- Born
- Died
- Birth nameBeverly Louise Neill
- Nicknames
- The Young Greer Garson
- Kitty
- Height1.68 m
- Amanda Blake was born in Buffalo, NY, of English and Scottish descent. She and her parents moved to Claremont, California, while Amanda was still in high school, and she graduated from Claremont High. She enrolled at Pomona College but, due to her avid participation in community and theater productions, she was devoting much more time to acting than her schoolwork. Amanda started on a full acting schedule, doing summer stock in New England. She followed that up with theater and radio acting in Buffalo and then movies in Hollywood. While acting in small theater and stock companies she also painted backdrops and scenery. She was still in her teens when she debuted in MGM"s Stars in My Crown (1950), and her first television role was in Double Exposure (1952). Her most famous role, however, came in 1955, when she starred in the classic western series Gunsmoke (1955) as "Miss Kitty" Russell, the feisty madame and proprietor of Dodge City's Long Branch Saloon opposite James Arness' Marshal Matt Dillon.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Bill Hafker thehuntzie@yahoo.com (qv;s & corrections by A. Nonymous)
- SpousesMark Edward Spaeth(April 28, 1984 - May 27, 1985) (his death)Frank Gilbert(June 30, 1967 - 1982) (divorced)Jason Seymour Day Jr(August 15, 1964 - June 28, 1967) (divorced)Don Whitman(August 22, 1954 - August 21, 1956) (divorced)
- ChildrenNo Children
- ParentsJesse NeillLouise Neill
- Red hair and blue eyes
- Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1968.
- Smoked 2-3 packs of cigarettes a day until being diagnosed with oral cancer in 1980.
- In 1989, she traveled to Virginia City, Nevada for a special guest appearance at the renowned Miss Kitty's Longbranch Saloon. She signed several hundred autographed pictures in costume as Kitty Russell. At the time, Miss Kitty's Longbranch Saloon was owned and operated by producer, director and cinematographer Virgil E. Hammond III.
- In 1971 she 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 purebred dog shows.
- After enduring oral cancer surgery in 1984, the American Cancer Society awarded her with its Courage Award which was presented to her in Washington, DC by President Reagan. In 1985, Blake received the American Cancer Society's Sword of Hope award.
- [1974, on leaving Gunsmoke (1955) after 19 seasons]: Nineteen years is a hell of a long time for someone to be stuck behind a bar.
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