Sean Astin Describes Patty Duke's Peaceful Final Moments
Actor says his mom, who died earlier this week, had "suffered terribly."
— -- Patty Duke was "at peace" in her final moments, following a painful battle with sepsis from a ruptured intestine, her son Sean Astin revealed.
"She was surrounded by her family. It was in the middle of the night and it was a race to get there," Astin, 45, told "Entertainment Tonight" in an exclusive on-camera interview. "It was a very powerful experience. And then, in her last moments, she was at peace."
He added, "She had been suffering terribly."
Duke, whose real name was Anna Pearce, died Tuesday at age 69. She became a star as a teenager when she appeared as Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker" on Broadway alongside Anne Bancroft. The play was later turned into a film, for which Duke, then 16, won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1963.
Astin, star of "The Goonies" and "Lord of the Rings," released a statement Wednesday, on behalf of the family, following his mother's death.
"This morning, our beloved wife, mother, grandmother, matriarch and the exquisite artist, humanitarian, and champion for mental health, Anna 'PATTY DUKE' Pearce, closed her eyes, quieted her pain and ascended to a beautiful place," the family statement read. "We celebrate the infinite love and compassion she shared through her work and throughout her life."
"I love you mom," added Astin.
To honor her legacy, Astin is continuing the work of his mother, who became a staunch advocate for mental health following her 1982 diagnosis with bipolar disorder. He started a Crowd Rise fundraising page to launch The Patty Duke Mental Health Project, which aims to support mental health sufferers and their families.
"The way that I think of my mother, the thing that gives me such joy and reverence for her," Astin told "Entertainment Tonight," "is that, above all else, she was a warrior."