Amanda Blake Spouse

Amanda Blake spouse includes Don Whitman, Jason Day, Frank Gilbert, and Mark Spaeth. She was popular that she married four times in her life. Amanda Blake was a regular cigarette smoker, which led her to cancer. She died at the age of 60 because of AIDS.

Amanda Blake Spouse

Who is Amanda Blake

Name Amanda Blake
Real name Beverly Louise Neill
Nickname Miss Kitty Russell, Kitty, The Young Greer Garson
Spouse(s) Don Whitman, Jason Day, Frank Gilbert, & Mark Spaeth
Date of birth February 20, 1929
Birthplace Buffalo, New York, US
Ethnicity White
Nationality American
Died August 16, 1989 (aged 60)
Place of death Mercy General Hospital, Sacramento, California, United States
Occupation Actress
Years active 1950–1989
Children No

An American actress, Amanda Blake, was most known for her portrayal of “Miss Kitty Russell,” a saloon proprietress with a red bob, on Gunsmoke’s western television series. She died on August 16, 1989.

The cheetah breeding program she started with Frank Gilbert, her fourth husband, was one of the first to be a resounding success. Beverley Louise Neill was born to Jesse and Louise (née Puckett) Neill in Buffalo, New York, the couple’s sole child. Her father worked in banking.

During her time at Pomona College, Blake worked as a phone operator. She is an actor, first and foremost. For years, it has been her primary source of income. You may recognise her from films like:

  • Cattle Town

  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents

  • A Star Is Born

  • Never Trust a Gambler

  • Smuggler’s Gold

  • The Family Secret

  • Miss Robin Crusoe

  • Lili

  • Glass Slipper

  • Tattletales Brothers

  • The Red Skelton Show

  • The Adventures of Hajji Baba

  • China Corsair

Summary

One of Amanda’s relatives, Catherine Moore ′′Kate" Barry (1752–1823), was a hero of the American Revolutionary War. Tarleton’s arrival at Cowpens (January 17, 1781), an important American victory that helped pave the way for the British loss at Yorktown, was warned by her, allowing the local patriots time to organise and prepare for the battle.

Amanda Blake Spouse

Name Marriage Year Divorce Year
Jack Shea 1952 1953
Don Whitman 1954 1956
Jason Day 1964 1967
Frank Gilbert 1967 1982
Mark Spaeth 1984 1985

At her demise, Amanda Blake was married to four men. Since her first marriage in 1954, Blake has been married to Don Whitman, Jason Seymour Day Jr. (1964), divorced him in 1967, married Frank Gilbert (1967), divorced him in 1982, and remarried.

The American actress, known for her audacity and good looks, was married. She became the first person to break the record for the number of marriages.

Blake married Don Whitman on August 22, 1954, just a few months after she graduated from college. In 1956, after a marriage that lasted just two years, the two got divorced. They didn’t say why they split up, though.

In 1964, the movie star remarried Jason Day, but their union only lasted three years before ending in divorce in 1967. In the same year that she divorced her second husband, Blake married her third husband, Frank Gilbert. When the couple divorced in 1982, they married for fifteen years.

In 1984, the beautiful and accomplished actress tied the knot with her longtime love, Mark Spaeth. Therefore, she also lost her fourth and final spouse to the disease. In addition to James Arness, Blake is said to have had a connection. The most unexpected thing about her several relationships is that she never had children.

Personal Life Of Amanda Blake

Whitman was Blake’s first husband, and she divorced him two years later, in 1956. Gunsmoke’s’saloon set’ was where she would hang out after her divorce from Whitman. When she wasn’t needed, it felt like home to Blake.

Jason Seymour Day Jr. was her husband from 1964 to 1967, when they divorced. In 1967, Blake married Frank Gilbert and divorced him in 1982. In 1984, she tied the knot with Mark Edward Spaeth. When Spaeth died, he was in his forties.

Animal Welfare

Blake went into semi-retirement after Gunsmoke and took few film or TV roles. She focused on her pets. She brought her pet lion, Kemo, to Gunsmoke. Kemo and her husband maintained an experimental cheetah breeding operation at their house. They bred seven generations of cheetahs in captivity.

Blake co-founded the Arizona Animal Welfare League in 1971, the state’s oldest and biggest “no-kill” shelter. She helped create the Performing Animal Welfare Society in 1985 and travelled to Africa to assist its operations.

Declining Health

Blake had cancer surgery in 1977. She supported the American Cancer Society and held fundraisers nationwide. In 1984, President Reagan gave her the society’s Courage Award.

