Mental Health

Mental Illness was a path that seemed unavoidable for Duke from the very beginning. She was born in Queens, New York to a financially unstable family consisting of an alcoholic father and violent clinically depressed mother. Her father, John Patrick Duke, worked as a cab driver and handyman while her mother, Frances Margaret, was a cashier. To say that Patty and her two older siblings had a difficult childhood would be an understatement. After an unpleasant and vulnerable 8 years of life, Duke went under care of her brother’s talent agents John and Ethel Ross. Unfortunately, the young girl was deprived once again of stability and love. She was abused, molested, and given alcohol and drugs as a child under care of the Ross’.

Patty Duke was able to achieve what many believed to be “The American Dream” at the time pretty early on in her life. Despite being born into the lower class with violent parents and later going under the care of abusers, Patty was able to attain fame, fortune, and success as a young child actress. Regardless of the difficulties she was dealt with at birth, many observed Patty as reaching her highest potential filled with talent and promise. After her breakout role as young Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker, she won numerous awards and even landed her own show The Patty Duke Show. It was on this program that Patty’s off behaviors were first noticed. The creator noticed how Patty seemed to have “two sides” to her, and even wrote it into the show. Duke’s successful acting career led her to win many different types of awards. Her acceptance speech at her first Emmy Award win caught the attention of many. It was very off-character of the “All American Girl” people thought she was. Audiences assumed that she had been under the influence of drugs or alcohol when delivering the speech. This however, turned out to be Duke experiencing episodes of undiagnosed bipolar disorder.

Patty Duke’s signs of being mentally ill were especially present throughout her personal life. She married director Harry Falk when she was only nineteen years old and experienced constant mood swings, often drank very heavily, developed an eating disorder, and overdosed multiple times on pills. Although Duke was breaking out of her sad childhood career wise and economically, and seemingly achieving what most assumed was The American Dream, she was falling into the same life as her parents had when it came to mental health and addiction. The couple divorced after four years of marriage. Soon after, Duke became involved with Desi Arnaz Jr., John Astin, and Michael Tell all around the same time. After learning she was pregnant, Patty married Michael Tell for only 13 days in a panic to make sure son Sean would “have a name.” She later married John Astin for 13 years and they had a son, Mackenzie, together. It was during her marriage with Astin in 1982 that Duke was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Duke also married Michael Pearce, whom she remained married to from 1986 until death.

Once Patty Duke became more aware of her mental health problems, she began seeking treatment in order to better her relationship with her children, as well as herself. She wrote books inspired by her struggles during recovery such as Call Me Anna and Brilliant Madness: Living with Manic Depressive Illness. She also has a more career-based journal collection, In the Presence of Greatness-My Sixty Year Journey as an Actress, published in 2018.

It soon became clear to Duke that being a famous actress didn’t fulfil her own personal American Dream. Encouraged from her own life experiences, mental health advocacy and education became very important to Duke. She wanted to help others understand the severities and issues mental health can cost people, but also wanted to provide her own support and understanding to those suffering. Duke made it a priority to involve herself with the National Institute of Mental Health and National Alliance on Mental Illness to bring awareness and promote funding to those affected by mental health disorders.

Although Anna Marie “Patty” Duke’s American Dream seemed to be fulfilled at a young age, she continuously struggled with mental health problems throughout her whole life. For Patty Duke, the American Dream was more than prospering out of a bad childhood. Patty Duke lived her own American Dream by being able to promote and educate others on something that was important to her and passionate about; mental health awareness.