US actress Patty Duke, who won an Oscar for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker in 1963, has died aged 69. As well as a best supporting actress Oscar, Duke won an Emmy in 1980 for playing Helen Keller's teacher in a TV movie version. Duke also starred in The Patty Duke Show in the 1960s in which she took the roles of "identical" teenage cousins. She was the mother of actor Sean Astin, who played the hobbit Sam in the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films. Her representative, Mitchell Stubbs, said she died early on Tuesday of sepsis from a ruptured intestine. She underwent a heart bypass in 2004. Mr Stubbs said: "She was a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a friend, a mental health advocate and a cultural icon. She will be missed." Image caption Patty Duke's sons, Mackenzie Astin, left, and Sean Astin, are both actors A statement from her family read: "This morning, our beloved wife, mother, matriarch and the exquisite artist and champ...
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