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Amanda Blake's life after Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke
Amanda Blake’s life after Gunsmoke— from animal rights activism to her battle with cancer, and how she defied being only known as Miss Kitty.
Who was Amanda Blake after Gunsmoke?
Best known as Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke, Amanda Blake became a vocal animal rights activist and cancer awareness advocate after leaving Hollywood, proving her legacy was far bigger than TV.
For 20 years, Amanda Blake played Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke, television's longest-running and most beloved Western. But who was she when the show was off the air?
Born Beverly Neill, Blake changed her name when she signed her first acting contract. She chose "Amanda" to evoke a sort of Protestant fortitude and because she related to Amanda in Noel Coward's Private Lives. Her new surname was chosen because it was short, snappy and easy.
So, for a woman with so many identities, what was Blake's life like after Gunsmoke?
Amanda Blake: The real person behind Miss Kitty
A recurring theme in her time after Gunsmoke was Blake's need to assert that she wasn't her onscreen character. While many people loved Miss Kitty, Blake constantly needed to remind folks that she was a different person entirely. After spending 20 years in people's living rooms on their TVs, it was hard for Blake to separate herself from what people recognized her for.
"I'm not Miss Kitty. I'm Amanda Blake. Miss Kitty has checked the bustles and the curls, and I do not play her anymore. I'm Amanda Blake," she said in an interview with The Kansas City Star.
"Kitty was a tremendously liberated person, probably the first fictional libber. Me, I don't know. I know I was never into the Hollywood scene. I found it boring, superficial, unreal."
From Miss Kitty to Advocate: Amanda Blake’s Fight for Animals
"People are mean when money's at stake," Blake told The Kansas City Star in 1978. "And people had money tied up in those chambers and, oh, did I get threats! One guy at a county pound said, 'If I lose my job on this bill, I'm gonna get Amanda blake and all her damn animals.' So I had to get extra security."
Surprisingly, Amanda Blake was vehemently anti-rodeo. While many of her peers and co-stars made a second living out of the round-up circuit, Blake was staunchly against the practice's cruel treatment of animals. She led a group in Colorado's stagehouse that urged legislation against rodeos. Attendees, many of whom depended on rodeos for their living, were less than impressed.
"I was scared," said Blake. "There was only about six of us, and of course, the bill died in committee. Walking out, some goofball comes up to me and says, 'We-ell, I'll ne-aver watch Gunsmoke again.' And I say that's fine with me and I just sock him."
Amanda Blake and her throat cancer battle
No six-shooter or tall sheriff could save Miss Kitty from peril in 1977. That's because it wasn't some ten-gallon hat-wearing heavy she was up against. Blake was diagnosed with cancer.
What began as a pea-sized blister under her tongue was ignored for months. Eventually, pain forced her to seek help after the tumor didn't go away.
"It's better to get it fixed when it's a baby," Blake told The Buffalo News in 1985.
Following a biopsy, a throat specialist delivered the bad news to her. Blake, fearing for her life, swore off cigarettes for good. She sought several doctors' opinions and had to choose between surgery or radiation.
"I'm a worrier," said Blake. "With my condition at the time, I would have freaked out with radiation, not knowing if they got the cancer out."
The trickiest part was not knowing whether she'd emerge from surgery with her voice still intact. For a woman who'd been defined by delivering lines on TV for so long, the prospect sure was scary.
"They don't know until they go in there. I remember coming out of the anesthesia and moaning. That's when I knew I was OK, that I still had my voice."
Re-emerging in the public eye
While she was initially skeptical about the way her cancer would change the public's perception, Blake eventually came out about her battle with the disease, even though it was a hard decision.
"A friend of mine in Phoenix convinced me that I was in a position to help a whole lot of people with cancer," she said.
Blake held the position of National Crusade Chairman at the American Cancer Society for over two years.
"I tell you, I worked my tail off. I told 'em cancer's not gonna kill me, but this [position] might." She received the Society's "Sword of Hope" award, in addition to a "Courage Award" from President Reagan.
Final Roles
Throughout the '80s, Blake worked intermittently in television again. She was in an episode of the Robert Wagner-starring Hart to Hart and did a stint on the soap opera The Edge of Night. A 1986 episode of the Showtime sitcom Brothers saw Blake as Carlotta in the little-remembered show.
Finally, in 1987, Miss Kitty Russell was back in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge, her only appearance in any of the made-for-TV movies based on the long-running series.
How Amanda Blake's legacy extended beyond tv westerns
Sadly, a 1989 role in The New Dragnet would be Amanda Blake's final appearance, as the actress passed away in August of that year at Sacramento's Mercy General Hospital.
While her death was due to complications from hepatitis and the AIDS virus, her work with the American Cancer Society was what ultimately defined Blake's final years. Her successful throat cancer surgery and later public appearances did loads to bring attention and fundraising to cancer research.
Her role on Gunsmoke may have been what she was most recognized for, but it hardly defined who Amanda Blake was as a person. Instead, her tireless campaigning for animal rights and support of the American Cancer Society truly characterized the one-time starlet.
Amanda Blake, Miss Kitty, Gunsmoke, Classic Western TV, Animal Rights Activist, 1980s TV Stars, Amanda Blake Biography, Amanda Blake Cause of Death, Celebrity Cancer Survivors, Hollywood Animal Advocacy
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