In Memory of Pioneer Actress Amanda 'Miss Kitty' Blake ('Gunsmoke'): 35 Years After Her Tragic Death

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It's been 35 years since iconic actress Amanda Blake died of AIDS-related hepatitis on August 16, 1989. Best known as Miss Kitty Russell on TV's long-running Western Gunsmoke (CBS, 1955-1975), Blake was a trailblazer on and off-screen. This is her tragic yet triumphant story.

A Closer Look at Her Early Life and Career

Amanda Blake was born on February 20, 1929, in Buffalo, NY, of British and Scottish descent. When just in her teens, she and her parents moved to Claremont, California, Blake Amanda graduated from Claremont High.

The future star enrolled at Pomona College, during which time she was, more than anything else, focused on her acting in community and theater productions.

Blake would travel to New England where she performed in Summer Stock, and dabbled in technical stage work such as painting backdrop scenery.

She later returned to Buffalo, where she appeared in more theater productions and acted in radio programs.

While still in her teens, Blake made her big-screen debut in Stars in My Crown, which was released by MGM in 1950.

Two years later, she made her TV debut in Double Exposure, while her benchmark performance as Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke was three years away.

Once on the series as the feisty Miss Kitty, the madame proprietor of Dodge City's Long Branch Saloon, her friendship with James Arness' Marshal Matt Dillon became the talk of the town and home viewers.

One Year Shy

One year before Gunsmoke ended its historic two-decade run, the strong-minded and very independent Amanda Blake opted to leave the series. As she told the Los Angeles Times in 1984, “I was tired, and it was time to go. It was the end of the trail."

Three years after she left the show, Blake, a two-pack-a-day smoker, underwent surgery for oral cancer. She later advocated against the deadly disease with the American Cancer Society and became the organization's national spokesperson.

And Then She Was Gone

On August 16, 1989, Amanda Blake died at only 60 years old, at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento. Early reports from the hospital and her friends said she succumbed to throat cancer.

Months later, the Associated Press confirmed her throat cancer, but according to a then-statement by Sacramento internist Dr. Lou Nishimura, that “wasn’t the reason that she died.″

The health official explained that Blake passed away from complications related to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and that he had been treating her symptoms since the year before.

Nishimura signed Blake's death certificate, which formally documented her immediate cause of expiration as “cardiopulmonary arrest due to liver failure and CMV hepatitis.”

Nishimura said CMV (cytomegalovirus) hepatitis is AIDS-related. Her certificate listed the contributing causes of death as AIDS and cancer.

Five Husbands

Amanda Blake wed five times: Jack Shea (1952-53), Don Whitman (1954-1956), Jason Day​​ (1964-1967), Frank Gilbert ​​(1967-1982), and Austin, Texas city councilman Mark Edward Spaeth (who died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1985).

Immortal Legacy

The beloved Amanda Blake who, among other noble accomplishments, was a dedicated advocate for animals, will be fondly remembered forever as Gunsmoke's Miss Kitty Russell; one of the first independent female characters of the television age.