Amanda Blake was a beloved film and television actress
that audiences will likely most fondly remember from her nearly two-decade-long tenure
as the character of Miss Kitty on the long-running Western television series
Gunsmoke. Amanda made her exit from the series following its 19th season,
and the show would be canceled only a year later. Gunsmoke ended in 1975, and Amanda would pass away
a little over a decade after. Although it was initially suggested that the actress
had died of oral cancer related to her longtime smoking habit, it later was revealed that her
cause of death had been something more controversial, which she had kept secret.
Join Facts Verse as we explore how Amanda Blake accepted her fate, but told no one death was near.
Gunsmoke Couldn’t Last Without Amanda Blake
Fans of the long-running Western television series Gunsmoke were devastated following the
show’s 19th season when actress Amanda Blake announced that she was going to be giving up
the role of Miss Kitty for good. Miss Kitty had become one of the show’s most popular characters,
and the series would only end up lasting for another year without Amanda as part of its cast.
On Gunsmoke, Miss Kitty was the character in charge of the Long Branch Saloon, and she was
tough as nails! Audiences loved watching Amanda Blake in the role of the tough Western woman
and especially adored the chemistry that was exuded whenever the actress was on screen with
the show’s main character, Matt Dillon. Actor James Arness played the character of Marshal Matt
Dillon, and he and Amanda Blake had plenty of great interactions on the show.
By the time that Amanda Blake decided to make her exit from the long-running Western
series Gunsmoke, she had already appeared in well over 500 episodes! The actress had experienced
just about enough of the same old thing and was anxiously awaiting the chance to take a permanent
break from filming the series that she had been tied to for nearly two decades. Following Amanda’s
exit from Gunsmoke, the actress went into a period of semi-retirement at her Phoenix, Arizona, home.
According to the actress, she wanted to spend as much time as she could with her animals.
Now that she was rich with Gunsmoke money and essentially never needed to work again,
she finally had the time and energy to dedicate to her true passion.
Amanda Blake’s True Passion Was Animal Rights Amanda Blake was always an animal lover, and she
took her love of animals to a level that few other animal lovers have ever gotten the chance to.
For instance, the actress once found her name in the tabloids as a result of an incident where she
brought her pet lion to the set of Gunsmoke. In addition to having a pet lion, Amanda and her
third husband, whom she was married from 1967 to 1982, also had several cheetahs. Amanda’s third
husband was a man by the name of Frank Gilbert, and he was just as much into animals as Amanda
was. Together, the two ran an experimental cheetah-breeding program out of their house
that actually ended up being fairly successful! Amanda and her third husband are credited with
being some of the very first people to successfully breed cheetahs in captivity.
The pair were said to have raised seven generations of cheetahs, though this notable
excursion only stood as the tip of the iceberg when it came to Amanda’s immense love of animals.
Although the fact that Amanda Blake and her husband raised cheetahs in captivity may suggest
that the two didn’t care very much about animal welfare, this wasn’t the case! Amanda especially
was always very outspoken about animal rights, and even became a notable animal-rights activist
during her lifetime. It seems that Amanda and her husband were breeding cheetahs altruistically,
as they had a soft spot for the relatively rare animal species. Amanda also found many other
ways to exercise her love for animals over the course of her lifetime, and
she even helped establish a few notable foundations that still help animals today!
The first animal-rights foundation that Amanda Blake helped establish was named the Arizona
Animal Welfare League. The foundation is still around today, and its location has developed the
reputation of being both the biggest and the oldest “no-kill” animal shelter in the state
of Arizona. Following the establishment of the Arizona Animal Welfare League, Amanda went on
to help finance the creation of the Performing Animal Welfare Society in 1985. Like the
Arizona Animal Welfare League, the Performing Animal Welfare Society is still around today,
and still does plenty of great work! The foundation goes by the cutesy acronym of PAWS,
and Amanda dedicated many of her final years to it.
Amanda Blake Passed Away in 1989 While it seems that Amanda Blake was
doing some incredible work with animals towards the end of her lifetime, this sadly all came to an
end with her tragic 1989 death. Although it was initially suggested that the longtime
smoker had passed away from oral cancer, it was later revealed that Amanda’s cause of death had
been something a good deal more controversial. If you’re enjoying this video so far, be sure
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Amanda Blake Was Awarded by Ronald Reagan In addition to helping establish the two
aforementioned animal-rights foundations, Amanda Blake also did some other notable
work involving animal rights over the course of her lifetime. She was a notable member
of the Humane Society of the United States and was awarded with the society’s Courage
Award in 1984 for her many contributions to the world of animal rights. The man who presented
Amanda with her award was none other than President of the United States Ronald Reagan!
