Remembering Amanda Blake, Miss Kitty From ‘Gunsmoke’
When Gunsmoke premiered on CBS in 1955, it helped define a generation of television shows. Set in the lawless town of Dodge City, Kansas, the series followed Marshal Matt Dillon as he maintained order in the Old West. While James Arness anchored the show as Dillon, it was Amanda Blake, playing the fiercely independent saloon owner Miss Kitty Russell, who gave the show much of its enduring charm. Blake portrayed Kitty for 19 of the show’s 20 seasons, appearing in over 500 episodes.
Kitty wasn’t just another background character: she was one of the first women on television to run her own business, speak her mind and hold her own among a cast of rugged men. Though her romantic connection to Matt Dillon was never fully confirmed on screen, it remained one of television’s most iconic slow-burning relationships, built on loyalty and deep mutual respect.
Everett Collection
Amanda Blake was born Beverly Louise Neill on February 20, 1929, in Buffalo, New York. She moved to California at a young age and briefly worked as a telephone operator before studying acting at Pomona College. Her natural talent quickly led her to Hollywood, where she signed a contract with MGM and appeared in several films throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s. Among her early credits were roles in Stars in My Crown (1950) and Cattle Town (1952).
TV Guide/Everett Collection
But when she took on the role of Miss Kitty, Blake became a household name. Audiences embraced her, and she became a steady presence on one of the longest-running primetime dramas in American television history. She was honored in 1968 with induction into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, a tribute to her impact on the Western genre and her contributions to Gunsmoke‘s success.
Off-screen, Blake was a passionate animal advocate and often brought her pet lion Kemo to the Gunsmoke set. After leaving the series in 1974, she dedicated much of her life to animal welfare: she was one of the founding members of the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and helped establish a wildlife sanctuary in Northern California. She also supported the Arizona Animal Welfare League, to which she donated time, money and resources, helping it become the largest and oldest no-kill shelter in the state.
A longtime smoker, Blake developed oral cancer in 1977. After successfully recovering, she became a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society.
She married five times, beginning with Jack Shea in 1952; that marriage was short-lived, as was her 1954 marriage to Don Whitman and her 1964 marriage to Jason Day. While none of those unions lasted more than three years, her fourth marriage, to Frank Gilbert, endured from 1967 to 1982. She married her final husband, Mark Spaeth, in 1984; he passed the following year, a situation that would turn out to have dire consequences for Blake.
In 1987, Blake returned to the screen one final time to reprise her role as Miss Kitty in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge, a made-for-TV movie that brought back many familiar faces. It was one of her last performances and a fitting farewell to her beloved character.
Just two years later, on August 16, 1989, Blake died at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento, California. She was 60 years old. Her physician later confirmed that the cause of death was complications from AIDS, likely contracted from former husband Spaeth, who had died of AIDS-related illness in 1985. At the time, fans were shocked but she remains one of television’s most memorable figures. For generations of viewers, she wasn’t just part of Gunsmoke … she was its heart.
Remind 
TV Westerns of the 50's & 60's
September 2021
’50s and ’60s TV Westerns roundup, celebrating the shows and stars of their golden age.
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