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Patty Duke

 
Who2 Biography: Patty Duke, Actor
 
Patty Duke
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  • Born: 14 December 1946
  • Birthplace: New York, New York
  • Best Known As: Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker

As a child star Duke was famous for her portrayal of Helen Keller in the 1962 film The Miracle Worker. She first played the role on Broadway in 1959, with Anne Bancroft as Keller's teacher Anne Sullivan; the film version won Oscars for both Duke and Bancroft. The Patty Duke Show, in which she played identical cousins from different backgrounds, was a hit from 1963-66. She continued her acting career into adulthood, making something of a specialty of TV movies. She was married to the actor John Astin (famous for playing Gomez on TV's The Addams Family) from 1972-85; their sons Sean and Mackenzie also are actors. In the early 1980s Duke was diagnosed with manic depression; in 1992 she published a book about the disease, A Brilliant Madness.

Like Ronald Reagan and Ed Asner, Duke served as president of the Screen Actors Guild (1985-88).... Also like Reagan she played the president of the United States, in the TV series Hail to the Chief (1985)... Duke was a regular panelist alongside Richard Dawson and Charles Nelson Reilly on The Match Game in the 1970s... During her marriage to Astin she was known professionally as Patty Duke Astin... The Patty Duke Show was created by novelist Sidney Sheldon.

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Artist: Patty Duke
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Influenced By:

  • Born: December 14, 1947, Elmhurst, NY
  • Active: '60s
  • Genres: Rock
  • Instrument: Vocals, Percussion, Arranger
  • Representative Albums: "Patty Duke's Greatest Hits," "Don't Just Stand There," "Guideposts for Christmas"

Biography

Patty Duke, of course, made her main mark in the 1960s as the star of television's Patty Duke Show. Like Shelley Fabares and Annette Funicello, she briefly cashed in on her television stardom to enter the hit parade, although she wasn't much of a singer. "Don't Just Stand There," a Top Ten hit in 1965, was very much in the Lesley Gore mold, if tamer. The other material she recorded for United Artists in the mid-'60s was tamer still, although it had some nominal connection to the White girl group sound of Gore and other singers. Even by the time "Don't Just Stand There" was a hit, this style was passing out of fashion, and after a few smaller hits -- "Say Something Funny" (number 22), "Whenever She Holds You" (number 64), "Funny Little Butterflies" (number 77) -- her turn as a recording star was over. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
 
Actor: Patty Duke
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  • Born: Dec 14, 1946 in New York City, New York
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '60s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Drama
  • Career Highlights: The Miracle Worker, You'll Like My Mother, The Miracle Worker
  • First Major Screen Credit: The Miracle Worker (1962)

Biography

American actress Patty Duke was groomed almost from infancy for a starring career by her manager/guardian John Ross. She studied at the Quintano School for Young Professionals and earned her Equity card at age seven, appearing in numerous TV productions and in such Hollywood films as I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955), The Goddess (1958) (playing young Kim Stanley, the "Marilyn Monroe" character in that film), and Happy Anniversary (1959). Duke also appeared as a quiz-show contestant, and was later compelled to testify as to her honesty during the cheating scandals of 1958 and 1959. Just before her 13th birthday, Duke made her stage debut in the role of Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker; the production won the girl instant stardom and later an Academy Award for the film version of Miracle Worker (1962). Manager John Ross very carefully monitored Duke's public appearances, making certain the world saw her as a sweet, uncomplicated young lady. The truth was that Duke was terribly unhappy, feeling pressured into performing and into suppressing her own emotions. That's not what the world saw in the three seasons of The Patty Duke Show (1963-1966), a sitcom wherein the young actress literally talked to herself in the dual role of cousins Patty and Cathy Lane. She became cynical with stardom in a hurry, and in a bold act of defiance, 18-year-old Duke married a man twice her age, director Harry Falk Jr. Her first grown-up role as a Judy Garland type in Valley of the Dolls (1967) was panned, and it was suggested that she'd lost her talent. The next few years she was cast in a series of unsuccessful films but made a strong comeback with the 1969 TV movie My Sweet Charlie, which won her the first of three Emmys; the others being for the miniseries Captains and the Kings(1976) and a remake of The Miracle Worker (1979) in which she played the role of Annie Sullivan, co-starring with Melissa Gilbert as Helen Keller. In 1972 she married actor John Astin. Their union produced actor sons, Sean Astin and Mackenzie Astin. Duke also briefly changed her professional name to Patty Duke Astin. The Astins worked together prolifically for the duration of their marriage (which eventually ended in divorce). Building up her self-confidence and completely rebuilding her reputation in the '80s, Patty Duke served from 1985 through 1988 as president of the Screen Actor's Guild (the first woman to do so), starred in three separate network sitcoms, and wrote her harrowing best-selling memoirs, Call Me Anna, which in 1990 was adapted into a TV movie that she co-produced and starred in. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
 
