It was a brave move for Duke
Long before celebrities shared their private struggles on talk- show couches and social media feeds, actress Patty Duke broke a Hollywood taboo by speaking publicly about her mental health struggles.
Duke, who died Tuesday at age 69, was diagnosed with manic depression ( now called bipolar disorder) in 1982. Known at the time for “The Miracle Worker” ( for which she won an Oscar at age 16) and “The Patty Duke Show,” Duke revealed a much darker reality in her 1987 memoir, “Call Me Anna,” written with L. A. Times film critic Kenneth Turan. In the book, she graphically detailed her turbulent life, drug and alcohol abuse and childhood mistreatment at the hands of cruel managers.
In talking about her mental illness, Duke took on the stigma long attached to it. Since then, actresses such as Catherine Zeta Jones, Carrie Fisher and Kim Novak have spoken publicly about their own diagnoses, while other public figures have talked about their depression.
Upon her death, Duke’s son actor Sean Astin sought to continue his mother’s legacy, launching a crowdfunding campaign to establish the Patty Duke Mental Health Initiative.
“Before her passing, before the suffering became too great, we talked about how the core mission of her mental health work might continue beyond her life,” Astin said in a Facebook post. “This initiative will fuel a multi- level approach to achieving results for those suffering with mental illness and their families and com- munities. Public awareness campaigns, lobbying efforts, and supporting a multitude of mental health programs big and small will be organized, prioritized and vigorously pursued.”
During her life, Duke lobbied Congress to increase funding for research into mental illness treatments and awareness programs and discussed her experience of finding stability thanks to a combination of medication and therapy in her 1997 book with medical reporter Gloria Hochman, “A Brilliant Madness.”
More recently, she interacted with fans on Twitter and Facebook, passing along information about mental health and addiction as well as pictures and reminisces from her career.
Before publicizing her diagnosis, Duke worried that the disclosure would hurt her professionally.
Instead, she received mostly grateful feedback and continued to work steadily.