COEUR d'ALENE - Ever want to sit down with Patty Duke? Wouldn't it be great to listen to the Oscar and Emmy-winning actress talk about her career, her roles, her views on life.

Well, you've got your chance this week.

Duke will be at the Interplayers Theatre in Spokane for "An Intimate Conversation" with IPT artistic director Reed McColm at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 2 p.m. Saturday.

"My guess is, it's going to be a free for all," the Coeur d'Alene resident said. "Never do I speak publicly without saying there are no places you can't go."

She expects the conversations to cover a lot of ground, from her career as a child star to starring in "The Patty Duke Show" to her battle with bipolar disorder and her famous son, Sean Astin.

"I don't have to hide anything and make up stuff," she said.

Duke will even joke a bit about the transition to being a bit older these days.

"I'm 63 now," she said with a laugh. "That sounds impossible. When did that happen?"

She's expecting plenty of laughter at her expense.

"They're going to see how short I am," she joked. "I used to be 5 feet. Now, I'm 4-11."

Duke, who played the role of Helen Keller in the Broadway play, "The Miracle Worker," that ran for almost two years, won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the same role in the 1962 film. She starred in her own television show for three seasons and went on to perform in numerous films, television movies, a mini-series and the musical "Oklahoma!"

Next spring, she'll make her directing debut with the very production that made her famous, "The Miracle Worker," at Interplayers.

"They caught me at a weak moment and I said yes," she said.

The Golden Globe winner is becoming more involved with Interplayers, and wants to help it continue operating.

In a phone interview from her home, Duke said she would like to get back into acting.

"I'm one of those feisty seniors who does not want to be discarded because she's a senior," she said.

Her husband, Mike Pearce, was born and raised in the Silver Valley. When they moved to North Idaho 21 years ago, she said it may have sent the wrong message to people about her career.

"I think that I confused people. 'Oh, she's in Idaho, she must be retired,'" she said. "I need to unconfuse them."

A role she didn't get but wishes she had was the chance to play Rose Kennedy in a mini-series on the Kennedys.

"I would love to have played Rose. I didn't know about it soon enough to get my hat in the ring," she said.

Duke was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the early 1980s, later became a spokeswoman on the illness. She traveled the country and gave presentations on how it affected her life, those around her and what can be done to combat it.

"I was terrified when I first started to do this," she said. "I thought, 'I can't talk longer than half a minute.'"

She sometimes still gets nervous speaking in public and acting, which she said is a good thing. She was once told by an actress early in her career, "You've got to be nervous every time, or it's not going to be any good."

Besides her acting career, Duke stays busy with her home, her dogs and her two granddaughters. Her days are filled.

"Around 10, when it's time to go to bed, I'm dead," she said. "I love to be in my house."

Duke is hoping for a large turnout for the "Intimate Conversation" meetings to help the nonprofit theater, which she has been involved with for a few years.

"When I do these sort of evening things, I really enjoy the interaction," she said.

She's proud of her son, Sean Astin, famous for his role as Sam in the "Lord of the Ring" trilogy and his lead in the movie "Rudy," and said he has been doing some "terrific work."

"He'd like to be doing more, like all of us," she said.

When it comes to watching TV, Duke liked the series "Two and a Half Men," and said it was doing some wonderful comedy early in its run. But as it went on, she was disappointed to see the show shift its focus to jokes about sex.

"I'm not taking my clothes off," she said, laughing. "It's too late for that."

She considers "The Miracle Worker" a highlight of her career, but more than anything, Duke is most proud of her 25-year marriage to Mike Pearce.

"I think that's pretty damn special for a person with bipolar disorder," she said.