Pamela Blake
Blake in The Utah Trail (1938)
Born
Adele Pearce

(1915-08-06)August 6, 1915
DiedOctober 6, 2009(2009-10-06) (aged 94)
OccupationActress
Years active1934–1954
Spouses
Malcolm 'Bud' McTaggart
(m. 1936; div. 1940)
    Mike Stokey
    (m. 1943; div. 1948)
      John Canavan
      (m. 1983; died 1996)
      Children2

      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]

      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 around 20 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
      1947The Hat Box MysterySusan Hart
      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. 1 2 3 4 "PASSINGS: Pamela Blake, Ben Ali". Chicago Tribune. October 10, 2009. Archived from the original on October 9, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
      2. 1 2 3 4 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. 1 2 3 Mayer, Geoff (2017). Encyclopedia of American Film Serials. McFarland. p. 53. ISBN 9781476627199. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
      5. 1 2 3 "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. Open access icon
      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. Open access icon
      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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