Amanda Blake

The Living Room as a Permanent Office

Amanda Blake spent nineteen years in the heeled boots of Kitty Russell. In 1955, she accepted a role that would keep her tied to a television set for nearly two decades. That saloon in Dodge City was her office and her cage.

And audiences never got tired of her.

Beverly Louise Neill changed her stage name before turning twenty. She worked in radio and signed contracts with MGM, but real stability came with the smoke of revolvers. She played Kitty in 569 episodes of the series Gunsmoke between 1955 and 1974. She was one of the most constant presences on American television in the twentieth century.

But her relationship with CBS was not always idyllic. The shooting days were exhausting, and actresses' salaries in the 1950s did not reflect the show's ratings success. Blake had to fight for every raise while her character became the moral center of a lawless town.

In 1968, she became the first woman inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers. Her face was in homes across America, and her red hairstyle became an iconic look of the era. But she was searching for something beyond the Hollywood spotlight.

Cheetahs in the Backyard

The actress decided to use her money to fund an obsession that had nothing to do with acting. In 1971, she brought a cheetah named Kalu back from Africa. She set him up at her home in Phoenix and began breeding these animals in captivity to help prevent their extinction.

Her commitment to the animal world was absolute.

In 1984, she co-founded the organization PAWS in California with other partners. The foundation rescued wild animals that had been exploited in circuses or kept as exotic pets. She invested much of her personal fortune in building safe enclosures and hiring specialized veterinarians.

The film industry saw her as an uncomfortable activist. Blake openly criticized the use of animals on film sets, and that closed some doors at the studios. But she no longer cared, because her career on screen had voluntarily taken a back seat.

Still, she returned for one final service to the character who had given her everything. In 1987, she filmed the TV movie Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge, reprising her role as Kitty Russell for the last time. Critics noted that her presence remained magnetic despite the passage of time.

The End of the Trail in California

Blake's health began to decline in the late 1980s. In 1989, she filmed her last on-screen appearance in the TV movie The Return of Sam McCloud. It was a brief job shot while her immune system was already badly weakened.

Died August 16, 1989, at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento.

The initial official version attributed the death to cancer, but later medical reports confirmed complications caused by AIDS. The news had a huge impact on the industry, because Blake was a highly respected figure and well loved by her colleagues.

Her will made it clear that her priorities had not changed. She left her entire estate to the PAWS foundation to ensure the animals in her care had enough funds to survive. In 1997, the Galt wildlife rescue center in California received a lasting financial boost thanks to the liquidation of her personal assets. The sanctuary remains operational under the management of wildlife specialists.