Patty Duke
Biography
Anna Marie "Patty" Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016) was an American actress of stage, film and television. Patty Duke also had a successful singing career, including two Top 40 hits in 1965, "Dont Just Stand There" (#8) and "Say Something Funny" (#22). Another recording was "Dona Dona" in 1968, which she performed as the second song on The Ed Sullivan Show. Also during 1968, she had appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and after George Jessels comic appearance, she was introduced and sang the Irish classic, "Danny Boy". She also sang songs on such shows as Shindig!, Kraft Music Hall, The Mike Douglas Show, and The Merv Griffin Show. She sang in the 1965 feature film Billie and sang on the soundtrack of the 1966 feature film, The Daydreamer, in which she voiced the character of Thumbelina. She has recorded a string of six LPs in her musical career.
She first became famous as a teen star, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16 for her role in The Miracle Worker, which she had originated on Broadway. She later starred in the sitcom, The Patty Duke Show. She progressed to more mature roles upon playing Neely OHara in the 1967 film Valley of the Dolls. She served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1985 to 1988, four years after her Patty Duke Show co-star William Schallert held the same office.
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Duke was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1982, after which she devoted much of her time to advocating and educating the public on mental health issues.
In 1996, 30 years after The Patty Duke Show ended, Duke was ranked #40 on TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.
Patty Duke died March 29, 2016. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.
