Actress and Mental Health Advocate Patty Duke Dies From Sepsis From a Ruptured Intestine at Age 69
Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 3:06 am
(RNN) - Actress and mental health advocate Patty Duke has died at the age of 69.
Her son, actor Sean Astin, posted a statement to Facebook on behalf of his family. He started with, "I love you, mom."
"This morning, our beloved wife, mother, grandmother, matriarch and the exquisite artist, humanitarian and champion for mental health, Anna Patty Duke Pearce, closed her eyes, quieted her pain and ascended to a beautiful place," the family said. "We celebrate the infinite love and compassion she shared through her work and throughout her life."
Astin also announced the effort to establish the Patty Duke Mental Health Initiative.
Her representative, Mitchell Stubbs, said the cause of death was sepsis from a ruptured intestine.
"She was a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a friend, a mental health advocate and a cultural icon," Stubbs said in a statement. "She will be greatly missed."
Duke's role as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker, first on Broadway and then in the 1962 feature film, made her a star. She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress at the age of 16, the youngest to win an Academy Award at the time...
http://www.nbc12.com/story/31590592/act ... pe=generic