Child star doubles as Social Security announcer

If you remember watching “The Patty Duke Show” on TV in the early 1960s, then the following probably resonates with you.
Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy winning actress Patty Duke is appearing in a TV message from the Social Security Administration, promoting their new online retirement application as part of the agency’s “Retire Online” campaign.
“I’m thrilled that Patty Duke has volunteered to help us promote retiring online,” said Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue. “[The] new online retirement application can be completed in as little as 15 minutes from the comfort of your home or office,” he said.
Duke, born Anna Marie Lane from Elmhurst, garnered accolades for her stage and screen portrayal of the legendary deaf-and-blind advocate Helen Keller as a child in “The Miracle Worker.”
She achieved popular fame however, playing “identical cousins” on the hit WABC TV-sitcom - roles she reprises in the vignette.
“Like millions of other baby boomers, I like to spend time with my grandchildren, travel or just relax with a good book. And I love the convenience of doing things online,” Duke, who turned 62-years-old in December, reveals in the TV spot.
“Social Security has made applying for retirement benefits online easier than ever before. So when you decide to retire, apply online for Social Security benefits at www.socialsecurity.gov. It’s so easy!” she declares.
In the show, which ran from September, 1963 through August, 1966, Duke portrayed Patty Lane, a typical American teenager from Brooklyn Heights and her identical cousin, Cathy Lane, from “most everywhere, from Zanzibar to Berkeley Square,” according to the theme song.
The effect was achieved through then rare-for-TV split screen technology, or by filming the back of a body double, played without credit by Rita McLaughlin, who really was from Brooklyn.
“To meet the needs of Patty and 80 million of her fellow baby boomers, who are becoming eligible for retirement at a rate of 10,000 a day for the next 20 years, Social Security is developing a wide range of online and automated services,” Astrue said.
To see a demonstration of the online application and to view the new public service announcements featuring Duke, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/pattyduke