Patty Duke

Patty Duke, Academy Award-winning actress, past President of the Screen Actors Guild, and best selling author, has been delighting and challenging audiences for more than 45 years with her work in movies and on television. Her Oscar-winning portrayal of blind, mute, and deaf Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker launched Patty as one of America's finest young talents. Still a teenager, she went on to enjoy success in The Patty Duke Show before establishing herself as one of television's most versatile and beloved actresses.

Her career has brought her to roles on Broadway, in feature films, television series, and cartoons. Her seventy-two television movies have afforded her a wide variety of roles, most notably Neely O'Hara of Valley of the Dolls, Martha Washington in George Washington, Mother of the Bride in Prelude to a Kiss, Helen in the controversial lesbian comedy By Design, and Anne Sullivan in the 1980's remake of The Miracle Worker to cite a few.

Duke has received much recognition from her peers – an Oscar, two Golden Globes, three Emmy Awards, six Emmy Nominations, and a People's Choice Award as well as multiple community service awards to honor her commitment to many social causes. Since the publication of her autobiography, Call Me Anna and her second book, A Brilliant Madness, Duke spends a great deal of time travelling to speak on the topic of mental illness.

Married to firefighter Michael Pearce, she makes her home in Northern Idaho. It is here that they raise their son, Kevin. She feels with today's approach to our industry, one can live just about anywhere and work with the same zeal as ever.

TOPICS INCLUDE:
• A Brilliant Madness: Living With Manic-Depression
• Leadership Lessons from Leading Ladies
• It Wasn't Always Easy: My Life in Show Business and How I Finally Found Success
• Threads of A Craft: How I Learned History, Being It and Playing It