Autopsy: The Last Hours Of... S2020E10 - Patty Duke

On March 29, 2016 the world was saddened by the news that American sweetheart Patty Duke had died. As Hollywood's original child star she had been charming audiences for more than 60 years. Duke overcame a childhood of deprivation and abuse to become a household name and in 1963 she became the then youngest actress to win an Academy Award(R) for her career-defining role as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker. She went on to star in The Patty Duke Show delighting TV audiences playing identical twin cousins. It seemed nothing could stop her but in her late teens Duke's life began to unravel. She drank heavily, spent money wildly and became promiscuous. Sadly, she also attempted suicide many times. Duke was diagnosed with a mental illness in her mid-30s and once under control she became a pioneering spokeswoman for mental health issues for the rest of her life. She died at the age of 69 of complications due to a ruptured intestine. Intestinal ruptures are considered rare and with surgical intervention there's a reasonable survival rate so what really happened to Duke? Renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Hunter analyzes every detail in Duke's limited health information available to piece together what else was going on in her body to find answers.