Amanda Blake (actress)

About Amanda Blake (actress)

Amanda Blake, nee Beverly Louise Neill, was born as indicated in Buffalo, NY, an only daughter descended from Revolutionary War patriots and heroes who distinguished themselves at the Battle of Cowpens (seriously), for example. She is best known for portraying the red-haired saloon proprietress on GUNSMOKE for an ungodly number of years, namely 19, though only James Arness as Marshall Matt Dillon appeared in every episode.

There was always a hint that she was also a madam, and that she and Matt were having an affair, but given Hollywood standards and practices at the time, neither idea was ever made explicit.

She also earns an Honorable Mention among Hollywood Wives as being among the Most Espoused, though I believe Elizabeth Taylor takes the prize there. Still, she had five, which is a pretty impressive tally. In 1968, she was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City; any prizes she won for her large number of marriages have gone unrecorded by history.

In the late 40s, "Amanda Blake" signed to MGM under the mutual idea that she would become the next Greer Garson--but after only a few films, including A STAR IS BORN (the 1954 version), she soon became best known for her 19-year stint as saloon-keeper "Miss Kitty" on TV's GUNSMOKE (which ran 1955-1974), which rarely left her any time for doing films. (She later reprised the role in a GUNSMOKE reunion program.)

TRIVIA: A little-known fact is that she and one or another of her husbands also bred and trained captive cheetahs; she even brought one to a GUNSMOKE set once. (I freely concede that I sometimes make up "facts" for entertainment purposes, but in this case I'm not doing so!)

She passed away in Sacramento, CA at the age of 60.

She was only the third inductee to the Hall of Great Western Performers, after Tom Mix and Gary Cooper, respectively.

Among her previous jobs, she had done time as a telephone operator.

(TBC?)