Patty Duke

Anna Marie Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016), known professionally as Patty Duke, was an American actress. Over the course of her acting career, Duke was the recipient of an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

At age 15, Duke portrayed Helen Keller in the film The Miracle Worker (1962), a role she had originated on Broadway. Duke won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. The following year, she played the dual role of "identical cousins" Cathy and Patty Lane on her own network television series The Patty Duke Show (1963–1966). Duke progressed to more mature roles, such as Neely O'Hara in the film Valley of the Dolls (1967) and Natalie Miller in the film Me, Natalie (1969). The latter earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. From 1985 to 1988, Duke served as president of the Screen Actors Guild.

Duke was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1982. Following her diagnosis, Duke devoted much of her time to advocating for and educating the public on mental health. Duke was also an occasional singer and author.

Anna Marie Duke was born on December 14, 1946, at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, New York City to Frances Margaret (née McMahon) (1913–1993), a cashier, and John Patrick Duke (1913–1964), a handyman and cab driver, who was of Irish descent. She was the youngest of three children. Duke was raised Roman Catholic.

Duke spent her early life in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens, where her brother Raymond, her sister Carol, and she experienced a difficult childhood. John was an alcoholic, while Frances suffered from clinical depression and was prone to violence. When Duke was six, Frances forced John 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.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.