Amanda Blake Photos, News and Videos, Trivia and Quotes

Biography by Hal Erickson [-]

Following her training in regional theatre and radio, red-headed actress Amanda Blake was signed by MGM in 1949, where she was briefly groomed for stardom. Among her MGM assignments was 1950's Stars in My Crown, in which she was cast for the first time opposite James Arness. Film fame eluded Amanda, especially after her sizeable role in the 1954 version of A Star is Born was almost completely excised from the release print. By 1955, she had to make do with appearances in such epics as the Bowery Boys' High Society. Amanda's fortunes took a turn for the better later in 1955, when she won the role of Miss Kitty, the euphemistically yclept "hostess" of the Long Branch Saloon on the TV western Gunsmoke, which starred James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon. She remained with Gunsmoke until its next-to-last season in 1974. After Gunsmoke, Amanda went into semi-retirement save for a handful of film projects like the made-for-TV Betrayal (1974), the theatrical releases The Boost (1988) and B.O.R.N (1989), and the 1987 reunion project Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge. Amanda Blake died in 1989 at the age of sixty.

Golden Globes, USA

1972 Nominated

Golden Globe Best Supporting Actress - Television

Gunsmoke (1955)

1971 Nominated

Golden Globe Best TV Actress - Drama

Gunsmoke (1955)

1970 Nominated

Golden Globe Best TV Actress - Drama

Gunsmoke (1955)

Primetime Emmy Awards

1959 Nominated

Primetime Emmy Best Supporting Actress (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series

Gunsmoke (1955)

Golden Boot Awards

1985 Won

Golden Boot

Western Heritage Awards

1972 Won

Bronze Wrangler Fictional Television Drama

Gunsmoke (1955)

Shared with:

Leonard Katzman (producer)

John Mantley (producer)

Jack Miller (writer)

Bernard McEveety (director)

James Arness (actor)

Milburn Stone (actor)

Jeanette Nolan (actor)

Dack Rambo (actor)

Glenn Strange (actor)

Buck Taylor (actor)

for episode "Pike".

1967 Won

Bronze Wrangler Fictional Television Drama

Gunsmoke (1955)

Shared with:

Calvin Clements Sr. (writer)

Philip Leacock (producer)

John Mantley (producer)

Mark Rydell (director)

Albert Salmi (actor)

Ken Curtis (actor)

Milburn Stone (actor)

James Arness (actor)

For episode "Death Watch". Tied with The Monroes (1966), episode "The Intruders".

Date of Birth 20 February 1929, Buffalo, New York, USA

Date of Death 16 August 1989, Sacramento, California, USA (AIDS-related hepatitis)

Birth Name Beverly Louise Neill

Nicknames The Young Greer Garson

Kitty

Height 5' 6" (1.68 m)

Mini Bio (1)

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 Schlitz Playhouse: Double Exposure (1952). Her most famous role, however, came in 1955, when she starred in the classic western series Gunsmoke (1955) as "Miss Kitty", the feisty proprietor of Dodge City's Long Branch Saloon opposite James Arness' Marshal Matt Dillon.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Bill Hafker (qv;s & corrections by A. Nonymous)

Spouse (4)

Mark Spaeth (28 April 1984 - 1985) (divorced)

Frank Gilbert (30 June 1967 - 1982) (divorced)

Jason Day (15 August 1964 - 28 June 1967) (divorced)

Don Whitman (22 August 1954 - 21 August 1956) (divorced)

Trivia (8)

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.

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.

Her 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 (CA) internist Dr. Lou Nishimura. She was believed to have contracted the AIDS virus 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.

Smoked 2-3 packs of cigarettes a day until being diagnosed with oral cancer in 1980.

Her second husband, Jason Day, was an Arizona cattleman.