Anne Bancroft, left, and Patty Duke in the Boadway play "The Miracle Worker" in New York in October 1959. Bancroft played the role of Anne Sullivan, who teaches the blind and deaf Helen Keller, played by Duke, to communicate.
Child actress Patty Duke fills out the letters of her name as it appears on the marquee at the Playhouse Theatre in New York City, advertising the play "The Miracle Worker," on March 25, 1960. Duke, 13, who stars opposite Anne Bancroft in the hit show, is held and supported by Mannie Kay, president of the sign company.
Actress Patty Duke, 16, admires her golden Oscar statuette at the 35th annual Academy Award presentation and dinner at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, California, on April 8, 1963. At right is her co-manager, Ethel Ross. Duke was named best supporting actress for her portrayal of Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker."
Patty Duke, 16, accepts the Oscar as best supporting actress for her work in "The Miracle Worker," at the annual Academy Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., on April 8, 1963.
President John Kennedy reaches for a gift from Bobbie Whittaker, 7, in his White House office in Washington in this June 20, 1963 photo. Bobbie and his 6-year-old sister, Kerrie, right, were the national poster children of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Standing, from left, are actress Patty Duke; the children's parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. Leigh Whittaker of Cincinnati; Kennedy and comedian Jerry Lewis. Kennedy received a lapel pin from Bobby, flowers from Kerrie.
Barbara Parkins, Lee Grant and Patty Duke, left to right, three original cast members from the 1967 film of the Jacqueline Susann novel "Valley of the Dolls," reunited in New York in 2000 for a screening and panel discussion of the movie by cable's American Movie Classics.
Academy Award winner, and television actress Patty Duke sits with her granddaughters Elizabeth Astin 2, left, and Alexandra Astin 7, after being honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in this 2004 photo.
Academy Award winner and television actress Patty Duke poses with her sons, actors Mackenzie Astin, left, and Sean Astin, right, after being honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004.
Academy and Emmy award-winning actress Patty Duke is shown during a news conference at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, California, in 2010. The cast of the 1960s TV comedy "The Patty Duke Show," are promoted the Social Security Administration's service allowing baby boomers to apply online for retirement and Medicare benefits.
In 2011, Patty Duke posed for a photo while directing the play that made her famous, "The Miracle Worker," at Interplayers in Spokane, Wash.
Actress Patty Duke arrives for the opening night performance of "Buyer & Cellar" at the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in this 2014 file photo.
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