From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Amanda Blake
Birth name	Beverly Louise Neill
Born	February 20, 1929 Buffalo, New York, USA
Died	August 16, 1989 (aged 60)

Amanda Blake (February 20, 1929 - August 16, 1989), was an American actress best known for the role of the red-haired "Miss Kitty" on the longest-running television drama, CBS's Gunsmoke series (1955-1975).

Born Beverly Louise Neill in Buffalo, New York, she was a telephone operator before taking up acting. Nicknamed "The Young Greer Garson," she became best known for her 19-year stint as the fictitious "Kitty Russell". Miss Kitty was owner-operator of the Long Branch Saloon, from which she dispensed wisdom, whiskey, (and though not overtly) boarding room keys and "fancy" women. Like Perry Mason and his secretary Della Street, Kitty and Dodge City's U.S. Marshal, Matt Dillon (played by James Arness) seemingly carried on a cloaked relationship. Blake's Kitty presumably departed Dodge City at the close of the series' 19th season, sans an on-screen farewell. Character actress Fran Ryan (Hanna) assumed ownership of the Long Branch for the twentieth and final season, with little mentioned of Kitty. In the first of three CBS post-series movies ("Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge"), Kitty tells Hanna (Ryan) that she left Dodge to return to New Orleans, as she was no longer willing to watch Matt cheat death another time (Actually, a flashback was created by cleverly editing/integrating footage from a 1970 episode where Kitty left Matt/ Dodge but returned by the epilogue). In real life Blake left in 1974 as she wanted more free time, and missed her friend/costar Glenn Strange who played Kitty's barkeeper Sam. Gunsmoke continued for one more year before CBS cancelled it after its 20th season, much to the surprise of the entire cast, including Arness.

In 1968, Blake was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. This was six years before the legendary John Wayne was inducted in 1974 and more than a decade before co-stars Arness, Ken Curtis, Dennis Weaver, and Milburn Stone were inducted in 1981. Blake was the third performer welcomed into the Hall, after Tom Mix and Gary Cooper, who were inducted in 1958 and 1966 respectively.

Because of her continuing role on Gunsmoke, Blake did not appear in many films. She did once manage to find time to appear in a comedy routine with the legendary CBS entertainer Red Skelton She was also a panelist on the long-running Hollywood Squares and "Match Game '74".

After Gunsmoke, Blake went into semi-retirement at her home in Phoenix, Arizona, taking on only a few film and TV projects. A lover of animals, she joined with others to form the Arizona Animal Welfare League in 1971, today the oldest and largest "no-kill" animal shelter in the state. In 1980, Blake was diagnosed with a form of mouth cancer. In 1985, she helped finance the start-up of the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and devoted a great deal of time and money in support of its efforts, including travels to Africa.

A longtime smoker, Amanda was forced to undergo oral cancer surgery in 1977. Seven years later, the American Cancer Society awarded her with its Courage Award.[1]

Though her cancer went into remission, in the early 1980s, Amanda was diagnosed with CMV hepatitis. After her death, 1989-Aug-16, some of her friends mistakenly reported that she died of AIDS rather than from cancer. As reported in the 1989-Nov-08 New York Times' Health section, however:

"CMV, or cytomegalo virus, hepatitis is AIDS-related according to Sacramento internist Dr. Lou Nishimura. Dr. Nishimura spoke after a report by television station KRBK in Sacramento, where Miss Blake was a longtime resident, quoted her friends as saying now that her death was related to AIDS. He said that she had suffered from AIDS symptoms for about a year but that he did not know how she had contracted the disease."[2]

Miss Blake reportedly believed she was infected by her fifth husband who was reportedly bisexual. He died of the disease shortly after their marriage.

Miss Blake's death certificate, however, listed the immediate cause as cardiopulmonary arrest due to liver failure and CMV hepatitis. CMV, or cytomegalo virus, which is AIDS-related, said Dr. Nishimura.[3]

Blake reportedly was a one-time board member of the Humane Society of the United States. [4] In 1997, the Amanda Blake Memorial Wildlife Refuge [5]opened at Rancho Seco Park in Herald, California. The refuge is a PAWS[6] sanctuary for free-ranging African hoofed wildlife, most of whom were originally destined for exotic animal auctions or hunting ranches.

Acting credits:

• Lili (1953)
• Sabre Jet (1953)
• A Star Is Born (1954)
• The Glass Slipper (1955)
• High Society (1956)
• Betrayal (1974)
• B.O.R.N. (1988)
• The Boost (1988)

Television Appearances:

• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (1952)
• Lux Video Theatre (1953)
• Cavalcade of America (1953)
• Four Star Playhouse (1954)
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1956)
• State Trooper (1957)
• Studio One (1958)
• General Electric Theater (1959)
• The Quest (1976)
• The Love Boat (1979)
• Hart to Hart (1983)
• The Edge of Night (1984)

• Other notable figures in Western films

• Amanda Blake at the Internet Movie Database
• National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
• New York Times, Nov. 8, 1989
• Amanda Blake at TV.com