Patty Duke Achieved a Lot of Industry ‘Firsts’ – But Who Was She Really?
Patty Duke was an actress known for her work throughout the 1960s and '70s. From a young age, she stole the hearts of thousands in Broadway productions like The Miracle Worker, films like Valley of the Dolls and her television series, The Patty Duke Show.
Throughout her career, Duke was the recipient of many accolades: Golden Globes, Emmys and even an Academy Award. However, behind the glitz and glamor, she faced a struggle or two.
More facts about the one and only Patty Duke are coming up!
Patty Duke's Parents Were More Concerned About Money
Born in Manhattan, New York, in 1946, Anna Marie Duke grew up under the care of two talent managers, John and Ethel Ross. Unfortunately, they were more concerned about money, stuffing Duke's resume with false credits and promoting her as two years younger than she actually was.
A Name Change to Rival Another Young Actress
Duke never saw her birth father and only saw her mother when she went home to do her talent manager's laundry. John and Ethel were also credited as the two who "made" Patty Duke. "Anna Marie is dead," they said. "You're Patty now."
They hoped the young girl would become more popular than Patty McCormack, another talented young actress.
Scoring Her First Roles
In the 1950s, Duke landed one of her first acting roles: Ellen Williams Dennis in the popular soap opera, The Brighter Day. While she wasn't one of the leads, the young actress landed five episodes of screen time.
During the decade, Duke also scored multiple television commercials and print ads, boosting her resume with actual credits and slowly but surely making a name for herself as a familiar face onscreen, as well as in popular magazines and tabloids.
'The $64,000 Question'
At the age of 12, Patty Duke appeared on the popular game show, The $64,000 Question. The goal was to answer general knowledge questions, earning money with each correct answer, with the contestants' earnings doubling with each question.
To the surprise of many, the young girl wound up winning $32,000, a substantial sum for 1959. According to Duke, her best and favorite trivia category was Popular Music.
Unfortunately, the game show wasn't exactly what it seemed.
A Game Show Scandal
After Duke won her $32,000, people started asking, ironically, questions. How was a 12 year old able to win all that money? In 1962, it was revealed someone had rigged the game. As a result, Duke was asked to stand before the US Senate and testify.
While standing in front of a panel of Congressional investigators, the young actress broke down in tears, admitting she'd been coached for not only the game, but what to say during the hearings!
Things Were Starting to Look Up for Patty Duke
While 1959 started off on the wrong foot for Patty Duke, things started looking up as the year went on. She got the role of Tootie Smith in the television adaptation of Meet Me in St. Louis - but that wasn't the highlight.
Scoring a Leading Role on Broadway
More impressively, 1959 was the year Duke landed her first major leading role. In 1959, she was asked to play the role of a young Helen Keller opposite Anne Bancroft's Anne Sullivan in the Broadway production of The Miracle Worker. Of course, she accepted.
'The Miracle Worker' Shot Duke to Stardom
Audiences were so enamored with the young actress that during the show's run, Duke's name was elevated above the production's title on the marque. This was the first time in Broadway history that such an honor was given to a young star.
Duke Actually Met Helen Keller
During her run as Helen Keller on the Broadway stage, Patty Duke had the honor of meeting the real person she was portraying. At 12 years old, she visited Keller in her home, spending the day discussing the production and what it meant to play such an iconic female.
During an interview, Duke discussed her visit, revealing, "We had the best time. We must have spent the whole day there. She was eager to know how much I loved playing her. She wanted to come to the show... Our meeting was truly magical, mystical. I treasure those moments."
'The Miracle Worker' is Adapted for the Silver Screen
The 1959 Broadway production of The Miracle Worker was so successful that William Gibson even adapted the original screenplay into a film! Directed by Arthur Penn, Duke stepped back into the shoes of Helen Keller, once again opposite Anne Bancroft's Anne Sullivan.
Patty Duke Wins Her First (and Only) Academy Award
A critical and commercial success, The Miracle Worker went on to score five Academy Award nominations. Bancroft won the Oscar for Best Actress, while Duke took home the statue for Best Supporting Actress - her first and only Academy Award.
Starring in Her Own Television Show
With her growing fame, ABC decided it needed create a show, with Duke at the helm. The only issue was the TV studio no clue what it was going to be about, nor was there any idea regarding its direction or Duke's potential co-stars.
It was decided Duke would spend time at the house of writer and producer Sidney Sheldon. He wanted to get a grasp on who she was as a person, and after a while, he knew where he wanted to take the series.
Her Split Personality Sparked the Writer's Creativity
While Duke stayed with he and his family, Sheldon noticed the young actress had two very distinct sides to her personality. He decided to run with it, coming up with the idea of Duke playing identical cousins with different personalities.
