Remember Amanda Blake
Ranked #1,025 in Culture & Society, #25,387 overall
Amanda Blake "Kitty" Remembered
Amanda Blake, I believe, gave Gunsmoke that something "special" touch. She carried out the part of Kitty eloquently. She had that "rough around the edges" when needed and could show the "softness" side during that special moment when looking into Matt's eyes, as seen in the videos "For You" and "Ride (Best of Kitty) " below.
In 1950, she star in Stars in my Crown. She was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. She played in comedy routines with Red Skelton, made appearences on Hollywood Squares and Match Game.
In 1985, Amanda helped finance the startup of PAWS, Performing Animal Welfare Society. She continued to remain an animal advocate until her passing in August 1989.
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Contents at a Glance
Was It AIDS
continue Amanda Died of AIDS
Kitty and Amanda
An only child, Beverly Neill moved with her family from Buffalo to Claremont, California. There she got the acting bug and was signed with MGM. After a few movie roles, she landed the role that would make her a household name for the next 20 years, Miss Kathleen "Kitty" Russell on Gunsmoke.
Married four times:
Jack Shea ?
Don Whiteman 1953-1955
Jason Day 1964-1967
Frank Gilbert 1967-1982
Mark Spaeth 1984-1985
Frank and Amanda were the first successful breeders of cheetahs in captivity on their 4 acre ranch in Phoenix, Arizona. Their love for Africa and animals prompted many charitable events including the first Sato Mutt competition in Phoenix as an answer to the WKC purebred competition. Amanda spent the last years of her life living at PAWS with her dear friends Pat Derby who she met on the Gunsmoke set and her partner Ed Stewart. The Amanda Blake Museum and Wildlife Refuge is there at the Rancho Seco Park and it's home to native African deer, emu, and other rare animals.
According to Pat Derby, "Amanda lived 120 years in the 60 she was here."
Credit: TV.Com
Amazon of Good Things
Tragic Death
As reported by The New York Times
The doctor, Lou Nishimura, a Sacramento internist, said Monday that Miss Blake, who died at age 60 on Aug. 16, did have throat cancer. But he added, ''That wasn't the reason that she died.''
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.
Miss Blake's fifth husband, Mark Spaeth, a developer and City Councilman in Austin, Tex., died of pneumonia in 1985 at age 45. They married in April 1984, and divorced a short time later.
After Miss Blake died at Mercy General Hospital, a statement by the hospital and her friends reported the cause of death as cancer.
Miss Blake's death certificate, however, listed the immediate cause as cardiopulmonary arrest due to liver failure and CMV hepatitis. CMV, or cytomegalo virus, hepatitis is AIDS-related, said Dr. Nishimura.
Credit: http://www.nytimes.com
Link Along With Me
- Amanda Blake's Acting Career
- Filmography
- Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)
- Mission Statement:
PAWS is dedicated to the protection of performing animals, to providing sanctuary to abused, abandoned and retired captive wildlife, to enforcing the best standards of care for all captive wildlife, to the preservation of wild species and their habitat and to promoting public education about captive wildlife issues. - Amanda Blake Memorial
- The Amanda Blake Museum & Visitor Center
Open Saturdays from 10 am - 3 pm or by special appointment.
Please call (209) 745-2606 for more information. - Skooldays
- Nobody maintained TV law and order for longer than Gunsmoke's Marshal Matt Dillon. As played by James Arness for a full twenty years, Marshal Matt was everything we wanted in a lawman: tough but fair, strong but good, quick on the draw but slow to violence. With Matt on the job in lawless Dodge City, Kansas ("the Gomorrah of the West"), Gunsmoke was not only one of the most popular shows on television, it was TV's longest-running drama, hitting the Top 10 in three separate decades of cultural change. True TV institutions are rare, but of the many television westerns of the 50's and 60's, Gunsmoke has surely earned the right to hang its cowboy hat in the hall of greats.
