Remembering Patty Duke, 1946-2016

Patty Duke! We know her name and her face—at least some iterations thereof. Born Anna Marie Duke on December 14, 1946, in Elmhurst, New York, she was given the name “Patty” by her managers at the start of what was an early and brilliant acting career. At the age of thirteen, she played Helen Keller in the Broadway hit The Miracle Worker alongside Anne Bancroft, who was cast as Keller’s teacher, Anne Sullivan. Four years later, both Duke and Bancroft won Academy Awards for the movie version.

After her brilliantly convincing portrayal of a blind, deaf, and mute person, Duke totally transformed her acting persona, transfixing legions of her fellow baby boomers with her weekly television antics on ABC’s The Patty Duke Show (1963–66). There she played Patty Lane, as well as her look-alike cousin, Cathy Lane. Cathy was always the more sensitive, sensible, and studious of the two, while Patty was more like the real Patty—emotional and conflicted, but always fun-loving. 

Personally, I related more with the character of Cathy. In my adolescent mind she was the perfect role model for our generation. Except our generation was anything but demure in the 1960s and 1970s. And like so many of that generation, Patty was a survivor, combating drug and alcohol abuse, several suicide attempts, four marriages, and bipolar disorder. Through it all she managed to remain productive in television acting and producing—winning three Emmy Awards—and in major motion pictures—winning two Golden Globes. In my mind, Patty Duke will always be soft-spoken, self-assured, and comely, just like Cathy Lane.