Patty, thanks for the memories

Actress Patty Duke died March 29 at age 69, and her passing offered me a reminder about the way TV influences our culture and contributes to our memories.

Duke appeared in many TV shows and movies during a professional acting career that began in 1954 and spanned more than 60 years. Duke is probably best known as the star of "The Patty Duke Show", a popular TV show originally produced from 1963 to 1966, and for her Oscar-winning performance as Helen Keller in 1962’s “The Miracle Worker”.

I still think her performance as the booze and pill abusing Neely O’Hara in 1967’s “Valley of the Dolls” is a gem and makes an otherwise weak movie worth watching more than once.

I remain a big fan of “The Patty Duke Show”, which still airs in reruns on a few cable-TV channels. The show featured Duke in a dual-role, portraying a pair of cousins from diverse backgrounds and attending high school in comfortable Brooklyn Heights in the 1960s. It was a situation comedy produced during a time when TV programming was called “wholesome.” Most considered it reliable entertainment, a program that depicted an America that is long gone, if it ever really exited.

I have two distinct memories involving Patty Duke’s work. Both are from my days growing up in the 1960s, and they involve my sisters, Mary Jo and Katie. I think they offer some insight about my enduring appreciation for Duke’s work.

The memory involving Mary Jo (Jo to her siblings and close friends) is one of my oldest involving a TV show. I remember watching Jo standing a few feet from the family TV set, completely engaged in an episode of the “The Patty Duke Show”. I was only slightly familiar with the show, but even at that young age, I could how absorbed my sister was with it, how thoroughly it commanded her attention. I can recall telling myself the show must be pretty special if it could be so special to my sister. 

My second memory involves my sister Katie and the movie “Billie”, a low-budget, 1965 production aimed at a teen audience and designed to capitalize on the popularity of Duke’s TV show. Duke played the title character, a high school student who tries out for the boys’ track team and excels because she paces her running to a musical tune she hears in her head. (Don’t spend too much time trying to make sense of the plot, the screenwriters certainly didn’t, and it’s just not that important.)

Most viewers consider “Billie” a largely forgettable production, but it remains memorable to me, because Katie enjoyed it as a child and always invited me to watch it with her whenever it aired on TV. Years later, Katie became a competitive sprinter on her high school track team, and I frequently attended her track meets. The movie “Billie” always came to mind whenever I saw Katie run in an event, and I always wondered what tune was playing in her head as she sprinted along the track.

These memories are uncomplicated, I admit, but I cherish them because they involve my sisters and the simple entertainment Patty Duke provided us on TV so many years ago.

I reflected on those memories when I learned of Duke’s passing yesterday, and then I offered a silent prayer, thanking Duke for sharing her talent with me and my sisters, and for creating some special memories for me.

I thought you’d like to know that.