As Duke once told it, the writer was able to capture her contrasting personalities perfectly in the form of two fictional characters.
With a concept in place, writing for The Patty Duke Show began!
'The Patty Duke Show' Was a Success
The first episode of The Patty Duke Show aired in Septembe 1963, with the series running for three seasons. Viewers were captivated by the show, especially because the dual characters played by Duke challenged every bit of special effects equipment at the time.
With the success of the series and the popularity of her characters, Duke was thrown further and further into the limelight.
More Like Family Than Co-Stars
Spending virtually all of their time together resulted in the cast of The Patty Duke Show becoming a close-knit group of people. Duke was even quoted as calling them her surrogate family, especially her on-screen father, actor William Schallert.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Duke said, "He's the dad I never got to spend time with. The family we created [on] the show was very much a family. That was my safety zone."
'The Patty Duke Show' is Cancelled
Even with its popularity, production of The Patty Duke Show came to a halt in 1966, when its star turned 18. However, there were a few reasons why it was cancelled, none of which had to do with viewership or ratings.
One was the growing popularity of color television sets. As The Patty Duke Show was filmed in black and white, it would've cost the network more to switch the show to color, rather than starting a new show from scratch. As a result, the series was cancelled.
Her Adult Acting Career Got Off to a Rocky Star
Patty Duke began her adult acting career with the role of Neely O'Hara in the 1967 film, Valley of the Dolls. It featured some big names, including Judy Garland and Paul Burke, along with a relatively new actress who'd soon make headlines for tragic reasons: Sharon Tate.
While Valley of the Dolls was a box office success, earning $50 million worldwide on a $4.4 million budget, critics negatively reviewed it for a specific reason.
The Film That Nearly Ruined Her Career
Critics, along with audience members, had difficulty watching the All-American Patty Duke portray the substance-abusing singer Neely O'Hara in Valley of the Dolls.
Even so, the film has since become a camp classic for Duke's character's over-the-top antics.
Winning a Golden Globe in 1969
1969 saw Patty Duke move away from her girl-next-door persona and into an "ugly duckling" role in the film, Me, Natalie. In it, she starred as Natalie Miller, a teen from Brooklyn, New York, struggling to fit into the hip world of Greenwich Village.
While the movie didn't get the best reviews, Duke's performance didn't go unnoticed. Critic Roger Elbert wrote, "[It's a] pleasant film, very funny at times, and the evidence in the audience was that women liked it enormously. And Patty Duke, as Natalie, supplies a wonderful performance."
For her performance, Duke won the Golden Globe for Best Actress (Musical or Comedy).
She Followed Her Golden Globe Up With an Emmy Win
Patty Duke made her way back to the small screen in 1970, in the made-for-TV drama, My Sweet Charlie. In the film, she played Marlene Chambers, a pregnant teenager who's been shunned by her father and boyfriend and is living in an abandoned house.
The performance earned Duke her first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role.
Duke Won Her Second Emmy for a Mini-Series
In 1977, Duke won her second Primetime Emmy Award, this time for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series. In Captains and Kings, she portrays Bernadette Hennessey Armagh, a woman whose father throws her into the arms of Joseph Armagh.
The eight-part miniseries aired on NBC and garnered stellar reviews. One critic wrote, "Old-time movie stars, current stars and up and comers all mixed together to form a mosaic of a driven and a rather despicable man's journey through his life and our history."
Return to 'The Miracle Worker'
In 1979, Duke went back to the Broadway stage in a revival of The Miracle Worker. This time around, she wasn't playing the lead of Helen Keller, but, rather, Anne Sullivan, opposite Little House on the Prairie's Melissa Gilbert.
Her portrayal of Sullivan earned Duke yet another Primetime Emmy, for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special. The Broadway production was the final time Duke was involved in The Miracle Worker.
A Short, Yet Successful Singing Career
Like many child actors and teen stars, Patty Duke had a stint as a singer. However, unlike some who transition from acting to singing, her career was oddly successful.
In 1965, Duke had two songs breach the Top 40: "Don't Just Stand There" peaked at No. 8, while "Say Something Funny" reached No. 22. She sang these on The Ed Sullivan Show and Shindig!.
Patty Duke Achieved a Lot of Industry 'Firsts'
When Duke first stepped onto the Hollywood scene, she was very young, but her age didn't stop her from landing prominent roles. At one time, Duke was the youngest actor to receive an award in one of the top categories.
But that wasn't the only "first" for Duke. The actress is also credited with being the youngest star to receive a self-titled TV series.
Kelsey Berish