Wikipedia: Patty Duke
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Patty Duke
Born Anna Marie Duke
December 14, 1946 (1946-12-14) (age 62)
Elmhurst, Queens, New York, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 1958–present
Spouse(s) Harry Falk (1965-1969)
Michael Tell (1970)
John Astin (1972-1985)
Michael Pearce (1986-present)
Official website

Anna Marie "Patty" Duke (born December 14, 1946) is an American actress of stage and film.

Contents

Early life

Duke was born Anna Marie Duke in Elmhurst, Queens, New York, the daughter of Frances (née McMahon), a cashier, and John Patrick Duke, a handyman and cab driver.[1][2] Her father was Irish American and her maternal grandmother was German.[2]

Duke experienced a childhood of hard times. Her father was an alcoholic, and her mother suffered from clinical depression and was prone to violence. When Duke was 6, her mother threw her father out; when she was 8, her mother turned Duke's care over to John and Ethel Ross, who became her managers, recognized her talent and promoted her as a child actress.[3]

The Rosses' methods were unscrupulous. For instance, they consistently billed Duke as two years younger than she was, and padded her resume with some false credits.[4] It was Ethel Ross who gave the sweeping name-change order, "Anna Marie is dead, you are Patty now." This would have painful repercussions for Duke in the decades to come. (Her professional name was chosen because the Rosses wanted her to achieve the success of Patty McCormack).[5]

Acting career

One of Duke's first acting jobs was on the soap opera The Brighter Day, in the late 1950s. She also appeared in print ads and in television commercials. At the age of twelve, Duke appeared on The $64,000 Question and won $32,000. Three years later, it was revealed that the game show was rigged and she was called to testify before a congressional panel.[6]

Duke's first major role was playing Helen Keller (with Anne Bancroft as Annie Sullivan) in the Broadway play The Miracle Worker, which ran for nearly two years (October, 1959 - July, 1961). Midway through the production-run, her name was placed above the title on the marquee.

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 receive an Academy Award in a competitive category. She won a Golden Globe for Me, Natalie in 1969, which also featured Al Pacino in his screen debut. In a 1979 television movie of "The Miracle Worker", Duke played Sullivan.

In 1963, Duke landed her own series The Patty Duke Show, in which she played both main characters: Patty Lane, an American teenager occasionally getting into minor trouble in school and at home; and her 'prim and proper' "identical cousin" from Scotland, Cathy Lane. The show featured co-stars William Schallert as Patty Lane's father, Jean Byron as her mother, Paul O'Keefe as her brother and Eddie Applegate as her boyfriend, Richard. The show had some guest stars such as Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Paul Lynde, Sal Mineo, and the show appeared on TV for three seasons and earned Duke one Emmy Award nomination. The Patty Duke Show can be seen every afternoon on World Harvest TV at 4pm ET on DirecTV channel 367.

