Free Republic

Oscar-winning actress Patty Duke, who hit the trifecta of stardom with her turns on TV, in the movies, and on Broadway, is dead. Duke, who was 69, died due to sepsis from a ruptured intestine, her managers said. "I love you Mom," one of her actor sons, Sean Astin, said in a statement confirming his mother's death. The Queens-born daughter of a troubled cashier and alcoholic cab driver, Duke overcame a dark childhood to become one of the Hollywood's most respected actresses and president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1985 to 1988.

Patty Duke, who won an Oscar as a teen for “The Miracle Worker” and maintained a long and successful career throughout her life, has died at the age of 69. Duke’s agent, Mitchell Stubbs, says the actress died early Tuesday morning of sepsis from a ruptured intestine.

Patty Duke, who won a best supporting actress Oscar for her performance as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker and starred as two cousins, different as night and day, on her own sitcom, has died, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. She was 69.