Patty Duke

The first time I became aware of Patty Duke was when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1962. Her role as Helen Keller in “The Miracle Worker” made her the youngest (16 years old) person to win an Academy Award in a competitive category.

What I didn’t know until many years later is that she had played the role on Broadway in the stage production of the same name. She was so good that halfway through the production run, her name began appearing above the title.

Her television series, “The Patty Duke Show,” lasted for three years, and her work as an American teenager and her look-alike cousin from Scotland won her an Emmy nomination, the first of several.

I’ve kinda lost track of her over the years, seeing her occasionally on television reruns, movies and specials.

So, imagine my surprise when I opened the Playbill for “Wicked,” which the wife and I went to see in San Francisco yesterday, and saw that she had a major role in the musical – as Madam Morrible, the old lady who caused the tornado that swept Dorothy into the wonderful land of Oz.

I’ll share my thoughts on the musical tomorrow, but I just wanted to pay tribute to a famous actress that people of my generation will fondly remember.