Following Amanda’s 1989 death, the Amanda Blake Memorial Wildlife Refuge was opened in 1997.
The refuge resides in Herald, California, and serves as a sanctuary for exotic African
animals that have found themselves in the United States. This kind of thing occurs more often than
viewers might expect, as exotic animals are routinely trafficked for various purposes.
How Did Amanda Blake Die? Amanda Blake was only 60
years old when she passed away on August 16, 1989. The initial cause of death that
was given to fans of the actress was oral cancer, which the actress had a history
of. Amanda Blake had been a longtime smoker in the years leading up to her death and had
suffered from oral cancer during the 1970s. The actress had to undergo surgery as a
result of oral cancer in 1977, only a few years after making her exit from Gunsmoke.
As a result of Amanda’s history with oral cancer, the public took the announcement
that the actress had died from the illness at face value. However, it was later revealed
that the true cause of Amanda’s death had been something else entirely, and something that the
actress had understandably wanted to keep a secret from all but her closest friends.
Upon Amanda’s 1989 passing, the actress left all of her money to PAWS. The actress had dedicated
the majority of her time and energy in the years leading up to her passing to the foundation,
and she wanted the foundation to continue doing excellent work after she was
gone. It’s clear that Amanda was passionate about animals and likely put a lot of thought into
leaving behind her fortune to PAWS. However, a few of the actress’s relatives had problems with this.
Amanda Blake Didn’t Die from Oral Cancer When it was announced that Amanda Blake was
leaving all of her money to PAWS, several of her relatives got angry and decided that they
were going to try and claim that Amanda was mentally unsound upon her passing
and that the money was rightfully theirs. A legal battle ensued, and it was during this
legal battle that it was finally revealed what had truly caused Amanda to pass away in 1989.
As it turns out, Amanda Blake suffered from AIDS. The actress’s true cause of death was
liver failure, which had been brought about as a result of her illness. This made Amanda one of the
very first prominent Hollywood stars to pass away as a result of AIDS, with another early example
being Golden Age icon Rock Hudson. The disease was still fairly new and relatively controversial,
so it makes sense that Amanda didn’t want the public to know about her diagnosis.
Amanda Blake had been diagnosed with AIDS a year before her death.
According to those closest to the actress, she took the news incredibly well. Amanda remained
optimistic about her AIDS diagnosis up until the moment of her passing, with the late actress’s
agent having recalled that some of the last words that she spoke to him saw her asking him to
find her a new Hollywood role. The actress hadn’t worked much during the later years of her life,
but her AIDS diagnosis had apparently made her anxious to start again.
How Did Amanda Blake Catch AIDS? While it’s clear that AIDS-related complications
ended up being the cause of Amanda Blake’s death, it’s not clear how exactly the actress managed
to catch the disease. Although Amanda had four husbands over the course of her lifetime, she was
never known to be especially sexually promiscuous. In addition, the actress was never known to
have had any kind of problems with drugs that may have led her to contract the disease. It’s notable
that Amanda’s fourth and final husband also passed away from AIDS. Amanda and her fourth husband Mark
Spaeth got married in 1984, and the man passed away only a year later as a result of AIDS.
While Mark Spaeth passing away of AIDS shortly before Amanda Blake received her
own AIDS diagnosis may suggest that the actress caught the disease from her fourth husband,
most actually believe that Mark likely caught the disease from Amanda.
The pervading theory is that Amanda must’ve caught AIDS incidentally
while making one of her numerous visits to the continent of Africa to do wildlife work.
Actress Amanda Blake received her AIDS diagnosis a year before her 1989 death, though she didn’t let
it stop her from making the most out of her last remaining days. Now it’s time to hear from you:
did you know that Gunsmoke’s Amanda Blake was a renowned animal-rights activist and that
she helped establish numerous animal-rights foundations that are still doing incredible
work today? As always, like this video to show your support, subscribe and hit the notification
bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!