Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television. When aired in the United Kingdom, the television series was initially titled Gun Law, later reverting to Gunsmoke.

Kitty was played by Georgia Ellis on radio, and by Amanda Blake on TV. Georgia Ellis first appeared in the radio episode "Billy the Kid" (April 26, 1952) as "Francie Richards", a former girlfriend of Matt Dillon and the widow of a criminal. "Miss Kitty" did not appear until the May 10, 1952, episode "Jaliscoe". Kitty's profession was hinted at, but never explicit; in a 1953 interview with Time, Macdonnell declared, "Kitty is just someone Matt has to visit every once in a while". The magazine observed that she is "obviously not selling chocolate bars". An out-take from the program makes this hilariously obvious. The television show first portrayed Kitty as a saloon employee (dance-hall girl/prostitute), then from season three as half owner of the Long Branch Saloon. Sometime in 1959, Ellis was billed as Georgia Hawkins instead of Georgia Ellis.

While religiously faithful to Matt, Miss Kitty never married. Several times she was introduced to a patron as Miss Kitty. Very few times do you ever hear her introduced by her full given name Kitty Russell.

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