Patty Duke will be starring in the new Hallmark Channel Original Movie, "Love Finds a Home", airing Saturday April 11th at 9p/8c

Patty Duke will be joining the company of WICKED in San Francisco at the Orpheum Theatre, replacing Carole Kane as Madame Morrible. Carole Kane's final show will be March 22.

Tickets for WICKED are now on sale from $30 to $99. Purchase tickets online at shnsf.com and ticketmaster.com/wicked. Or by phone at (415) 512-7770 and (800) 982-2787.

For more information about Wicked at the Orpheum Theatre, please visit the official website at www.wickedthemusical.com/sf or www.shnsf.com.

Press release: click here.

Academy Award Winner Duke to Join Cast of San Fran's Wicked

Broadway.com - Patty Duke to Join Wicked in San Francisco - Broadway Tickets

Patty Duke to Be San Francisco Wicked's New Madame Morrible

Date Lines: News from the Bay Area arts scene

From Indiana's WISH TV - Channel 8 - by Debby Knox

"Patty Duke is an Academy Award winning actress and best-selling author.  She's also a person with a mental illness.  Duke was in Indianapolis Thursday night.

Patty Duke has made it her life work to talk openly about her battle, and victory over bipolar disease.

Patty Duke was sigining copies of her book at an event sponsored by Eli Lilly and Company.  But she's best known for her acting career.  She won an Oscar at a young age for the portrayal of Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker.

But even then, she was battling her own demons, bipolar disease, which wasn't diagnosed until she was in her 30's.  "Once my diagnosis was made and confirmed and accepted by me, the medication that was begun in my case is lithium.  It worked," Duke said."

From Mississippi's ABC Channel 11 website:

"In the U.S. alone, more than two million people have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder while millions more don't know they have it. Bipolar disorder is one of the many mental illnesses that healthcare officials are calling attention to as part of National Mental Health Awareness Week.

"Mental illness is just like any other illness. It's treatable and it's not something that someone brings on themselves, and unless they're getting treatment, they really can't control it," said Marsha McElroy, Weems Mental Health Center therapist.

"This is a chemical imbalance. It's actually a form of depression but it's extreme mood swings that last for periods of time, but this can be treated," McElroy said.

Actress Patty Duke knows first-hand about this. She spent hours on Friday talking to media all over the country about how she suffered before her diagnosis was made.

"When I began treatment, I have been so blessed so that as I got so much support and that's when I decided that it's wrong to keep this secret. You have to tell," said Duke, who suffers from bipolar disorder."

From The Pilot.com:

"The Ruth Pauley Lecture Series will celebrate its 20th anniversary with six lectures dealing with history, religion, mental health and the world of animals.

Patty Duke, an Academy-Award winning actress, will discuss "A Brilliant Madness: Living with Manic-Depressive Illness" on Sept. 30. Duke has published two books dealing with the problems of manic-depression.

All Ruth Pauley Lectures will be in Owens Auditorium on the Sandhills Community College campus in Pinehurst, except the presentation by Jack Hanna. That will take place at the R.E. Lee Auditorium on the Pinecrest High School campus in Southern Pines.

Lectures begin at 7:30 p.m. and are open to the public. The lectures are free of charge, and no tickets are required.

The Ruth Pauley Lecture series is sponsored by Sandhills Community College, the Moore County League of Women Voters, the American Association of University Women, and the Moore County school system."