the Valley of the Dolls
1967 · Movie
★ 7.7Find where to watch →
Backstory
2000 · Series
★ 7.7Find where to watch →
Frasier
1993 · Series
★ 8.0Find where to watch →
Wuthering Heights
1958 · Movie
★ 7.7Find where to watch →
George Washington
1984 · Series
★ 7.9Find where to watch →
The Miracle Worker
1962 · Movie
★ 7.8Find where to watch →
Night Gallery
1970 · Series
★ 7.5Find where to watch →
Judging Amy
1999 · Series
Karen's Song
★ 7.5Find where to watch →
Karen's Song
1987 · Series
★ 7.8Find where to watch →
Kraft Television Theatre
1947 · Series
★ 7.5Find where to watch →
If Tomorrow Comes
1971 · Movie
★ 7.3Find where to watch →
A Killer Among Friends
1992 · Movie
★ 7.3Find where to watch →
Best Kept Secrets
1984 · Movie
★ 7.4Find where to watch →
Ghost Story
1972 · Series
★ 7.2Find where to watch →
Touched by an Angel
1994 · Series
★ 7.5Find where to watch →
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962 · Series
★ 7.0Find where to watch →
A Season for Miracles
1999 · Movie
★ 7.0Find where to watch →
Love Lessons
2000 · Movie
★ 7.1Find where to watch →
Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace
1988 · Movie
★ 7.4Find where to watch →
DuPont Show of the Month
1957 · Series
★ 7.0Find where to watch →
Race Against Time: The Search for Sarah
1996 · Movie
Fatal Judgement
★ 7.0Find where to watch →
Fatal Judgement
1988 · Movie
★ 6.8Find where to watch →
Glee
2009 · Series
★ 7.2Find where to watch →
Hawaii Five-O
1968 · Series
★ 7.0Find where to watch →
Hail to the Chief
1985 · Series
★ 7.1Find where to watch →
Fire!
1977 · Movie