Off The Record
Patty Duke Continues To Twin With Her Look-Alike Granddaughter
Duke, who at the time was the youngest person to receive an Academy Award, played a set of identical twin cousins on the iconic TV show for three seasons between 1963 and 1967.
The role served as a springboard for her extensive career in show business, which included a big hit singing career.
Duke’s career was so successful that she was honored with other accolades and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in addition to the Academy Award and two Golden Globes.
Duke started out in Hollywood as a young actor on the soap opera The Better Day; shortly after, she featured on the game program The $64,000 Question, where her $32,000 victory created controversy due to allegations of show-rigging.
But that didn’t stop her meteoric climb to fame.
Gene Hackman, who is 93 years old, was spotted leaving his home for the first time in years.
Duke’s first notable part was as Helen Keller in the 1962 film adaptation of the hit Broadway play The Miracle Worker, which also starred the legendary Anne Bancroft. Duke, then only 16 years old, won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her depiction of Keller in the film.
”I had many, many, many fears and obsessive fears as a young person, and maybe I was incorporating them into that role. And I do know for a fact that the role was very therapeutic for me…” Duke once recalled.
After that, she appeared with Hollywood icons Laurence Olivier and George C. Scott in a television version of The Power and the Glory.
Duke attracted the attention of I Dream of Jeannie’s creator Sidney Sheldon, so the program was named after her, and the primary characters were developed just for her.
Patty Lane, the wild one, and Kathy Lane, the cerebral one, were paternal twin cousins who starred on The Patty Duke Show. Betsy, who was also played by Duke, was introduced as a third twin in season two, making the trio a total of four.
”For its genre, it was quite a lovely little show. And they were nice people, and they weren’t saying nasty, hideous things to each other all the time. And I kind of miss that element of a family show,” Duke said in 1988.
“At the time, Duke had not been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but Sheldon created the twin roles after identifying her distinct personalities. Before being correctly diagnosed, she referred to her life as ”the deep black hole from which you cannot extricate yourself.”
As a result of her own struggles with bipolar disorder, Duke has become an outspoken advocate for mental health and a fierce opponent of the stigma associated with mental illness. She faced the Hollywood wolves at an early age, yet she chose to speak out and aid others.
Patty Duke was a powerful woman who fought adversity with her wits and her fists, and her legacy continues to inspire others.
Son and granddaughter
Actor Sean Astin, her son, joined her in raising awareness for mental health and later established The Patty Duke Mental Health Initiative in her name.
Astin has starred in numerous blockbuster films, including Stranger Things, Rudy, and The Goonies.
He also portrayed the hobbit Samwise Gamgee in the blockbuster The Lord of the Rings film series. Ali Astin, his real-life daughter, played his on-screen daughter Eleanor Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Ali, who recently graduated from Harvard, has become an actor who is generating quite a stir among admirers. This is decades after his initial success.
Nonetheless, Patty Duke’s fame and popularity have ensured that even after her death in 2016, photos of her timeless grace and beauty are still widely viewed by her devoted followers.
Ali’s grandma, or “nana” as Ali calls her, is a dead ringer for her.
On what would have been Duke’s 71st birthday in December 2017, Ali shared a photo of herself and her grandma side-by-side with the caption:
“This is the last text my nana ever sent me, I had just gotten my first big review: ‘Ali dear, Pops and I are so proud of you. Congrats on your rave review. Wish we could have seen you. We’re not surprised that you did so well. We think of you all the time. We love and miss you a ton.’”
Fans chimed in with thoughtful comments. One said “You look so much like her. Beautiful,” while one posted “You look so much like her. Loved Patty.” Another simply wrote, “Twins.”
In his pursuit of acting, Ali has appeared in the films Bad Kids of Crestview Academy (2016) and Apocalypse Society (2017). The whole family has a history of acting experience, so they fit right in on camera. Her mother, Christine Astin, was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in the Sean Astin-directed short film Kangaroo Court, joining her grandmother and father as Oscar nominees. She comes from a family of actors; her grandfather, John Astin, played Gomez on The Addams Family in 1964, and her uncles, Mackenzie Astin and Ray Duke, both worked in the industry.
Ali has recently uploaded images to Instagram, once again appealing to her Nanna’s fan base.
One fan said, “Lil Miss Patty Duke!! Your grandma would be proud”
And to another photo, a fan commented: “You remind me of your Grandmother in that photo.”
Patty Duke was my favorite actress growing up in the ’60s. Talented and fearlessly expressing herself, she was an inspiration to me and many others.
It’s really cool to see how her spirit lives on in her children and grandchildren – please SHARE this article on Facebook if you agree.
