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Amanda Blake (February 20, 1929 – August 16, 1989) was an American actress known for the role of the red-haired saloon proprietress "Miss Kitty Russell" on the television western Gunsmoke.
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 saloon-keeper Miss Kitty on the television series Gunsmoke from 1955 until 1974. In 1968, Blake was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. She was the third performer inducted, after Tom Mix and Gary Cooper, who were selected in 1958 and 1966 respectively.
Because of her continuing role on television, Blake rarely had time for films. She appeared in a TV comedy routine with Red Skelton and was a panelist on the long-running Hollywood Squares and Match Game 1974. In 1957, she guest-starred as Betty Lavon-Coate in the episode "Coate of Many Colors" of on Rod Cameron's syndicated series western-themed crime drama, State Trooper.
She made one final film appearance in 1988's The Boost, a drug-addiction drama starring James Woods and Sean Young.
After Gunsmoke, Blake went into semi-retirement at her home in Phoenix, 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 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.
Blake reportedly was a one-time board member of the Humane Society of the United States. In 1997, the Amanda Blake Memorial Wildlife Refuge opened at Rancho Seco Park in Herald, California. The refuge provides sanctuary for free-ranging African hoofed wildlife, most of whom were originally destined for exotic animal auctions or hunting ranches.
Matt, you can't account for everything that happens to people who touch you. You know, I learned a long time ago, there are some things in this life that you just accept the way they are.
- Amanda Blake (Kitty Russell)
In 1971 Amanda Blake joined with others in Phoenix, Arizona to form the Arizona Animal Welfare League. The AAWL is now the oldest and largest "no-kill" animal shelter in Arizona. In 1976 she hosted the 1st Annual "Sato" Mutt Show in response to all the pure-bred dog shows.
Amanda Blake
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Beverly Louise Neill
20 February 1929, Buffalo, New York
16 August 1989, Sacramento, California
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Before making it in show business, she worked as a telephone operator.
Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1968.
Amanda Blake's death certificate listed the immediate cause of death as cardiopulmonary arrest due to liver failure and cytomegalo virus (CMV) hepatitis. CMV hepatitis is AIDS-related according to Sacramento internist Dr. Lou Nishimura. The AIDS virus was thought to have been contracted from her last husband, Mark Spaeth, a member of the city council of Austin, Texas. The openly bisexual Spaeth (1939-1985), also died of complications of the disease.
After being forced to undergo oral cancer surgery in 1984, the American Cancer Society awarded her with its Courage Award
In 1961 she sold her residual rights to "Gunsmoke" (1955) for $100,000.
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