Anyone even vaguely familiar with the classic television sitcom "The Patty Duke Show" no doubt looks at the show's namesake as the quintessential teenager times two. But in truth, Duke -- who goes by her real first name and married name, Anna Pearce -- admits she hadn't the faintest clue about what being a teenage was all about.

After all, being a veteran actor before she became a Broadway star at age 12 and Oscar-winner at 16 didn't allow the performer much time to do the things kids do outside of work.

"It was very odd and a little embarrassing to me because if there was a particular teenage activity that we had to shoot, they had to bring in some teenagers to show me how to do it -- the dances, everything," said Pearce, laughing, in a recent @ The Movies interview. "I lived a very isolated life as a teenager, and in some ways, I think the show gave me the avenue and a place to be a kid."

The first season of "The Patty Duke Show" debuts on DVD (Shout! Factory) Tuesday, which includes the first 36 episodes of the show along with a bonus feature that catches up with select cast members today.

In the show, Pearce played the boy-crazy Patty Lane, as well as her identical cousin, the studious Cathy Lane. And while the show ran three seasons from 1963 to 1966 and the characters have resurfaced in different projects in recent years, Pearce said playing identical characters with decidedly different demeanors was not an easy task to pull off given the technical availabilities to TV shows in the 1960s.

"Back in the day, we were very primitive in the way we did our split screens," the legendary actress recalled. "It was remarkably time consuming and for me, it was occasionally frustrating because I couldn't play a scene with the other character in the timing I wanted. So, eventually little Miss came up with a big idea: I said, 'What if I record Cathy first, then when I'm playing Patty, play it through the speaker.' And it worked!"

Now 62, Pearce said that the technology is "light years," of course, ahead of the original show now -- and she got to experience the advances first-hand earlier this year when she brought back Patty and Cathy Lane to record public service announcements for the Social Security Administration.

"The first time you see the PSAs, you go, 'Holy crap! They're old," Duke said, laughing. "But Patty does look younger than Cathy."

Dramatic Change

"The Patty Duke Show" marked an acting departure for the already acclaimed actress -- who won raves on Broadway playing Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker" in 1959 before reprising the role for the 1962 film version, which earned her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress -- in that she was going from serious drama to the zany world of sitcoms.

"Certainly, each time you move into a different venue, your built-in system has to adjust," explained Pearce, who is currently starring in the San Francisco production of the Broadway smash, "Wicked." "I learned so much from the people on 'The Patty Duke Show' about working in comedy. Things like, 'You don't have to hit it with a sledgehammer.' That was my approach at first. The acting comes from the same place as drama, but in your personality somewhere you have to have a funny bone."

Among the actress' fellow cast members on "The Patty Duke Show" was the late Jean Byron, who played Patty's mom, Natalie, and Eddie Applegate, who appeared as Patty's boyfriend, Richard Harrison.

And while Pearce loved the company of her on-screen family, she said perhaps no one meant more to her than William Schallert, who played her on-screen dad, Martin. Schallert to this day, Pearce said, represents to her the dad she didn't have in real life.

"If you were going to order up the dad of your dreams, it would be Bill," Pearce said of the 87-year-old acting actor. "That doesn't mean we always agree on everything, but what father and daughter do?"

Oddly enough, Pearce said she didn't watch a single episode of "The Patty Duke Show" until the 1990s, at which time, she made an amazing discovery: The show, while still maintaining its charming sense of innocence, didn't become dated by current standards -- and she firmly believes it still holds up well to this day.

"Besides looking at my hair, makeup and that kind of stuff, what I get out of it is they were very well-written episodes," observed Pearce. "In terms of how we are evolving as a people, there were standards with the show then: A father was a father and a mother was a mother, and the kids, even though they did hi-jinks, there were consequences. I didn't realize it at the time. Maybe I was too young. I can see why the show has hung around for so long."

Pearce said she is looking forward to seeing the show again, and said that when she puts "The Patty Duke Show" discs into her DVD player, she'll be seeing some of the episodes for the first time. But now, the mother of three sons, including acting sons Sean and Mackenzie Astin, said she can't wait to see the show for a whole new reason.

"I'm giddy with excitement about my grandchildren watching it," Pearce giggled. "Of course, they'll balk that it's not in color, but now, they'll get some idea of what Nana's other life was like."