Call Me Anna: The Autobiography of Patty Duke

"Call Me Anna" is Patty's own story. Patty Duke wrote this book in 1988 long before it was fashionable to "tell all" like today's throwaway "stars" do. Like millions of Americans, Patty Duke has always been one of my most cherished TV actresses because her talent is so deep and thought-provoking. But I never knew much about her, until I read "Call Me Anna." "Call Me Anna" describes Patty's rise to TV stardom (playing the title character on the classic "Patty Duke Show") and subsequent fall, partly due to her illness. Patty talks candidly for the first time about the bridges she burned, and the people she hurt while she struggled with her disease, bipolar disorder. Patty was one of the very first (if not the first?) bona fide celebrities to discuss their own mental illness. And she was a pioneer in the rights of the mentally ill, and for that she should be highly regarded. I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys reading about TV stars, or anyone who cares about someone who is struggling with mental illness (especially bipolar disorder). I also recommend Patty's second book, "Brilliant Madness" which describes the disease in a more clinical manner.

--that this book is also of value even if you care nothing about bipolar conditions, for Kenneth Turan really convinced Patty Duke to put all her cards out on the table, and the result is more than just a medical textbook as some of the other reviewers would like you to believe. It is, among other things, the inside story of the most remarkable child actress of her day, and of a strange career that included Broadway stardom and the Academy Award for THE MIRACLE WORKER, as well as the punishing, grueling TV treadmill called THE PATTY DUKE SHOW, in which she played two lookalike cousins with such consummate verve that many children who watched the show thought there were actually two different actresses playing the parts, and of course the divine dreck of BILLIE, "Funny Little Butterflies," and VALLEY OF THE DOLLS. Indeed it's a book that has everything, everything, including the details of her feud with Lucille Ball and her days counting her fingers to figure out if John Astin or Desi Jr was the father of her baby. Her star has sunk in later years but she is still one of the incandescent acting personalities of our time.

I really appreciate this book. Patty Duke tells her story well and I applaud her for having the courage to let the whole world know about her private adversities, especially her struggle with illness. Since learning more about Patty Duke, I also highly recommend a little book by Taro Gold called "Open Your Mind, Open Your Life" which contains many inspirational thoughts based on the Buddhism that Patty Duke practices. Excellent.

I read this book about 10 years ago, and it began a healingprocess in my own life. I have ADD but had been diagnosed ManicDepressed and Bi-Polar for 20 years due to the sub-characteristic symptoms that ADD/ADHD has...they are the same as a manic depressed person but not to the severity. It is an exceptional book of insight into this disorder, and an incredible biography of an incredible peer of the baby boomer generation! And a MUST after reading Patty Duke's (Anna) autobiography is to read her sequel which gives even more encouragement that those of us with any mental disorder are "not freaks" but can live healthy, functional lives and be of great help to our whole society. The sequel is "A Brilliant Madness" also by Patty Duke and Gloria Hochman, originally published by Bantam books.