The man who directed the stage and film version of The Miracle Worker died yeterday. Arthur Penn was 88 years old. Penn was perhaps most well-known for the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde. He died from congestive heart failure. He first made a name for himself in 1957 with a TV version of The Miracle Worker that won an Emmy nomination. When he took the production to Broadway, he cast Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke as Annie Sullivan and her blind and deaf student Helen Keller. They won Tonys and reprised their roles in the 1962 film version. It won Bancroft an Oscar for Best Actress and Patty Duke picked up a statue for Best Supporting Actress.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Miracle Worker Director Dies
The man who directed the stage and film version of The Miracle Worker died yeterday. Arthur Penn was 88 years old. Penn was perhaps most well-known for the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde. He died from congestive heart failure. He first made a name for himself in 1957 with a TV version of The Miracle Worker that won an Emmy nomination. When he took the production to Broadway, he cast Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke as Annie Sullivan and her blind and deaf student Helen Keller. They won Tonys and reprised their roles in the 1962 film version. It won Bancroft an Oscar for Best Actress and Patty Duke picked up a statue for Best Supporting Actress.
