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While she was filming ''The Big Valley,'' Barbara Stanwyck used to ride her bike by the ''Gunsmoke'' set to chat with Amanda Blake
Blake was the biggest Barbara Stanwyck fan.
It's sort of endearing to realize that no matter how big a star an actor is, they're always going to get starstruck by another actor. Even idols have idols, people they'd like to work with, people that inspired them to go into acting. Amanda Blake was lucky enough to meet one of her idols in person, simply because they both worked on the same film lot.
Blake was best known for her role as Kitty Russell in the series Gunsmoke, and if her beauty and charm weren't enough, her talent as an actor was sure to get any fan starstruck, should they be lucky enough to meet her in person.
Blake looked up to Barbara Stanwyck, which wasn't unusual. Stanwyck had a long and storied career in film before she turned to television and stunned in the role of Victoria Barkley in The Big Valley. It was a role that won her an Emmy during the first season of the series, proving that both the content of the show and Stanwyck as an actress on television, were an absolute hit.
Being a fan of Stanwyck, Blake spoke to The Baltimore Sun about the actor. In fact, Blake didn't just admire Stanwyck's merit as an actor; she also admired her merit as a human being. I just admire Barbara Stanwyck so much," Blake said. "She's suffered a lot and she's surmounted it."
But Blake wasn't like any other run-of-the-mill fan. Not only was she a fellow famous actress, but Blake was able to catch a glimpse of Stanwyck when they both happened to be at the studio.
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"When she was doing her television series, she used to ride her bike over to the studio," she said. "I'd kind of hang around until I could see the bike coming, so I could talk to her."
They say that you should never meet their heroes, but it seemed like it worked out pretty well for Blake.
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6 Comments
like a Rita Hayworth or Ann Sheridan. They both had that undefinable 'it' factor that jumped
off the screen, especially Barbara in Ball of Fire with Gary Cooper, she was electric.
If you haven't seen that movie you are cheating yourself, brilliant comedy flick.
I think Amanda Blake - in more than a few color episodes - was ill served by the make up department
as they used a trowel to ladle on the make up, at times it looked like she was a vampire.
I am surprised she didn't object unless it was a way to underline Kitty's status as a 'saloon girl'
which in Western books/movies traditionally meant a prostitute, also traditionally being
overly made up.
As owner of the Long Branch she would no longer be engaged in such activities
but nevertheless it would be taken as a given she had been one, hence her relationship
with the Marshal would have to be kept unacknowledged in public.
