Patty Duke - In the Presence of Greatness: My Sixty-Year Journey as an Actress

Advanced Praise for

In the Presence of Greatness: My Sixty-Year Journey as an Actress

Reading this book is like having a conversation with Patty herself. It brings back memories of our time together working on stage in the musical, Follies. That is a time I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Actress and Grammy Award winner Vikki Carr

A classy, intimate and insightful conversation with Patty Duke from the person who knew her best, the actress herself, as told to longtime friend, William J. Jankowski.

Emmy Award-nominated actress Joan Van Ark

With the same insight and honesty she brought to so many famous roles, Patty Duke and her co-author, William J. Jankowski bring us delicious behind-the-scenes stories and revelations from her long and fascinating career. A must read for anyone who is a fan of this film and television icon and who isnt?

Jim Colucci, New York Times bestselling author

Classic Cinema.

Timeless TV.

Retro Radio.

BearManor Media

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In The Presence Of Greatness: My Sixty-Year Journey as an Actress

2018 Patty Duke and William J. Jankowski. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopying or recording, except for the inclusion in a review, without permission in writing from the publisher.

This version of the book may be slightly abridged from the print version.

Published in the USA by:

BearManor Media

PO Box 71426

Albany, Georgia 31708

www.bearmanormedia.com

ISBN 978-1-62933-235-2

Cover Design by Beth Butts, www.bethbutts.com.

Cover Photos: Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review, ABC/Photofest

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Table of Contents

In December 2013, I was a houseguest at the North Idaho home of Mike and Anna Pearce. Anna was known to the world as actress and mental health advocate, Patty Duke.

We had just finished putting up and decorating their Christmas tree in the living room, when Anna and I walked into the kitchen to relax a bit after completing our Christmas duties. I silently said to myself, Bill, its now or never, and I told Anna that I had a proposal for her.

Anna, in these past fifteen years that weve known each other, youve told me countless stories about some of the wonderful people youve known and worked with. Every time youve told me one of these stories, Ive said to myself, This needs to be a book!

I reminded Anna that she was one of the few remaining people alive who worked with the likes of Helen Hayes, Richard Burton, and Sir Laurence Olivier, not to mention having met such public figures as President Kennedy and Helen Keller.

Anna, when you go, these stories go with you. We have to preserve them and help keep your memories alive.

Her face lit up, and those beautiful blue eyes widened with excitement about the idea of recalling her experiences with some of the legendary people that she so cherished. Lets do it! she said enthusiastically. With all you know about my career, this will be a perfect fit.

The following fall, Anna and I began work on this book in a real team effort, not wanting to write a sequel to her 1987 memoir, Call Me Anna, but to tell informal stories about her thoughts and perceptions about so many people who helped shape her life and career.

A handful of the people she wrote about in Call Me Anna are also discussed in this book. I told Anna that I had some concern about there being a possible overlap.

She replied, Sweetheart, its been nearly thirty years since I wrote that book. Many of my thoughts, opinions, and perceptions have changed since then.

When writing this book, not only did we realize it would be impossible to talk about every person she has come across or worked with, but also that it would be difficult to accomplish with only listing peoples names before their respective chapters. That is why you will find extensive film and television titles in this book where Anna discusses both her memories of making the project, and the people with whom she made them.

It is an understatement to say that this book becoming a reality is a dream come true for me. Ive had this book planned in my head since I met Anna for the first time as a teenager, nearly twenty years ago. It just took that long for me to get up the courage to ask her to do it. I was so blessed to come full circle with her, first being a fan, then a close friend, and finally, a co-author.

Anna and I were really making progress on this book, and we were almost ready to show a rough draft to a publisher, but fate, as they say, intervened in the spring of 2015.

First, her husband, Mike, was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which thankfully he survived. Then, her own health problems that had plagued her began to take over. Understandably, this whole project was put on the back burner.

When Anna Patty Duke Pearce passed away on March 29, 2016, at the age of sixty-nine, America lost an important thread in its tapestry. She was known as one of the most gifted child actors of all time. Anna was also someone who made that rare transition from child to adult star. In addition, she spent nearly the last thirty years of her life as a pioneer in the mental health field. Her death reminded us all that no matter how well-known and loved someone may be, none of us are immortal. As Anna once said about actors in the film and television industry, Thats the magic in what we get to dois that it does live on.

When reading this book, Anna and I had discussed that we would like readers to feel like they are having a private, intimate conversation with her like the ones Id been so fortunate to have for the eighteen years that I knew her. Youll hopefully enjoy some of the juicy, behind-the-scenes stories she tells and the endearing respect she had for the people in these stories. Youll also see the perception of a woman in her late sixties looking back on her extraordinary life and career that dates back to when she was just a young girl. These are her final words to her public.

Writing this, I am reminded of a day in September 2014, when we were getting ready to work on the chapter on Annas friend, the late actress Sharon Tate, with whom she worked in Valley of the Dolls (1967). I remember sitting on Annas living room couch beside her as she confessed how nervous she was.

She then looked up at the skylight on her cathedral ceiling, and said, Sharon, I hope I do right by you.

As I now sit on my porch, I am looking up at the beautiful afternoon sky. Anna, I hope I do right by you.