Patty Duke

Patty Duke (born December 14, 1946) is an actress of the stage and screen. Born Anna Marie Duke in Elmhurst, Queens, New York, USA, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1962 for her role as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker. She also won a Golden Globe for Me, Natalie in 1969, which also featured the first on screen role of actor Al Pacino. From 1972 to 1985, she was married to John Astin, the  father of her actor children, Sean Astin and Mackenzie Astin (the former being conceived before her marriage to Astin, and who was subsequently adopted).  In 1986 she married Michael Pierce.

Duke's personal life from childhood resembled something out of Dickens. Her father was an alcoholic, and her mother suffered from bipolar disorder and was prone to violence. When Duke was 6, her mother threw her father out. When she was 8, her life was essentially turned over to her managers John and Ethel Ross who recognized her talent and promoted her as a child actress. 

Many attribute some of Patty Duke's extraordinary abilities to her being affected by bipolar disorder, commonly known as manic depression.