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‘The Protector’: Veteran Actress Patty Duke Joins the New Lifetime Series

The Oscar winner plays mom to Ally Walker’s prickly LAPD detective

June 15, 2011 2:08pm

'The Protector': Veteran Actress Patty Duke Joins the New Lifetime Series — NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 06: Actress Patty Duke attends the official launch of George Takei and Patty Duke's Social Security Administration Public Service announcements on April 6, 2011 in New York City.
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Lifetime’s new series, The Protector, starring Ally Walker may have gotten off to a slow start last Sunday with its premiere earning only 1.9 million viewers and critics wondering what else the series has to offer. But, a new casting may drum up some interest.

A Lifetime rep confirms to The Hollywood Reporter that Oscar winner Patty Duke has been cast in a recurring role beginning with Episode 7, as first reported by TVLine. She’ll play mom to Walker’s Gloria Sheppard.

Duke, 64, is best known for her ABC sitcom, The Patty Duke Show, which aired from 1963 to 1966. At 16, she was the youngest person to win an Academy Award for The Miracle Worker.