Blake’s doctor stated she died of AIDS, according to the media. Therefore, her pals say she wasn’t a drug user or sexually promiscuous and may have gotten the disease from a prior marriage. Blake died of viral hepatitis-related liver failure in Sacramento, California, on August 16, 1989.

Summary

Blake was a Humane Society board member. Rancho Seco Park near Herald, California, opened the Amanda Blake Wildlife Refuge in 1997. The refuge protects free-ranging African hoofed animals intended for auctions or hunting ranches.

Death Of Amanda Blake

The passing of Amanda Blake saddened many people. For AIDS-related liver failure and CMV hepatitis, the celebrity was found to end in Sacramento’s Mercy General Hospital earlier this month.

AIDS can be spread by unprotected sexual contact, from mother to child, or through blood transfusions, as is well understood (those who take drugs often become AIDS victims).

If Mark Spaeth’s death at the age of 45 from AIDS is believed to be the source of Amanda’s AIDS, then she must have gotten it from him (just a year after their divorce). Therefore, it was then reported by a city council member that they had wed.

What happened to Amanda Blake before her death? The actress’s death sparked several debates over her cause of death. Cancer was the cause of her death, according to reports from her family and friends.

The doctor stated she had AIDS symptoms for a year, but he wouldn’t reveal how she got it. Despite this, the cause of death listed on Miss Blake’s death certificate was CMV hepatitis and cardiac arrest as a direct result of liver failure. After a lifetime of smoking, Blake had cancer surgery in 1977. Later, she appeared on behalf of the American Cancer Society.

Friends had requested that Mercy General spokesman Jerri Ewen disclose cancer as the reason for Blake’s death. Ewen said that she had never seen the death certificate and just reported what her friends and family wanted her to say. Her ashes were scattered over the ocean.

Summary

However, she died of AIDS-related symptoms, according to her doctor. Amanda Blake died at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento, California, on August 16, 1989. Dr Nishimura spoke out after friends of hers claimed that AIDS caused her death in an interview with a television station.

Career Life Of Amanda Blake

  • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signed Blake in the late 1940s because the studio regarded her as a replacement for Greer Garson.

  • The western Cattle Town from 1952 and the Robinson Crusoe adaption Miss Robin Crusoe, in which she played the title character, were among her few Hollywood credits. She made her film debut in the 1954 film A Star Is Born.

  • From 1955 through 1974, Blake played Miss Kitty, the saloonkeeper, in the television show Gunsmoke. Blake brought a lion called Kemo to the Gunsmoke set on February 27, 1974.

  • Blake had little time to see movies because of her work on television. On the Red Skelton Show, she had a regular comic routine.

  • In the episode titled “Coate of Many Colors,” Blake appeared as Betty Lavon-Coate in Rod Cameron’s criminal thriller State Trooper in 1957.

  • However, when Gunsmoke filmed a reunion film in the 1980s, she appeared in two feature films: the 1988 drug-addiction thriller “The Boost,” starring James Woods and Sean Young, and the 1989 horror picture.

  • “BoRN.” After Tom Mix and Gary Cooper, who was admitted in 1958 and 1966, respectively, she was the third performer to be inducted.

Amanda Blake Net Worth

Amanda Blake’s net worth has always piqued the curiosity of onlookers. Her acting profession brought in a substantial sum of money.

When she had roles in multiple popular films and television shows, she earned a lot of money. Her pre-death net worth was $500,000. In addition, she was nominated for several extremely prestigious prizes.

Many people are grateful for Amanda Blake’s life, especially those who had the good fortune to see her in one of her many brilliant films. Louise became a star in Hollywood because of her unwavering commitment.

However, she worked in the entertainment industry for a third of her lifetime. Her life was everything from glamorous. Almost 30 years after her death, Blake’s name lives on as the feisty Miss Kitty in the beloved American classic.

However, her primary source of income was acting work, which brought in a good deal of money for her. Her fortune is estimated to be between $5 and $10 million. In addition to her enormous fan base on social media, actress

Note: Amanda has a net worth of $500 thousand dollars, having earned $3 million throughout her career. Amanda made the most of her money selling Yeezys. The money she made from her career was real–enough to qualify as the greatest celebrity cashout of all time.

Frequently Asked Questions - FAQs

People asked many questions about Amanda Blake’s spouse. We discussed a few of them below:

1 - Has Amanda Blake given birth to a child?

No one is surprised if you inquire, “Did Amanda Blake have any children?” The answer, however, is no. Because of her skill and beauty, Amanda Blake’s children and the continuance of her work were not meant to see the world.

2 - Is Gunsmoke’s Miss Kitty still alive?