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TV LAND's Matt and Kitty
There once was a western show that stood out above the rest!The cast was a wonderful family who together were the best.
Festus, and Doc were the best of friends, as we could clearly see.
If either of them needed the other right there they would be.
There was a Marshall in this show and his name would be Dillon.
whenever the need arose then he'd have to do some killin
The Marshall was a quiet man, as calm as he could be
But if somebody riled him the other side they'd see
There was a lovely lady in town and her name was Miss Kitty.
She was loved by everyone and she was very pretty.
TV Land - Poem Contest
Once at the TV Land site, go to the end of the page and finish reading this cute poem. NOTE 3/17/11: No longer posted, sorry!
A DIFFERENT LOOK AT AMANDA
KITTY AT HER BEST
FOR YOU
Kitty & Matt
Looking Into The Lens
Lenses Featured
1. Matt Dillon
2. Bank
FOR VISITORS
Thank You
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OhMe May 22, 2012 @ 5:51 am | delete
- I loved to watch Gun Smoke. I think because my dad liked it so much and we all loved Miss Kitty. I enjoyed reading this and learning more about her life.
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sheezie77
Feb 21, 2012 @ 3:34 am | delete
- Great and beautiful lens thumbs up!
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RCGraphicsDesign
Feb 18, 2012 @ 3:44 pm | delete
- Loved the whole Gunsmoke cast. Marshall Dillion and Miss Kitty belonged together. What a tragedy for Amanda. I had no idea. Great lens.
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veryirie
Jan 6, 2012 @ 3:17 am | delete
- I never understood why Marshall Dillon just didn't say "aw to heck with it" and marry Miss Kitty. I'm sure it would have ruined the dynamics of the show though. Great memories of growing up and watching this show weekly with my family.
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blue22d
Jan 2, 2012 @ 11:33 pm | delete
- Thanks Tipi for coming back and blessing my lens. Always enjoy your visits.
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Out On The Range
LOOK FOR SPECIALS HERE!
KITTY RUSSELL
by blue22d
Sandy Davison (Blue22d) here. I have been a Squidoo lover for over three years. My loves are granddaughters, nature, animals, antiques, collectibles, marbles,... more »
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Life Story of Amanda Blake
Perfectly Amanda
Amazon Price: $19.61 (as of 05/27/2012)
As an avid fan of Gunsmoke s Miss Kitty, Beckey Burgoyne, an elementary school teacher from Illinois, felt it was her destiny to write the life story of actress Amanda Blake, who portrayed Miss Kitty on television for nearly 20 years. A farmer s daughter, Burgoyne appreciates the value of hard work and self-reliance. As a child, she saw all of these characteristics and more in Amanda Blake s portrayal of Miss Kitty on TV s Gunsmoke. In Perfectly Amanda, Gunsmoke s Miss Kitty: To Dodge and Beyond, Burgoyne celebrates everything the character of Kitty Russell stood for: strength, grace, intelligence, independence and so much more. The biography provides readers with a chronological look into Amanda Blake s life both on- and off-screen, even telling of her ancestry tracing back to 1600 England, Scotland and Ireland. Perfectly Amanda also includes many wonderful anecdotes and personal reflections from Blake s friends and colleagues, as well as an extensive collection of photographs, both formal and candid. Burgoyne says this book will appeal to anyone young or old, male or female. Full of tales of adventure and travel, as well as more heartwarming information on Blake s battle with cancer and her unending devotion to a wide variety of charities, there is something in Perfectly Amanda for everyone. However, this is more than just an ordinary biography. It s a tale of strength, courage and compassion. It s the story of a legendary character that changed the way women saw the world and their roles in society. Miss Kitty s independence and business know-how sparked a generation of women to challenge conventional views on the traditional roles women were expected to play in society. Her positive influence on young women, Burgoyne included, cannot be measured. Includes 100 photographs.