In 1967, with The Patty Duke Show cancelled, Duke attempted to leave her chidhood success behind and begin her adult acting career by playing Neely O'Hara in Valley of the Dolls. The film was a box office success, but audiences had a difficult time accepting Duke as an alcoholic, drug-addicted singing star. While the film has since become a camp classic (due in large part to Duke's over-the-top performance), it almost ruined Duke's career at the time. She made a comeback in 1970 with her sensitive portrayal of a pregnant teenager on the run in My Sweet Charlie. Duke won her first Emmy Award for this performance, but her acceptance speech was rambling, angry, and disjointed, leading many in the industry to believe she was using drugs. In fact, Duke was suffering from mania, a part of bipolar disorder, which went undiagnosed until 1982. [2]

Despite the success of her career, Duke was deeply unhappy during her teenage years. Efforts were taken by the Rosses to portray her as a normal teenager, but Duke has indicated in her memoirs that she was a virtual prisoner of them and had little control over her own life and earnings. The Rosses kept control over Duke and her mother by allowing them only a small amount of money to survive on. The Rosses also began providing Duke with alcohol and prescription drugs when she was 13, which led to substance abuse problems later on (as an adult, Duke accused both John and Ethel Ross of sexual abuse).

Upon turning 18, Duke became free of the Rosses, only to find that they had squandered most of her earnings.

Singing career

Duke had a successful singing career, garnering several Top 40 hits such as "Don't Just Stand There" in 1965, and "Dona Dona" in 1968. She performed both songs on The Ed Sullivan Show. Also during 1968, she had appeared on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson, and after George Jessel's comic appearance, she was introduced and sang an old Irish song, "Danny Boy", with a passion that few could match. However, it was in the 1970 TV movie My Sweet Charlie in which she played opposite Black actor, Al Freeman Jr., in a movie involving a runaway pregnant teenager (Duke) and a civil rights activist on the run for his life (Freeman Jr.). The film depicted an interracial friendship that develops after intial animosity among the characters. Duke won her first Emmy Award and made her comeback as an actress in this film.

2000s

In 2002, Duke returned to New York to appear as Aunt Eller in a revival of Oklahoma!. She returned again in 2005 to attend a memorial service for her former co-star and actress from The Miracle Worker, Anne Bancroft, who had died of uterine cancer earlier in the year.

On November 2, 2004, it was announced that Duke would undergo single bypass surgery in Idaho, which was successful.

On October 4, 2007, Duke appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, talking about her bipolar disorder to an Oprah guest, advising the guest to seek out a support group.

On March 24, 2009 she took over the role of Madame Morrible from Carol Kane in the San Francisco production of Wicked.[7]

Other achievements

In 1985, Duke was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild, the second woman to hold the position (Duke held the job until 1988). Coincidentally, in the same year she also played the first female President of the United States in the sitcom Hail to the Chief.

She authored two books, one her autobiography, Call Me Anna (ISBN 0-553-27205-5), and Brilliant Madness: Living with Manic Depressive Illness (ISBN 0-553-56072-7)

On August 17, 2004, Duke received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her career accomplishments.

In December 2007, Duke was awarded an honorary Doctorate from the University of North Florida for her work in advancing awareness of mental health issues.[8]

Personal life

In 1970, Duke had an affair with 17-year old Desi Arnaz Jr.. The relationship became tabloid fodder, due in part to Lucille Ball's vocal opposition to Duke seeing her son. Most believed Duke's son, Sean Astin, was Arnaz's biological child, but it was later determined through parental testing that the father was Duke's second husband, Michael Tell.

In 1972, actor John Astin married Duke, adopted her son, Sean Astin who was not his own biological son, and fathered her second son, Mackenzie, who was born in 1973. Duke and Astin worked together extensively during their marriage. For a time, Patty Duke added 'Astin' to her professional name. The marriage and her children greatly improved her self confidence and her career.

