The Nicest Guy In Hollywood

What made Sean Astin the perfect choice to play Samwise Gamgee

Samwise Gamgee is a fictional character in the Lord of the Rings films, played by Sean Astin. Born in 1971, Astin was cast in several 80s and 90s films, such as “Goonies” (1985), “War of the Roses” (1989), “Memphis Belle” (1990), “Encino Man” (1992), and the critically acclaimed “Rudy” (1993).

Astin’s mother was Patty Duke (Anna Marie Duke), who, at the age of 13, was cast as Helen Keller in the stage presentation of “The Miracle Worker” and played her again at 15 for the filmed version, for which she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Writer/director/producer Sidney Sheldon used her name recognition to create “The Patty Duke Show,” where Duke would play her own identical cousin (is there such a thing?), copying the technique of using one actor to play twins developed for the Disney Film “The Parent Trap.” Like in the Disney film, one twin is proper and English, while the other is an American Bobby Soxer.

Even people who can’t remember a single episode of the show can recall the show’s catchy theme song:

Meet Cathy, who's lived most everywhere,
From Zanzibar to Berkeley Square*
But Patty's only seen the sights
A girl can see from Brooklyn Heights -

What a crazy pair!
But they're cousins,
Identical cousins all the way.
One pair of matching bookends,
Different as night and day.
Where Cathy adores a minuet,
The Ballets Russes, and crepes suzette,
Our Patty loves to rock and roll,
A hot dog makes her lose control -

What a wild duet!
Still, they're cousins,
Identical cousins and you'll find,
They laugh alike, they walk alike,
At times they even talk alike -

I always wanted them to show Patty losing control over a hot dog, but it never happened.

Control seems to have been an issue for Duke in real life. In 1982, she admitted in her autobiography that she suffered from what was then called “Manic depression,” for which she received the medicine Lithium. Psychologists now call this disorder “Bipolar.” She admitted that her weight began to fluctuate during the filming of the Patty Duke show. In response, during a manic period, she developed Anorexia Nervosa, and her weight dropped below eighty pounds. She was hospitalized after a suicide attempt in 1967 and again in 1968. Her 1988 book, “Call Me Anna” laid bare the true story behind the headlines made during her turbulent youth. Among other issues, her father was an abusive alcoholic, and her mother also suffered from bipolar disorder.

Desperately seeking love, security, and approval, Duke married four times: Harry Falk in 1965, Michael Tell in 1970, John Astin in 1972, and Michael Pearce in 1986. During Duke’s manic episodes, her sexual behavior could be unpredictable and destructive. Astin was conceived during one of these periods.

Known for playing Gomez Adams on “The Adams Family,” John Astin was already married when he began dating Patty Duke. When she became pregnant with Sean, he divorced his wife and married Duke. He then raised Sean as his own child, but was he?

In her book, Duke said that Sean’s biological father was either actor John Astin or the son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Desi Arnaz Junior, but that Astin raised Sean, and Sean considered him his father.

Patty Duke dated Michael Tell for only fourteen days. She married him during one of her manic episodes, but the union was annulled months later. He was never considered a candidate to be Sean’s biological father, but after meeting other members of Tell’s family in 2000, Astin had a DNA test run, and Michael Tell was his biological father.

Known to be as kooky as the character of Gomez Addams, John Astin is also called one of the nicest guys in Hollywood. I’ve met him twice at conventions, and he acted like he knew me both times, which was impossible. Astin knew about Duke’s mental illness and her checkered past, but he became determined to provide a stable and loving environment for her and her young son.

During manic periods, it’s difficult to tell the difference between bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Having grown up with schizophrenia in my own family, I was very interested in Duke’s story and her book, reading it when it came out. I also had known a boy since childhood whose mother suffered from “manic depression,” although her case was not as severe as Duke’s. In my experience at the time, Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder weren’t things decent people talked about, yet here was Patty Duke talking about her own experience with it.

Sean Astin was a child actor like his mother. Unlike his mother, he had the reputation of being remarkably stable and remarkably nice among other young people who, like his costar Cory Fieldman, were nearly destroyed by their careers. Astin credited his reputation and success in life to his acting father, John Astin, but he maintained life-long and close relationships with Desi Arnaz Jr. and Michael Tell.

Patty Duke died in 2016. John Astin is ninety-four years old and lives in Maryland, where he taught acting until just a few years ago. Considerably younger than Duke, Desi Arnaz Jr. is a healthy seventy-one years old. Music producer Michael Tell, also in his seventies, lives in California. All three maintain relationships with Sean Astin.

Emotional disorders, particularly those that change the sufferer’s perception of reality, ruin lives. Were she not a “Hollywood property,” Anna Duke very easily could have died in a homeless encampment somewhere like thousands of other sufferers.

Living with people with a distorted sense of reality can be extremely difficult and painful. Imagine what that might be like if it’s your mother. Like his adopted father, Sean Astin is known as one of the nicest guys in Hollywood, a reputation he credits to the influence of his father, John, whom he calls “pops.”

The role of Samwise Gamgee is one of the most complex in “The Lord of the Rings.” Fiercely loyal despite unbelievable adversity, Sam must contend with all the forces that want to destroy Frodo and the slow destruction of Frodo’s emotional state at the same time. Even when the ring’s evil nature takes over Frodo’s mind, Sam never leaves him and never doubts him.

A good actor brings elements of their own life experience to a role. For Sean Astin, that experience includes living with his adopted father, John, who remained faithful to his mother as her mind went in and out of her bipolar delusions, suicidal thoughts, and life-long suffering. There are so many remarkable performances in “The Lord of the Rings,” but the one I watch and connect with the most is Sean Astin, playing Samwise Gamgee.