Patty Duke Stars as Mother Superior; Megan Ward Stars as Former Nun Who Becomes Immersed In Shocking Unsolved Murder
For more than half her life, Sister Edward Frances had a serene, sheltered existence at St. Stephen's convent. But when the naive young woman chooses to reenter the world as Christine Bennett (Megan Ward), she finds herself the target of a public uproar as she tries to solve a horrific 30-year-old homicide, in "Murder Without Conviction," a Hallmark Channel whodunit premiering Sunday, September 5 (8/7c). An encore presentation immediately follows at 10/9c.
Orphaned at the age of 13, Christine was taken under the wing of Mother Joseph (Patty Duke). But her only blood relation is a mentally disabled cousin who lives at a local care facility. Intrigued by her cousin's new friend, another resident at Greenwillow, Christine discovers that the man - James Talley (David Proval) - is a prodigious savant, separated from his twin brother for more than 30 years after both were accused of murdering their mother as young boys. Convinced that James and Edward are innocent, the feisty former nun goes on a quest to clear their names and reunite them. But despite the support of Mother Joseph - and the more-than-professional interest of local Detective Jack Brown (Morgan Weisser), Christine's mission of mercy is met with more than a few obstacles - including the killer!
PATTY DUKE (Mother Joseph) - Patty Duke skyrocketed from bit player to Broadway star when, at the age of 14, she was honored with the Theater World Award as Most Promising Newcomer for her performance as Helen Keller in the Tony® Award-winning play "The Miracle Worker."
Reprising her role in the feature film version, Duke won a Golden Globe Award as the Most Promising Newcomer and the Academy Award® as Best Supporting Actress, at 16, the youngest person at that time to be so named.
Soon after, "The Patty Duke Show" debuted, becoming a Top 20 hit and earning Duke her first Emmy® Award nomination. Duke's other Emmy® nominations were for her work in "Having Babies," "A Family Upside Down," "Girl on the Edge of Town," "The Women's Room," "George Washington" and "Touched By an Angel." She is the winner of three Emmy® Awards for her roles in "My Sweet Charlie," "Captains and The Kings" and "The Miracle Worker," in which she played the role of Annie Sullivan.
Among Duke's additional feature film credits are "Billie," "Valley of the Dolls," "Me, Natalie," "Prelude to a Kiss" and "Harvest of Fire."
In 1982, Duke was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. At last, the demon that had plagued and mystified her for a lifetime finally had a name. Duke began taking Lithium, to keep her symptoms under control and, in 1987, penned her best-selling autobiography, "Call Me Anna." Five years later, she and medical reporter Gloria Hochman co-authored "A Brilliant Madness: Living with Manic Depressive Illness."
Moving to Northern Idaho, Duke and her husband Mike Pearce bought an 80 acre ranch with lots of farm animals. But show business continued to beckon and, in 2002, not long after making her musical theater debut in Stephen Sondheim's "Follies," Duke was hired to play Aunt Eller in the Broadway revival of "Oklahoma!"
Duke, the first recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Democratic Action and only the second woman in history to be elected president of the Screen Actors Guild, is the mother of two biological sons, two stepdaughters and one adopted son. "People don't call me Patty Duke anymore," she jokingly states. "They refer to me as Sean Astin's mother."
