Call Me Anna: The Autobiography of Patty Duke (24 page)

This mournful shot from
Me, Natalie
was taken the morning after I’d attempted suicide. NATIONAL GENERAL-CINEMA CENTER

Acting with Al Freeman in
My Sweet Charlie
was a terrific experience, but accepting the Emmy I won turned into a nationally televised nightmare. UNIVERSAL (above), AP/WIDE WORLD (below)

My relationship with Desi Arnaz, Jr., was a romance the tabloids couldn’t get enough of. PICTORIAL PARADE

My wedding day with Michael Tell—you can gauge my mental state by my eyes. The marriage lasted thirteen days. AP/WIDE WORLD

Sean Astin, the answer to my prayers. BARRY BREGMAN/GLOBE PHOTOS

Sharing a hug and happiness with John Astin.

Mackenzie at three weeks. This time John and I had done it right and gotten married before the baby was born.

With my guys, Sean (left) and Mackenzie.
© PETER KREDENSER

Michael Pearce and I celebrate our first Christmas, in 1985, as he switches uniforms from the Army’s to a tuxedo. CRIS COTONE

Sean made his acting debut with me in
Please Don’t Hit Me, Mom
. AP/WIDE WORLD

A nun at last, in
September Gun
. CBS

At my regal best as Martha Washington. CBS

M
y wedding day was November 26, 1965, a month shy of my nineteenth birthday. The site was the Little Brown Church in the San Fernando Valley, sweet and tiny, the ideal movie set. Not everything else, however, was quite so perfect. For one thing, I realized the morning of the event that I’d forgotten to make arrangements for the bride to be driven to the ceremony. So, furious with myself, I got into my electric blue Mustang convertible with the wire wheels and stormed off, taking myself to my own wedding.

When I pulled up to the church, my
Patty Duke Show
family was there, and the Rosses were too. I toyed with the idea of not inviting them inside but I decided I didn’t want to feel guilty later on, and such an obvious slap in the face wouldn’t have looked very good in the eyes of anyone who didn’t know the whole story.

The person who wasn’t there was my mother. Of course I’d asked her, but she’d decided she had to go to my cousin Mary Ann’s baby shower or something and couldn’t quite make it. Every time she complained about my not calling her or not being an attentive enough daughter, I’d remember she had gone to Mary Ann’s baby shower instead of my wedding. Of course, her absence probably had nothing to do with me,
she was probably angry at the Rosses. It’s one thing to have your parents pick on you, but when you get gypped because your mother’s mad at someone else, that’s really insulting!