Patty Duke, an actress renowned for her performances on film, TV, and the stage and who won an Academy Award at age 16 for her role as Helen Keller in A Miracle Worker, has died. She was only 69.
Her famous son, actor Sean Astin, confirmed the death of his mother on a Los Angeles morning show.
The sad news was confirmed Tuesday by one of the late performer’s representatives, Mitchell Stubbs.
“Anna ‘Patty Duke’ Pearce passed away this morning March 29, 2016 at 1:20 am,” his statement read. “Her 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. She will be missed.”
Duke’s death took the public by some surprise as she had kept her illness quiet.
Details have yet to be learned about the nature of her decline in health, and how gradual and long lasting it may have been.
She is survived by her husband and her children and grandchildren, who all speaking glowingly of the legacy she has subsequently left behind after her untimely departure from this world.