It’s (AP) Doctors have confirmed that Amanda Blake, who portrayed Miss Kitty in the long-running television series ′′Gunsmoke,′′ died of AIDS-related complications, not cancer as previously stated. Even though Blake had throat cancer, ′′it wasn’t the cause of her death,′′ stated Dr.

3 - When Amanda Blake died, what was her net worth?

At her death in 1989, Amanda Blake had a net worth of $500,000. On February 29, 1929, Amanda Blake was born in Buffalo, New York, and died on August 29, 1989, in Buffalo, New York.

4 - Who is Amanda Blake’s husband?

Amanda Blake’s family includes Jack Shea, Don Whitman, Frank Gilbert, and Mark Spaethhusband . 's Because she was so well-liked, she was married four times. Jason Seymour Day Jr. was her husband from 1964 to 1967, when they divorced. In 1967, Blake married Frank Gilbert and divorced him in 1982. In 1984, she tied the knot with Mark Edward Spaeth. When Spaeth died, he was in his forties.

5 - Who was Miss Kitty?

“Gunsmoke” actress Amanda Blake died of cancer on August 16, aged 60, at a Sacramento, California, hospital after a battle with the disease for more than a decade. Many well-liked characters were included in “Gunsmoke” as it depicted the Old West.

6 - Where is Miss Kitty now?

She died in Sacramento, California, in 1989 at Mercy General Hospital. AIDS was not recorded as a cause of death on her death certificate, despite reports to the contrary.

7 - Did Matt Dillon and Kitty have a daughter?

To his surprise, he discovers that he has a true family he never knew existed after losing one. When Dillon was younger, he gave up his allegiance to family and friends in favour of a career in the military. In the end, he can’t separate himself from everything else. He must track for his missing daughter.

8 - Why did Festus quit Gunsmoke?

It is said Curtis modelled the role on a local alcoholic in his town, translating that rustic accent to the cinema. Throughout the rest of the program’s life, Festus remained in Dodge City, where the show was discontinued in 1975. In the years to follow, the character would become one of the show’s most recognisable and popular characters.

9 - When did Gunsmoke have Miss Kitty?

If you’ve ever seen a single episode of Gunsmoke, you know that Matt Dillon and Kitty Russell have an undeniable love attraction. For 19 seasons, their will-they-or-won’t-they saga drew viewers in. More than half of the show’s 635 episodes featured Amanda Blake, who portrayed Miss Kitty.

10 - Who took Kitty’s place on Gunsmoke?

Amanda Blake portrayed her in the show. Throughout the show’s run, she appeared in over 500 episodes. During season two, Amanda Blake is an employee of the Long Branch Saloon and subsequently becomes a half-owner. In the iconic Western, Blake portrayed a spunky and self-assured lady.

11 - Who was Matt Dillon’s wife?

“To the Last Guy,” “The Long Ride,” and “A Single Man’s Justice” was the final three Gunsmoke films in which Beth appeared, and she had married a man by the name of Readon at that point.

12 - Did Festus become a member of Gunsmoke?

“Gunsmoke” enthusiast, The Answer Man, is likewise captivated by the circumstances that led to Festus becoming a deputy. As it turns out, Dennis Weaver, who played Chester, quit to star in his program and subsequently enabled Festus to take over as Marshal Dillon’s deputy.

13 - Where was Gunsmoke filmed?

Even though Gunsmoke is set in Dodge City, Kansas, much of the show’s outdoor shots were shot in southern Utah, along the north rim of the Grand Canyon.

14 - Who played Matt Dillon’s daughter in Gunsmoke movies?

Gunsmoke - The Last Apache returns James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon. Wolf (Joe Lara), an Apache warrior working for the famed Geronimo, kidnaps Dillon’s daughter Beth (Amy Stock-Poynton), who is 21 years old (Joaquin Martinez).

15 - Why was Chester written off Gunsmoke?

Dennis Weaver decided to leave his most well-known job behind to avoid being typecast and perhaps missing out on career-altering chances. The actor’s bold decision paid off in the end.

Conclusion

Amanda Blake was a great and nice actor. She lived for love but died too soon. Her biography reminds people that red-haired Miss Kitty existed and made the world better. Blake married Don Whitman from 1954 to 1956, then Jason Seymour Day Jr. for three years in 1964. After two days, she married Frank Gilbert, who supported her animal welfare endeavours, notably the cheetah breeding programme, until 1982, her longest marriage. At last, Mark Edward Spaeth, her final husband, died in 1985.

