Mar. 28, 1963 - Amanda Blake, who can be found in Dodge City’s Long Branch saloon at 10 p.m. every Saturday night on television, never ventures into a bar or nightclub off-screen. As Kitty Russell in the “Gunsmoke” series, Amanda is the belle of the dusty frontier town. As Beverly Louise Neill (her real name), Amanda spends most of her time in blue jeans and blouse on a 2-acre ranch 30 miles from Hollywood, rebuilding old furniture and breathing smog-free country air. She is one of Hollywood’s “hidden stars,” a gal who rarely is seen at splashy parties and never attends premieres. There is no Marshal Dillon in her life. She has no boyfriend because that is the way she wants it. Twice wed and divorced, most recently to T.V. director Don Whitman, Amanda says: “I’ve been single since 1956, and I’m going to stay that way. It’s been so long now, I guess I’m getting set in my ways. I like to come and go as I please — which means I’m not anxious to dash back from the studio to fix dinner for a man.”
