Remembering Patty Duke

Patty Duke was one of the great actresses of her generation. When she was sixteen, she won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Helen Keller in “The Miracle Worker” (1962), the youngest actress to win a competitive Academy Award at the time. She starred in a dual role in an iconic 1960’s sitcom “The Patty Duke Show” and went on to several memorable television and film roles. But her story was marred by a childhood where she was abused by the people managing her career, and later in life by her bouts with bipolar affective disorder, which she wrote about in her gripping 1987 autobiography “Call Me Anna”. Later in life, she was a tireless worker for greater awareness and support for the mentally ill.