Amanda Blake was born in Buffalo, NY, of English and Scottish descent.
She and her parents moved to
Claremont, California, while Amanda was still in high school, and she graduated from Claremont High. She enrolled at Pomona College but, due to her avid participation
in community and theater productions, she was devoting much more time
to acting than her schoolwork. Amanda
started on a full acting schedule, doing summer stock in New England.
She followed that up with theater and radio acting in Buffalo
and then movies in Hollywood. While acting in small theater and stock
companies she also painted backdrops and scenery. She was still in her
teens when she debuted in MGM"s
Stars in My Crown (1950), and her first
television role was in
Double Exposure (1952). Her most famous role, however, came in 1955, when she starred in the classic western series
Gunsmoke (1955) as "Miss Kitty" Russell, the feisty madame and proprietor of Dodge City's Long Branch Saloon opposite
James Arness' Marshal Matt Dillon.
Dragnet(1989)as Mrs. Sylvia Wilson
B.O.R.N.(1989)as Rosie
The Boost(1988)as Barbara
Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge(1987)as Kitty
Brothers(1984)as Carlotta
Gunsmoke: The Last Apache(1990)
Gunsmoke(1955)
Television: The First Fifty Years(1999)as Self - Interviewee, Kitty Russel
The New Hollywood Squares(1986)as Self - Panelist
Pioneers of Television(2008)as Kitty Russell from Gunsmoke
Red Skelton: Bloopers, Blunders and Ad-Libs(1994)as Ruby
TV's Western Heroes(1993)as Kitty Russell
Red Skelton: A Comedy Scrapbook(1981)as Ruby
The Dick Cavett Show(1968)as Self
