The Miracle Worker (1979 film)

The Miracle Worker is a 1979 American made-for-television biographical film based on the 1959 play of the same title by William Gibson, which originated as a 1957 broadcast of the television anthology series Playhouse 90. Gibson's original source material was The Story of My Life, the 1902 autobiography of Helen Keller. The play was adapted for the screen before, in 1962.

The film is based on the life of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan's struggles to teach her. It starred Patty Duke (who played Helen Keller in the original 1962 film, for which she won the Oscar) as Annie Sullivan and Melissa Gilbert as Helen Keller. It produced a TV sequel, Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues in 1984.

Plot

Young Helen Keller (Melissa Gilbert), blind, deaf, and mute since infancy, is in danger of being sent to an institution. Her inability to communicate has left her frustrated and violent. In desperation, her parents seek help from the Perkins Institute, which sends them a "half-blind Yankee schoolgirl" named Annie Sullivan (Patty Duke) to tutor their daughter. Through persistence and love, and sheer stubbornness, Annie breaks through Helen's walls of silence and darkness and teaches her to communicate.

Cast

• Melissa Gilbert as Helen Keller
• Patty Duke as Annie Sullivan
• Charles Siebert as Captain Arthur H. Keller
• Diana Muldaur as Katherine Adams Keller
• Stanley Wells as James Keller
• Anne Seymour as Aunt Evelyn
• Hilda Haynes as Viney
• Byron Green as Percy
• Noniece Williams as Martha
• Titos Vandis as Anagnos
• Jonathan Gilbert as Jimmy

References

External links

• The Miracle Worker at the Internet Movie Database

Helen Keller
Life history	Ivy Green Tuscumbia, Alabama Laura Bridgman Alexander Graham Bell Charles W. Adams
Schools attended	Perkins School for the Blind Anne Sullivan Wright-Humason School for the Deaf Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing The Cambridge School of Weston Radcliffe College
Related foundations	Helen Keller International American Civil Liberties Union Helen Keller Services for the Blind
Related works	"The Frost King" The Story of My Life The World I Live In My Religion Light in My Darkness Deliverance Helen Keller in Her Story The Miracle Worker The Miracle Continues Black
Related topics	Helen Keller Day