Image: Award-winning actress Patty Duke poses for photographers with her granddaughters Elizabeth Astin (C), 2, and Alexandra Astin, 7, following an unveiling ceremony honoring Duke with the 2,260th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California August, 17, 2004. REUTERS/Jim Ruymen JR/Files
(Reuters) – Oscar-winning American actress Patty Duke, widely known for the 1960s show “The Patty Duke Show,” died on Tuesday, her representative told Reuters. She was 69 years old.
Duke died Tuesday morning in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho from sepsis due to a ruptured intestine, her spokesman Mitchell Stubbs said.
“She was a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a friend, a mental health advocate and a cultural icon. She will be greatly missed,” Stubbs said.
Born Anna Duke in New York in 1946, the actress began working as a child in commercials, television and on stage.
She won a best supporting actress Oscar for playing deaf-blind author and activist Helen Keller in 1962’s “The Miracle Worker” at age 16, and later won an Emmy for playing Keller’s instructor Annie
Sullivan in 1979’s TV movie of the same name.
Helen Keller Services, a group dedicated to improving lives of those with visual and hearing impairment, said it was saddened by Duke’s death.
“Her performance in The Miracle Worker brought Helen Keller’s indomitable spirit to life and inspired generations to pursue careers serving the deaf-blind community,” the organization said in a statement.
The actress also starred in her own sitcom, “The Patty Duke Show” from 1963 to 1966, and had a role in 1967’s “Valley of the Dolls.”
She later became president of the Screen Actor’s Guild in the 1980s, and also became an advocate for mental health issues after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1982.
The actress was married four times and has three children, including “Lord of the Rings” actor Sean Astin and “The Facts of Life” actor Mackenzie Astin.
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy and Suzannah Gonzales; Editing by Diane Craft)
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