Amanda Blake

 Amanda Blake, born Beverly Louise Neill (February 20, 1929 – August 16, 1989)

Nicknamed "the Young Greer Garson," she became best known for her 19-year stint as the saloon-keeper Miss Kitty on the television series Gunsmoke from 1955 until 1974. In 1968, Blake was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. She was the third performer inducted, after Tom Mix and Gary Cooper, who were selected in 1958 and 1966 respectively. Because of her continuing role on television, Blake rarely had time for films. She appeared in a TV comedy routine with Red Skelton and was a panelist on the long-running Hollywood Squares and Match Game 74. Blake joined with others to form the Arizona Animal Welfare League in 1971, today the oldest and largest "no-kill" animal shelter in the state. In 1985, she helped finance the start-up of the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and devoted a great deal of time and money in support of its efforts. A heavy smoker, Blake had surgery for oral cancer in 1977. She became a supporter of the American Cancer Society and made fundraising appearances throughout the country. According to the New York Times, Amanda Blake died from complications of AIDS. There was some confusion over the exact cause of her death.

When she died, a statement by the hospital and some of her friends reported the cause of death as cancer. Blake's death certificate, however, listed the immediate cause as cardiopulmonary arrest due to liver failure and CMV (cytomegalovirus) hepatitis. CMV hepatitis is AIDS-related. These facts of her death from AIDS-related complications were also reported in People Magazine the same year she died, being detailed by other friends and her main doctor.