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Amanda Blake has five spouses. Amanda Blake’s spouses’ names are given below:

Spouse’ Names Married Year Divorced Year
Jack Shea 1952 1953
Don Whitman 1954 1956
Jason Day 1964 1967
Frank Gilbert 1967 1982
Mark Spaeth 1984 1985

amanda blake spouse

Who is Amanda Blake?

Beverly Louise Neill, an actress, best remembered for her portrayal of Miss Kitty Russell, the bar proprietress in the western television series “Gunsmoke,” was born on February 20, 1929, in Buffalo, New York State, USA. She was renowned for operating one of the first programs to successfully breed cheetahs in captivity and was also an animal welfare campaigner. In 1989, she died away.

Amanda Blake Early Life

When Amanda was a small girl, her family relocated to California, where her father worked as a banker, and she grew up as the only kid. She graduated from Claremont High School and then left Pomona College to pursue an acting career while working as a telephone operator in the meantime.

She had one of her first Hollywood performances in the 1952 western movie “Cattle Town,” when she reportedly adopted her stage name because it was reputedly appealing and snappy. She then featured in “Miss Robin Crusoe,” a movie version of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe book.

She landed one of her most famous parts in the 1955 television series “Gunsmoke,” which is set in and around Dodge City, Kansas, around the time of the American West’s settlement.

James Arness starred in it, and it ran from 1955 to 1975 for a total of 20 seasons, indicating that it was a top-rated show that was among the most watched at the time.

Due to the nature of the program, she hardly had any time for other parts throughout her portrayal of the character. Before deciding to join the show, she was working on a few film projects, including “High Society” and “The Boost.”

Summary:

Amanda Blake was born Beverly Louise Neill. She played Miss Kitty Russell on ‘Gunsmoke’ She also appeared in ‘Tattletales,’ ‘The Red Skelton Show,’ and ‘The Edge of Night’ She appeared in scores of films, including ‘Stars In My Crown,’ ‘Cattle Town,’ ‘Miss Robin Crusoe,’‘Duchess of Idaho,’ ‘About Mrs Leslie,’ ‘High Society,’ and ‘The Boost’ Blake, ‘The Adventures of Hajji Baba,’ a former phone operator, loved animals. She and her husband Frank Gilbert bred cheetahs in captivity. She co-founded the Arizona Animal Welfare League (AAWL). She was an HSUS board member. Blake was honoured in the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s Hall of Great Western Performers. She received the American Cancer Society’s “Courage Award.”

Amanda Blake Personal Life

The parents of Amanda Blake, Jesse and Louise, gave birth to Beverly Louise Neill on February 20, 1929, in Buffalo, New York, in the United States. She earned her diplomas from Pomona College and Claremont High School. The actress married Don Whitman in 1954.

The following year, the couple were divorced, and Blake later wed Jason Day. The American beauty also divorced him, and they were married in 1967. Unfortunately, she only had a brief connection with her third spouse. She then wed Mark Spaeth in 1984; a year later, he passed away.

Amanda Blake, a heavy chain smoker, received an ■■■■ cancer diagnosis in 1977 and underwent treatment for the condition. At age 60, she passed away on August 16, 1989, at the Mercy General Hospital of California.

Amanda Blake Husband

Blake’s personal life is known to have included four marriages. Her first marriage, which lasted from 1954 to 1956, was to Don Whitman. Her second, three years ago, was to Jason Seymour Day Jr. in 1964.

She married Frank Gilbert two days after their divorce, and they were married for the duration of her longest marriage, which she used to fund most of her animal welfare initiatives, including the cheetah breeding program.

In 1984, she married for the last time, but Mark Edward Spaeth went away a year later.

What Did Amanda Blake Die Of?

  • She was a chronic cigarette smoker throughout her life; consequently, she was diagnosed with ■■■■ cancer in 1977, which required her to have surgery. As a result, she lost her mouth to cancer.

  • After that, she started volunteering for the American Cancer Society, and now she is one of the people who receive the organization’s annual Courage Award.

  • She went away in 1989, and according to her doctor, she had AIDS, which was the actual cause of her death.

  • This led to many allegations about drugs and sexual promiscuity. Still, it was later found out that her previous spouse passed away from AIDS-related pneumonia, which implies that she got the illness from him. This dispelled the rumours.

How Much Was Amanda Blake Worth?

As of the end of 2018, a successful acting career is estimated to have resulted in a net worth equal to or more than $500,000. Throughout her career, she participated in a wide range of television and film productions, which helped her preserve her status as a wealthy person up to the time of her death.

How Old Was Amanda Blake When She Started on Gunsmoke?

