Oscar-Winning Actress Patty Duke Is Dead at 69

From: NBC News

Oscar-winning actress Patty Duke, who hit the trifecta of stardom with her turns on TV, in the movies, and on Broadway, is dead. She was 69.

Duke died due to sepsis from a ruptured intestine, her managers said.

The Queens-born daughter of a troubled cashier and alcoholic cab driver, Duke overcame a dark childhood to become one of the Hollywood's most respected actresses and president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1985 to 1988.

Duke rocketed to fame in the 1960's as the star of "The Patty Duke Show," which ran for 104 episodes over three seasons, and in which she played her rambunctious self as well as her more demure "identical cousin."

Diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1982, Duke devoted her later years to championing mental health programs and raising her three sons, two of whom — Sean and Mackenzie Astin — followed in their mother's footsteps and became actors as well.

"I love you Mom," Sean Astin said in a statement confirming his mother's death.

Duke was married four times; she is also survived by her last husband, Michael Pearce, and their son, Kevin Pearce.

In a statement, Duke's family called her a "beloved wife, mother, grandmother, matriarch and the exquisite artist, humanitarian, and champion for mental health."

She "closed her eyes, quieted her pain and ascended to a beautiful place," the statement read. "We celebrate the infinite love and compassion she shared through her work and throughout her life. Her work endures..."

Born Anna Marie Duke in Dec. 14, 1946, Duke was one of three children. Her career was launched at age 8 when her mother, unable to cope with the kids, turned her over to talent scouts John and Ethel Ross, who saw gold in the perky young girl.

"Anna Marie is dead" Ethel Ross told her. "You're Patty now."

Duke made her Broadway debut at age 12 playing Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker." Three years later, at age 16, Duke won the best supporting actress Oscar reprising her role as the young Helen in the celebrated 1962 screen adaptation of the play.

Then in 1979, Duke won an Emmy playing Keller's teacher — the role originally played on Broadway by Anne Bancroft — in a TV version of the same play.

But behind the scenes, Duke was miserable. In her memoir "Call Me Anna," Duke claimed her managers controlled just about every aspect of her life and she began drinking and abusing prescription drugs as a teenager. She accused them of sexual abuse and of squandering her earnings.

After "The Patty Duke Show" was cancelled, Duke starred in the camp classic "Valley of the Dolls." She won a second Emmy in 1976 for her turn in the TV mini-series "Captains and the Kings." And she also appeared in TV shows like Police Story, Hawaii 5-O and Night Gallery.

Later, Duke became an advocate for the mentally ill, working with the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Alliance

on Mental Illness.