‘Gunsmoke’: Amanda Blake’s Official Cause of Death Wasn’t What Her Friends Told Everyone
After 'Gunsmoke' actor Amanda Blake faced health challenges that ultimately killed her. Here's her cause of death and a possible reason why her friends said she died of throat cancer.
Gunsmoke aired from 1955–75. One of the first TV Westerns geared toward adults, the show was a huge hit for CBS. It centered on Matt Dillon (James Arness), a U.S. Marshal in the frontier town of Dodge City, Kansas. Plenty of conflicts and criminals blew into town, and the marshall and his deputies dutifully handled them all.
Dillon also had a friend and confidant in Miss Kitty Russell. Actor Amanda Blake portrayed the local saloon and bordello owner for 19 of the show’s 20 seasons.
But after her successful stint, the actor faced challenges, including health problems that ultimately killed her. What was Amanda Blake’s cause of death, and why did her friends tell everyone she died of throat cancer?
Miss Kitty was a pivotal ‘Gunsmoke’ character
When Amanda Blake signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the late 1940s, the studio believed she would be a star. The actor did a few films before becoming Miss Kitty. She appeared in Cattletown and A Star Is Born and played the title role in 1954’s Miss Robin Crusoe.
But Blake was best known for Gunsmoke. Miss Kitty had a tough exterior and a warm heart. Audiences tuned in to see the relationship between her and the marshall. The show hinted at romantic feelings between the two but never showed anything beyond friendship.
Blake left the show after 19 years, and Gunsmoke ended the following season. Many observers believe the cancellation wasn’t a coincidence — that the series was never the same after her departure.
Amanda Blake’s cause of death wasn’t initially clear
In 1974, Amanda Blake left the series that had made her famous. “I was tired, and it was time to go. It was the end of the trail,” she told the LA Times a decade later.
Blake was a two-pack-a-day smoker and underwent surgery for oral cancer in 1977. She later became involved with the American Cancer Society and made national appearances on the organization’s behalf.
The Gunsmoke star was 60 when she died on Aug. 16, 1989, at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento. An initial statement from the hospital and her friends said Blake died of throat cancer.
Months later, the Associated Press confirmed she had throat cancer, but that “wasn’t the reason that she died,″ explained Sacramento internist Dr. Lou Nishimura. He explained that the actor died from complications related to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and that he had been treating her symptoms for a year before the celebrity’s death.
Nishimura also signed her death certificate, which showed Amanda Blake’s immediate cause of death as “cardiopulmonary arrest due to liver failure and CMV hepatitis,” the AP reported. Nishimura said CMV (cytomegalovirus) hepatitis is AIDS-related. Her certificate listed the contributing causes of death as AIDS and cancer.
