Patty Duke Dead at 69

Image from source, MSN

Awww. I don't know if you've noticed, but 2016 has been hell on actors and singers who are of a certain age. And I mean, literally a certain age. It seems like if you're between about 67 and 70, and you're famous, you really need to be getting to a doctor and getting checked out. It's a relatively young age for "surprise" deaths, particularly among a set of people who you'd imagine have the resources for regular (and maybe even "platinum level") health care.

In recent days, we lost Gary Shandling, for which I ought to be whipped for not memorializing sooner. And today, Oscar and Emmy winner, Patty Duke. Duke has been on the periphery of pop culture for my whole life, popping up initially in my childhood through the occasional rerun of The Patty Duke Show, where she played identical cousins. She'd get the occasional starring role in a very important movie (usually on TV), or short-lived TV series. She played the first woman president in one (Hail to the Chief), a suburban mom in one (It Takes Two). She even got acclaim playing both major roles in two different versions of The Miracle Worker. But she was rarely front-and-center. To me, she was always a favorite, one of the spices in my pop culture stew. Very much, oddly enough, like her ex-husband, John Astin, who likewise would tickle me when he popped up in something.

But wow. These people aren't waiting to die of old age. I don't like approaching their age with the speed of a freight train, as they're dropping like this!

RIP, Patty (and Cathy).

[Excerpt]

Oscar-winning actress Patty Duke dies at 69

Patty Duke, who won an Oscar as a teen for "The Miracle Worker" and maintained a long and successful career throughout her life, has died at the age of 69.

Duke's agent, Mitchell Stubbs, says the actress died early Tuesday morning of sepsis from a ruptured intestine. She died in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, according to Teri Weigel, the publicist for her son, actor Sean Astin. . .

Read more at: MSN