Pamela Blake

Pamela Blake (August 6, 1915 October 6, 2009)[1] was an American film actress who acted in almost 50 films. She is known primarily for her roles in western films and serials.[2]

Pamela Blake
Born
Adele Pearce

(1915-08-06)August 6, 1915
DiedOctober 6, 2009(2009-10-06) (aged 94)
Years active1934-1954
Spouse(s)Malcolm 'Bud' McTaggart (1936 - 1940, divorce)
Mike Stokey (1943-1948, divorce)
John Canavan (1983-1996)
Children2

Early years

Blake was born in Oakland, California as Adele Pearce,[3] and performed under that name until 1942.[4] Following her mother's death when Blake was 3 years old, she went to live with an uncle and aunt,[2] William Bojorques and Gertrude Biddle-Bojorques in Petaluma, California. Her secondary education came at schools in Petaluma and San Francisco.[5]

She went to Hollywood at age 17 after she won a beauty contest.[1]

Film

Blake's film career lasted for a little over 15 years, with her starring mostly in B-movies. Her first film role was uncredited, playing a bit part in the 1934 film Eight Girls on a Boat. However, in 1938 she starred in the western The Utah Trail[4] alongside Tex Ritter. ("It was terrible!" she said in later years. "I never saw it and never wanted to.")[2] She also starred opposite John Wayne in the 1939 film Wyoming Outlaw. This helped her to secure several other western acting roles, many times as the lead heroine.

In 1939 she starred in five films, one of which was a crime drama, one a mystery, and one a western. In total she had roles in some 54 films, as well as a number of starring roles in certain television series. In 1946 she starred in Chick Carter, Detective. Toward the end of her career, she mostly played parts in western genre films and television episodes, such as The Range Rider.

Waco (1952) was Blake's last feature film, and her last role was in the 1954 television pilot, The Adventures of the Texas Kid: Border Ambush, which was later released as a film.[4]

Personal life and death

In 1935, Blake was injured in an automobile wreck that might have ended her career. A newspaper article in The Petaluma Argus-Courier in 1940 described her as having emerged from the wrecked car "with a neck badly torn and both eyes and cheeks badly mutilated."[5] Plastic surgery helped her to return to acting.[5]

Blake married three times. In 1936, she eloped to Yuma, Arizona, with actor Malcolm "Bud" Taggert. They divorced in 1940.[6] Her second marriage, in 1943, was to actor, television producer and writer Mike Stokey; it ended in divorce in 1948.[2] They had one son, Mike Stokey II, and a daughter, Barbara. Their son served as a 1st Marine Division combat correspondent during the Vietnam War, and who then began working in the film industry as a military technical advisor, having worked with, among others, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.

In 1953, Blake moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, to retire and raise her two children.[7] She married John Canavan, an Air Force master sergeant, in 1983.[1] Blake died of natural causes in a Las Vegas, Nevada care facility in 2009, at age 94.[1]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1934Eight Girls in a BoatSchool GirlUncredited
1934Autumn CrocusLenchen
1936One in a MillionDancerUncredited
1937Stage DoorActressUncredited
1938Island in the SkyHatcheck GirlUncredited
1938The Utah TrailSally Jeffers
1939Sorority HouseMerle Scott
1939Wyoming OutlawIrene Parker
1939Girl from RioAnnette Templeton
1939Full ConfessionLaura Mahoney
1939Three SonsMamie Donaldson
1940Married and in LoveMinor Role(scenes deleted)
1940Millionaire PlayboyEleanor
1940Pop Always PaysEdna Brewster
1940One Crowded NightRuth
1940Men Against the SkyNurseUncredited
1940Too Many GirlsCoedUncredited
1941Mr. & Mrs. SmithLily
1941No Greater SinBetty James later Betty Thorne
1942This Gun for HireAnnie
1942Maisie Gets Her ManElsie
1942The Omaha TrailJulie Santley
1942Dr. Gillespie's New AssistantJimmy JamesUncredited
1943Kid DynamiteIvy McGinnis
1943Slightly DangerousMitzi
1943Swing Shift MaisieBillie
1943The Unknown GuestJulie
1943Swing FeverLois
1945Three's a CrowdDiane Whipple
1945Why Girls Leave HomeDiana Leslie
1945Captain Tugboat AnnieMarion Graves
1946Live WiresMary Mahoney
1946Partners in TimeElizabeth Meadows
1946Mysterious IntruderElora Lund
1946The RunaroundCoffee Shop WaitressUncredited
1946Chick Carter, DetectiveEllen DaleSerial
1946The Mysterious Mr. MShirley Clinton
1946Rolling HomePamela Crawford
1947The Sea HoundAnn WhitneySerial
1948Stage StruckJanet Winters
1948Son of God's CountryCathy Thornton
1948Highway 13Doris Lacy
1949Ghost of ZorroRita White
1949Sky LinerCarol, TWA Stewardess
1950Joe Palooka Meets HumphreyAnne Howe Palooka
1950The Daltons' WomenJoan Talbot
1950Federal ManMrs. Judith Palmer
1950GunfireCynthy
1950Border RangersEllen Reed
1951Danger ZoneVicki Jason(2nd episode)
1952WacoKathy Clark
1954Adventures of the Texas Kid: Border AmbushBetty Johnson

References

  1. "PASSINGS: Pamela Blake, Ben Ali". Chicago Tribune. October 10, 2009. Archived from the original on October 9, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  2. Magers, Boyd; Fitzgerald, Michael G. (2004). Westerns Women: Interviews with 50 Leading Ladies of Movie and Television Westerns from the 1930s to the 1960s. McFarland. pp. 40–45. ISBN 9780786420285. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  3. "Pamela Blake". telegraph.co.uk. London, UK. October 26, 2009. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
  4. Mayer, Geoff (2017). Encyclopedia of American Film Serials. McFarland. p. 53. ISBN 9781476627199. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  5. "Adele Pearce, Petaluma Girl, Appears In "Pop Always Pays" At Calif. Theatre This Week". The Petaluma Argus-Courier. California, Petaluma. August 13, 1940. p. 5. Retrieved July 10, 2017 via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Actress Sues Screen Lover". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. Utah, Ogden. International News Service. August 15, 1940. p. 14. Retrieved July 10, 2017 via Newspapers.com.
  7. Lentz, Harris M. III (2010). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2009: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture. McFarland. ISBN 9780786456451. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
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