Oscar-winner Patty Duke dies

Anna Marie “Patty” Duke, who won an Oscar for her role as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker and fought mental illness throughout much of her life, died today. She was 69.

At 16, Duke became the youngest person to receive an Academy Award, winning best supporting actress for her portrayal of Keller. Her fame continued to soar when, in 1963, she starred in a television series created for her, The Patty Duke Show. In it, she played the parts of identical twin cousins—after the show’s creator noticed she had two sides to her personality. Duke played “Patty,” a fun-loving, mischievous American teenager and “Cathy,” her identical cousin from Scotland. The show lasted three seasons and earned Duke an Emmy Award nomination.

Named Anna Marie at birth by her alcoholic father and a mother who suffered from clinical depression, Duke was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She was raised from the age of 8 by her talent managers, John and Ethel Ross, who changed her name to Patty, hoping she would emulate another child star, Patty McCormack. Duke later said she hated the name.

Last year, Duke told the Catholic magazine St. Anthony Messenger that her childhood dream was to become a nun. Instead, the Rosses removed her from the Catholic school she attended and found acting jobs for her. But they allowed Duke to receive confirmation, when she took the name Patricia as a way of making “Patty” a part of her, she told the Messenger.

Her childhood fame overshadowed a tumultuous private life. At age 18, she legally separated from the Rosses but learned they had squandered most of her earnings, she told the Messenger. She suffered bouts of depression, attempted suicide, and was hospitalized several times.

She married and divorced, had several affairs, gave birth to a son whose paternity was uncertain for years and then married again but had the marriage annulled. Her son, actor Sean Astin, was later adopted by John Astin, whom Duke married in 1972. The couple had another son, actor Mackenzie Astin, but then divorced in 1985. Duke was married again in 1986—to drill sergeant Michael Pearce—and remained married until her death. Pearce and Duke adopted a son, Kevin, who was born in 1988.

At age 35, doctors diagnosed her with bipolar disorder and prescribed medication and therapy.

“It was like a rebirth, a resurrection,” she told the Messenger. “One of my greatest blessings has been the right diagnosis, the right doctor, and the right treatment.”

Duke said she learned to forgive the Rosses and to believe they had good intentions for her. She became an activist for numerous mental health causes and lobbied Congress to join with the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Alliance on Mental Illness to increase awareness and funding. Her character in a 2011 television series, The Protector, reflects her real-life struggle with bipolar disorder.

“For me, forgiveness has been key,” she told the Messenger. “In forgiving, I have eased my own burden and this allows me to generate more love, to live and do as Jesus, who is all about love.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.