SerpApi.Org
More than 60 years after The Patty Duke Show introduced viewers to Patty and Cathy Lane, both played by Patty Duke, the series is getting a closer look in a new book. The Patty Duke Show and the American Sixties: Hot Dogs and Crêpes Suzette, by film and television scholars Caryl Flinn and Dana Polan, traces Duke’s life and career, goes behind the scenes of the show’s production, and places it among other sitcoms of the 1960s.
The book also examines how the contrast between outspoken, all-American Patty and poised, European Cathy reflected larger questions about national identity and class during the decade. Along with that cultural history, Flinn and Polan uncovered plenty of surprising stories about the unaired pilot, the show’s production tricks, and what happened after the series ended.
Here are nine fun facts from the book.
Sidney Sheldon got the idea for twins after spending time with Patty Duke
Sidney Sheldon initially hesitated to write for television, but he changed his mind after meeting Duke at Hollywood’s Brown Derby restaurant. He then invited her to spend a few days with him and his wife, claiming that she was “kind of our daughter,” and became convinced that she was talented enough to play identical twins. Sheldon later credited co-creator William Asher with changing the idea to identical cousins, although Asher did not remember which of them came up with that version.
The singers behind “Cousins” also sang “Meet the Flintstones”
Early pilot scripts called Patty Lane “Nancy,” with “Nancy” eventually crossed out and “Patty” written in its place. The filmed pilot was set in San Francisco instead of Brooklyn Heights, and the Lane family lived in a mansion with a maid. Mark Miller played Martin Lane, and Charles Herbert played Ross Lane in this version. ABC never aired the pilot, but several clips were reused in the show’s opening credits and its first-season finale.
Cathy’s Scottish accent was considered too authentic
Scenes featuring Patty and Cathy together had to be filmed at least twice with a single camera held in the same position. Duke performed on one side of the frame, changed her clothes and then repeated the scene on the other side before the two pieces of film were combined with an optical printer. She later recalled recording her dialogue during the first take and playing it back while portraying the other cousin, allowing her to time the conversation with herself. Patricia Landy served as Duke’s double for less complicated over-the-shoulder shots.
Sidney Sheldon considered bringing “Patty Duke” into Patty Lane’s world
One of Sheldon’s unused story ideas would have featured Patty Duke, the movie star, coming to town, where Patty Lane was mistaken for her. His files contained another unproduced idea in which Patty tried to raise money by offering to sell her brain to Harvard. Neither premise became an episode.
Eddie Applegate carried his marriage license to prove he had a wife
Eddie Applegate was nearing 30 and already married, while playing Patty’s 17-year-old boyfriend, Richard Harrison. Viewers sometimes assumed that he was Duke’s real boyfriend and had trouble believing the woman with him was his wife, so Applegate began carrying their marriage license as proof. ABC allowed him to acknowledge that he was married but reportedly insisted that he say he was only 24 and wouldn’t let him do “adult things” like smoke or drink in public.
It took two performers to dub Duke’s roles in Japan
By the end of its first season, The Patty Duke Show had been picked up in countries around the world. During a promotional trip to Japan, Duke met the two young women who provided the voices for dubbed Patty and Cathy. Each voiced one cousin, splitting the dual performance that Duke handled by herself in the original series.
Patty Duke later joined George Takei aboard the Enterprise
Many years after The Patty Duke Show ended, Duke appeared with Star Trek actor George Takei in a public service announcement about enrolling online for Medicare and Social Security. Both wore blue Starfleet uniforms and spoke on the bridge of the Enterprise, with Takei appearing as Sulu. When he expressed doubts about registering online, Duke assured him that it was so simple that “even Kirk could do it.”
The Patty Duke Show and the American Sixties: Hot Dogs and Crêpes Suzette by Caryl Flinn and Dana Polan is available now from Oxford University Press in hardcover, paperback, and ebook editions. Buy it here on Amazon.
