Amanda Blake

Amanda Blake
As Miss Kitty Russell in Gunsmoke (1966)
Born	Beverly Louise Neill (1929-02-20)February 20, 1929 Buffalo, New York, USA
Died	August 16, 1989(1989-08-16) (aged 60) Sacramento, California
Cause of death	AIDS-related complications
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1950–1989
Spouse(s)	Don Whitman (m. 1954; div. 1955) Jason Day (m. 1964; div. 1967) Frank Gilbert (m. 1967; div. 1982) Mark Spaeth (m. 1984; div. 1985)
Parent(s)	Jesse and Louise Puckett Neill

Amanda Blake (February 20, 1929 – August 16, 1989) was an American actress best known for the role of the red-haired saloon proprietress, "Miss Kitty Russell," on the western television series, Gunsmoke. Along with her third husband, Frank Gilbert, she ran one of the first successful programs for breeding cheetahs in captivity.

Amanda Blake was born Beverly Louise Neill in Buffalo, New York, the only child of Jesse and Louise (née Puckett) Neill. Her father was a banker; Blake herself was a telephone operator before she took up acting. Catherine ″Kate" Moore Barry (1752–1823), one of her ancestors, was a heroine of the American Revolutionary War. She warned local patriots of Banastre Tarleton's approach, giving them time to group and prepare for the Battle of Cowpens (January 17, 1781), a major American victory that helped pave the way for the British defeat at Yorktown. Blake placed a cameo-sized portrait of Barry owned by her family in local history museum in the Spartanburg, South Carolina, at which it remains on display.

Nicknamed "the Young Greer Garson", she became best known for her 19-year stint as the saloon-keeper Miss Kitty on the television series Gunsmoke from 1955 to 1974.

Prior to that, Blake had appeared in a few Hollywood films, such as the 1952 western Cattle Town and in the starring role of Miss Robin Crusoe, a 1954 adaptation of the Robinson Crusoe adventure. In 1968, Blake was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. She was the third performer inducted, after Tom Mix and Gary Cooper, selected in 1958 and 1966, respectively.