Many people believed that Gunsmoke was more than just another TV western; it was an epic adventure that hundreds, if not millions, of people, had followed for over 20 years. There was no denying the impact Glenn Strange, the real-life cowboy-turned-actor, had on his co-stars.

Sadly, he died at 74 due to lung cancer two years before the program concluded. The passing of Glen was the reason Kitty departed Gunsmoke.

His passing had such a profound effect that Blake, who portrayed Miss Kitty, could not manage it and was fired from the show a year later.

  • Blake performed a repeat routine on the live “The Red Skelton Program” when she was working on the television series “Gunsmoke,” and she often appeared on the long-running TV panel show “Hollywood Squares.”

  • Additionally, she appeared in the “Dean Martin Celebrity Roast,” took part in the revivals of “Match Game” and “Tattletales,” and had a supporting role in the drama “State Trooper.”

  • She appeared as a guest performer in several television programs after “Gunsmoke” ended, including “Hart to Hart” and “The Love Boat.” Still, she gradually played fewer parts until 1987, when she took part in the “Gunsmoke” reunion movie “Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge.”

  • She only got a few more acting roles after the movie in the 1980s before quitting the business.

  • In 1988, she contributed to the drama “The Boost,” which starred James Woods and Sean Young.

  • She also appeared in a guest role in the “Dragnet” series episode “The New Dragnet.” She spent most of her time at her Phoenix, Arizona, home in semi-retirement.

Amanda Blake Animal Welfare

Amanda began spending more time with animals in the latter years of her employment, leading up to her retirement. After seeing the lion Kemo in “Gunsmoke,” which resided in an animal complex near her house, she became a well-known animal welfare champion.

She also established a fruitful cheetah experimental breeding program, making her one of the pioneers in breeding cheetahs in captivity and raising seven generations. She was also a founding member of the Arizona Animal Welfare League, the state’s first and biggest no-kill animal shelter.

She also contributed financially and volunteered much of her time to the Performance Animal Welfare Society. She often visited Africa and had previously served on the Humane Society of the United States board.

The Amanda Blake Memorial Species Refuge, a haven for free-ranging African hoofed wildlife that has either been saved from hunting ranches or animal auctions, was established in 1997 near Herald, California, in the Rancho Seco Park.

Additionally, she joined Tom Mix and Gary Cooper as the third artist to be admitted into Oklahoma City’s National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

Summary:

Blake went into semi-retirement after Gunsmoke and accepted few film or TV roles. She focused on her pets. She brought her pet lion, Kemo, to Gunsmoke. Kemo and her husband maintained an experimental cheetah breeding operation at their house. They bred seven generations of cheetahs in captivity. Blake co-founded the Arizona Animal Welfare League in 1971, the state’s oldest and most significant “no-kill” shelter. In 1985, she helped fund the Performing Animal Welfare Society and supported its operations, including trips to Africa. Blake was a Humane Society board member. Rancho Seco Park near Herald, California, opened the Amanda Blake Wildlife Refuge in 1997. The refuge protects free-ranging African hoofed animals intended for auctions or hunting ranches.

FAQs

1. How much did Amanda Blake have when she passed away?

Amanda Blake had a net worth of $500k at the time of her death in 1989. Amanda Blake was an American actress.

2. On Gunsmoke, did Matt and Kitty get together?

During the program’s life from 1955 to 1975, Matt Dillon (James Arness) and Kitty (Amanda Blake) never wed, despite close viewers of the show being persuaded they had gotten together at some point. In contrast, Matt had a short relationship with Mike Gardner (Michael Learned) in a 1973 episode when he was amnesic.

3. On Gunsmoke, how many Miss Kittys were there?

The apparent love tension between U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon and saloon owner Kitty Russell is evident in every episode of Gunsmoke. They engaged in a will-they-won’t-they romance for almost the entire 19-season duration of the program. Miss Kitty’s actor, Amanda Blake, appears in 569 of the program’s 635 episodes.

4. How did Miss Kitty leave the Gunsmoke series?

After the program finished, she retired and settled in Phoenix, Arizona, where she raised cheetahs. Yes, experimental cheetah breeding was started on Blake’s farm with the help of her third husband, Frank Gilbert, who eventually grew seven different generations.

Conclusion

She was a married lady who played a vital and gorgeous American actress. She joined the list of people who broke the record, having been married many times. Blake married Don Whitman on August 22, 1954. 1956 saw the end of their 2-year marriage. They never explained their split. Fans of her films commemorate Amanda Blake’s life. Louise’s commitment brought her Hollywood renown. Acting took up one-third of her life. Her personal life was unremarkable. Blake has been ■■■■ for 30 years, yet her legacy as Miss Kitty continues.