In 1975 Duke (with Astin’s help), adopted Astin’s three sons, David, Allen, and Thomas Astin. This adoption was strongly contested by the boy’s biological mother, Suzanne Hahn, but Duke and Astin prevailed and the Astin boys legally became Duke’s sons. Duke, Astin, Sean, Mackenzie, and the three Astin boys all lived together in Los Angeles until roughly 1982 (the time Duke and Astin’s marriage began to dissolve). After Duke’s divorce from Astin, Duke distanced herself from the three Astin boys. In the late 1990’s all three of the Astin’s boys, regretting Duke’s adoption, reversed Duke's legal action and dissolved their relationship with Duke as their mother.

In 1985, Duke and Astin divorced, and in 1986 she married drill sergeant Michael Pearce, whom she met on the set of a TV movie, A Time for Triumph. The couple moved to Idaho and adopted a son together.

She received her second Emmy for the TV miniseries, Captains and the Kings in 1977, and her third in 1980 for a TV version of The Miracle Worker in which she played Annie Sullivan to Melissa Gilbert's Helen Keller.

Illness

Duke has suffered from mental health issues throughout her life. In 1982, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Its treatment, which included lithium as a medication, stabilized Duke's life and put her on the road to recovery.

Duke has since become an activist for numerous mental health causes.

Filmography

Year Film Role Other notes
1958 Country Music Holiday Sis Brand
The Goddess Emily Ann Faulkner, age 8
1959 4D Man Marjorie Sutherland
Happy Anniversary Debbie Walters
1962 The Miracle Worker Helen Keller Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress; Nominated - Golden Globe
1963-1966 The Patty Duke Show Patty Lane/Cathy Lane 104 episodes; Nominated - Emmy Award; Nominated - Golden Globe
1965 Billie Billie Carol
1966 The Daydreamer Thumbelina Voice
1967 Think Twentieth Herself Short Subject
Valley of the Dolls Neely O'Hara
1969 Me, Natalie Natalie Miller Golden Globe Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1970 My Sweet Charlie Marlene Chambers Emmy Award
1972 You'll Like My Mother Francesca Kinsolving
1976 Captains and the Kings Bernadette Hennessey Armagh Emmy Award
1978 The Swarm Rita
1979 The Miracle Worker Annie Sullivan Emmy Award
1981 The Violation of Sarah McDavid Sarah McDavid
1982 By Design Helen
1986 Willy/Milly Doris Niceman
1987 Fight for Life Shirley Abrams
1989 The Hitch-Hikers
1991 A Killer Among Friends Jean Monroe
1992 Prelude to a Kiss Mrs. Boyle
1993 A Matter of Justice Mary Brown
1998 The Patty Duke Show: Still Rockin' in Brooklyn Heights Patty Lane/Cathy Lane MacAllister
1998-2003 Touched by an Angel Jean 3 episodes
1999 Kimberly Dr. Feinstenberger
A Season for Miracles Angel
2004 Judging Amy Valerie Bing
2005 Bigger Than the Sky Mrs. Keene/Earlene
2006 Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door Bridget Connelly
2008 The Four Children of Tander Welch Susan Metler
2009 Love Finds a Home Mary Watson

References

  1. ^ Patty Duke Biography (1946-)
  2. ^ a b c Duke, Patty; Kennen Turan (1987). Call Me Anna: The Autobiography of Patty Duke. Bantam Books. pp. 8. ISBN 0553272055. 
  3. ^ Pattie 'Duke' Pierce
  4. ^ TV Preview: Patty Duke pairs off again as 'Identical cousins'
  5. ^ Biography
  6. ^ "[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/quizshow/filmmore/transcript/index.html The Quiz Show Scandal The Film & More Program Transcript]". PBS. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/quizshow/filmmore/transcript/index.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-10. 
  7. ^ Academy Award Winner Duke to Join Cast of San Fran's Wicked
  8. ^ Duke Awarded Honorary Degree/Senior Recognized for Service. Press Release For: December 06, 2007. University of North Florida.

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Who2 Biography. Copyright © 1998-2008 by Who2, LLC. All rights reserved. See the Patty Duke biography from Who2.  Read more
Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Patty Duke" Read more

 

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