RIP, Patty Duke

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The Patty Duke Show Star Patty Duke Dead at 69

And you may wonder how Patty Duke connects to DS? Well, she did a 1992 made-for-TV movie called Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive with David Selby. It wasn't exactly the greatest movie - but I enjoyed it more than I might have otherwise because the two of them have always been two of my favorite actors because they're both so talented, so together they couldn't help but make it better.

I have a copy of the movie on VHS around here somewhere. IF I can find it, and IF it even still plays, I'll try to post some screen caps...

(And as an aside, it always amused the hell out of me that Selby's character was named Shag. Hey, I'm easily amused.  )

[Gothick]

Sad news. My strongest association with Patty Duke is with VALLEY OF THE DOLLS and Anne Wells (portrayed by Barbara Parkins) is so reminiscent of Vicki Winters, to me at least, that I've always considered the movie as somehow connected to the DS Universe.

G.

[Uncle Roger]

She worked with Chris Pennock in a 1980 ABC MOTW called The Women's Room. I'm sure that there are other DS connections as well.
I met Patty at Chiller Theatre a few times. She was extremely nice and quite gracious. The line to meet her was always a long one because she took her time talking to everyone. She was as interested in hearing about you as you were in hearing about her. And no one left without a hug.
The trials and tribulations of her younger years have been well documented, especially in her autobiography Call Me Anna. What matters is that she persevered and overcame them. Patty did a lot to make the general public aware of how mental illness can strike anyone but, given the proper treatment, it can be managed.
She was a special lady. And I will miss her very much. 

[michael c]

Sad news. My strongest association with Patty Duke is with VALLEY OF THE DOLLS and Anne Wells (portrayed by Barbara Parkins) is so reminiscent of Vicki Winters, to me at least, that I've always considered the movie as somehow connected to the DS Universe.

it's interesting you say that. because I've always considered Vicki and Anne Wells to be some sort of spiritual soul sisters. they are definitely cut from the same dated cloth: the naïve and virginal 1960s brunette heroine. the characters developed in very different ways (Vicki never got addicted to pills for instance) but their origins are similar. and they don't write this "type" of character anymore.

[Gerard]

The Patty Duke Show Star Patty Duke Dead at 69

And you may wonder how Patty Duke connects to DS? Well, she did a 1992 made-for-TV movie called Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive with David Selby. It wasn't exactly the greatest movie - but I enjoyed it more than I might have otherwise because the two of them have always been two of my favorite actors because they're both so talented, so together they couldn't help but make it better.

I have a copy of the movie on VHS around here somewhere. IF I can find it, and IF it even still plays, I'll try to post some screen caps...

(And as an aside, it always amused the hell out of me that Selby's character was named Shag. Hey, I'm easily amused.  )

The made-for-TV movie was based on the book called The Blackhope Horror, which I have, written by several members of the neighborhood that claimed the haunting.  I remember when they, all much older than Duke and Selby, along with other co-authors, appeared on Oprah to promote the book. 

RIP to Patty Duke.  I remember the first time I saw, as a kid, The Miracle Worker on TV. 

Gerard

[KMR]

How very sad.  I've always had a lot of respect for Patty Duke.  She was very talented and always came across to me as an exemplary human being.  Wish I could have met her.

[Gerard]

It appears she died from a form of  an aneurysm.  That can hit anyone at anytime.  How sad.  Again, RIP.

Gerard

[CastleBee]

I admit that this celebrity death kind of hit me hard. As many can also say, I grew up with her - from her TV show to "Valley of the Dolls", and her later work.  I remember way back in about 2nd grade when her show was running, one of the kids in my class told me that I looked like her. I think it had more to do with my hair but, I always remembered that.  I never had the pleasure of meeting her at any point, but she always seemed like a very down-to-earth, kind person.  Very sorry she is gone and I hope she rests in peace. I feel very bad for her family.

[Gerard]

It appears that she died from sepsis caused by a perforation of her intestine.  An article states that this is a very "common" form of death (over a quarter-of-a-million people a year) that goes undiagnosed until it is too late.  People who suffer from it just don't "feel well," but think it's nothing until it's too late.  The reports state that this was the case with Patty Duke.  Many are hoping that this tragedy will raise hope that more people will become aware of this medical emergency.

It almost happened to my mother.  She had a perforation of her intestine but chalked it up to having an occasional "belly-ache."  She "treated" it with Pepto-Bismal for quite some time and refused to go to the doctor.  One night, she collapsed, was rushed to an emergency room where it was discovered that her internal organs were surrounded by sepsis.  A half-hour from dying, surgery was performed to clean out the infection and remove quite a bit of her intestines with the overwhelming odds she would die on the operating table, but without the surgery she would certainly die.  She did survive (albeit with a colostomy) and lived with the results for years until she died from Lewy Bodies Disease (a form of dementia that Estelle Getty - Sophia on The Golden Girls - passed away from).

Gerard