She left her entire $400,000 estate to rescued animals. Her friend said she “lived 120 years in her 60 years.” Her name was Amanda Blake. Born Beverly Louise Neill in Buffalo, New York, in 1929. Before fame, she worked as a telephone operator. In 1955, she became Miss Kitty Russell. The saloon owner on “Gunsmoke.” She played her for 19 years. Off camera, she was private. Introverted. Her real passion was animals. She kept exotic animals at her Arizona home. She and her fourth husband, Frank Gilbert, ran one of the first successful cheetah breeding programs in captivity. On February 27, 1974, she walked onto the set with a pet lion named Kemo. The press loved it. But she was already doing something far bigger. In 1971, she helped found the Arizona Animal Welfare League. Today, it’s the oldest and largest no-k*ll shelter in the state. After Africa, she fell in love with wildlife. She gave shelter to deer, emus, and other rare animals. In the 1960s, she’d met a Hollywood animal trainer named Pat Derby. Derby was often called on to work with the animal “guest stars” on Gunsmoke. Years later, Derby turned whistleblower. She exposed the abuse behind performing animals. In 1984, she and partner Ed Stewart founded the Performing Animal Welfare Society: ‘PAWS’ Amanda helped finance it from the start. Derby later said something that stuck. “Amanda lived 120 years in her 60 years.” Amanda Blake died on August 16, 1989. She was 60. She left her entire $400,000 estate to PAWS. In 1997, the organization opened the Amanda Blake Memorial Wildlife Refuge in Herald, California. Today, PAWS cares for elephants, bears, big cats, and other animals rescued from circuses, zoos, and the exotic pet trade. Amanda Blake was woman who played a strong lady in the Old West. She spent her real life protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves ♥️🐾