Patty Duke (1946-2016)
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 10:00PM As I'm sure you've heard Patty Duke, the third youngest actor ever to win an Oscar (she was 16 when she took the industry's top prize for The Miracle Worker) and the former President of SAG, has died at the age of 69. Her birth name was Anna Marie Duke and by the time she was 14 she was already a famous thespian. She originated the role of blind and deaf Helen Keller in the hit Broadway play "The Miracle Worker". She and her Tony winning co-star Anne Bancroft both transferred over to the film version two years later to bring Helen Keller's incredible story to millions more. It really is a shockingly good movie, with two stellar performances, and it's devoid of the sentiments and easy comforts that you're expecting if you've only heard of it secondhand; that movie earns its "triumph of the human spirit" appeal.
Photos, her son Sean Astin, and her charity work after the jump...
Patty Duke with the real life Helen Keller in the 1960s
Patty with her son Sean who would also become a famous actor.
Patty Duke and Susan Hayward in Valley of the Dolls (1967)
Later she had a hit TV series "The Patty Duke Show" and other enduring film classic, albeit a less respected one in Valley of the Dolls (1967). Not many actresses can claim they won an Oscar as a teenager and later snatched the wig right off another Oscar winner in a camp classic! People also forget this neat bit of trivia: She won an Emmy several years after her Oscar breathrough for "The Miracle Worker" also but this time she was playing Anne Bancroft's role!
Her son Sean Astin, who later came to fame himself in the movies (The Goonies, Rudy, The Lord of the Rings trilogy) left a heartfelt message on Facebook about her death and the family is raising funds for The Mental Health Project in her honor. Patty Duke spoke frequently about her mental illness and was a tireless advocate for mental health.
He writes...
My mother's life touched tens of millions of people. Her ground-breaking portrayal of iconic American legend Helen Keller launched a career that would span six decades. First on broadway and then on the silver screen, Patty Duke's characterization of the extraordinary development of the blind/deaf child brought global attention to the plight of people living with those challenges.
This kind of illuminating and compassionate work became the sacred mission of her life. She became a voice for the voiceless and a reassuring presence for the scared, the intimidated and the lost. She was a healer of many souls and a champion for so many in need.
Anna (her given name) fought for civil rights, gay rights and the rights of working actors to name just a few. Her greatest achievement was confronting her mental illness and making her story public... [continue at the Mental Health Project fundraising site]
Related Reading: an interview with Patty Duke at people magazine during her SAG Presidency
Reader Comments (11)
The compassion she engendered in viewers with her film debut created an enduring legacy. What she created in The Miracle Worker is a rare gift to movie lovers--and humanity.
She was a great. And to think, just last Monday there was a reference to her on Drag Race!
When I was growing up everyone watched; "To Kill a Mockingbird", "The Diary of Anne Frank", and "The Miracle Worker". They are classics, and they have endured for good reason.
"The Miracle Worker" has 2 of the greatest performances on screen and gave me a life long affection for both Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke. Not many people can lay claim to being that talented at such a young age, and to then go on and lead such a useful, well lived life is as astonishing as it is rare.
I was very young when I saw The Miracle Worker one night on TV. I was floored.
I know of Patty Duke through her TV work. My mom always liked her. And my biggest memory of Duke is a TV movie where she is being stalked.
Having seen To Kill a Mockingbird a long time before The Miracle Worker, I thought nothing could top Mary Badham's exquisite performance. But Patty Duke knocked me out! Even considering the fact that she had had time to perfect her performance on Broadway, stage acting and film acting are not the same things, and her performance is perfectly calibrated. What a year for Best Supporting Actresses when Angela Lansbury's fine performance in The Manchurian Candidate comes in a distant third to two juveniles.
I used to be grouchy that Lansbury was this close to finally winning an Oscar, then I watched The Miracle Worker & was totally floored!!! The last scene really tears me up
One of the Most Deserving Wins!!! (Wait, Make that two, Viva Bancroft too!!)
i was hoping you would write about her. i spent a day with her many years ago when she was promoting a TV show. Quite an impressive woman - who was very tiny. Life & career kicked her around but she fought back & created a good life for herself. Very well regarded working actress. Mother, grandmother, 30-year marriage, mental health care advocate. Good for her. Thank you, Patty Duke. A good life.
I appreciate her work on screen and off. A big loss to be sure.
nice post.....!
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