Patty Duke

Her childhood was turbulent, secretly played out behind the scenes of a successful career in television and films. Her early adulthood was harrowing, exposed before the entire world. Yet, academy award-winning actress Patty Duke survived to become one of the most versatile actresses and well-respected activist role models.

Duke had grown up before the camera. The youngest to win an Oscar for her role in The Miracle Worker, she also starred her own sitcom. But, she was battling undiagnosed mental illness through it all. It was twenty years ago when Duke finally shared with the public the debilitating highs and lows of mental illness had plagued her and threatened her life and career.

It was in her brutally honest book Call Me Anna, that she revealed her desperate struggle to survive childhood poverty, abuse, and addiction, while at the height of success. Followed up with A Brilliant Madness: Living with Manic Depressive Illness, Duke illuminated the harrowing story and her long road to recovery.

Duke believes, “if you are mentally healthy, you can have a healthy life.” She went on to become only the second woman president of the Screen Actors Guild, flourishing in her acting career. An outspoken, and yet compassionate advocate for mental illness, she is lauded for her ongoing efforts to create awareness and share her personal moving story of recovery and hope.