Robert Blake

Robert Blake, the critically acclaimed and Emmy-winning actor whose career was derailed by charges he murdered his wife in 2001, has died.

But after 16 episodes, he walked away from his own series and stayed away from acting until he triumphed once again in the 1993 TV movie “Judgment Day: The John List Story.” “There was pain, conflict and blood on the sand.” After a short stint in the Army in the mid-1950s, it was back to sporadic acting work on TV shows. “I’ve sold dope, used it, snorted it, done everything you can do to it,” he said on “The Merv Griffin Show” in 1973. He formed a family act, the Three Little Hillbillies — consisting of Blake, a half-brother and a half-sister — that performed in parks and on sidewalks. The family moved to Los Angeles when Blake was 4 and got work as extras at MGM on “Our Gang” films. Blake was probably his own worst enemy on the stand.” A string of unsuccessful movies was broken by his biggest hit — the title role in the 1970s TV series “Baretta,” for which he won an Emmy. Nearly a year later, he was arrested and charged with the shooting. After they finished and went out to the car, according to Blake’s statements to police, he returned to the restaurant, saying he had left his personal handgun, a .38 Special Smith & Wesson revolver, in a booth. Blake’s up-and-down career began in the late 1930s, when at age 5 he appeared in “Our Gang” comedies. Then in 2001 came the murder story in Blake’s own life — the shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, for which he was put on trial.

Actor Robert Blake, a child star from the "Our Gang" comedies who won adult fame as a street-wise undercover cop on the popular 1970s television series ...

"I didn't know her well enough to know her," he told CNN in 2012. Blake was arrested and charged with murder almost a year later and spent several months in jail before being granted bail. He kept a pet cockatoo named Fred and was known for such catch phrases as: "And you can take that to the bank," and "That's the name of that tune." Bakley's children won a wrongful death suit against Blake in November 2005 and were awarded $30 million in damages, which led him to file for bankruptcy protection three months later. Blake and Bakley had been married less than a year when they went to dinner at an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles' Studio City section on May 4, 2001. He was short in stature but possessed a swaggering, tough-talking persona - on and off the screen. A paternity test showed that the father was Blake, not Christian Brando, son of actor Marlon Brando, who Bakley had been dating simultaneously. His "Baretta" character was rough around the edges and often wore disguises to solve crimes. He quit after several episodes, later telling the Los Angeles Times that he was behaving erratically and having suicidal thoughts. But a few months after the criminal case verdict, Bakley's children successfully sued the actor in civil court. With its intense media coverage, the case was likened to that of former football star O.J. Blake was charged in 2002 with murdering his spouse, Bonnie Lee Bakley, but was later acquitted.

Actor Robert Blake, whose long career was overshadowed by accusations that he murdered his wife, has died. · He was known for roles in TV series Baretta and the ...

The actor told police he had left her alone to return to the Italian restaurant where they had just dined to retrieve a gun he had left behind, and found her dead. With a career beginning in the late 1930s, he acted in classic film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and as the murderer Perry Smith in a 1967 adaptation of Truman Capote's novel In Cold Blood. He was known as the titular hero of 1970s TV detective series Baretta and starred in the 1997 film Lost Highway, but his career struggled following his wife's 2001 fatal shooting.

The Emmy award-winning performer who went from acclaim for his acting to notoriety when he was tried and acquitted in the killing of his wife, died Thursday ...

He appeared in the series for five years and changed his name to Bobby Blake. The biggest breakthrough was in 1967 with In Cold Blood. He made only a handful of screen appearances after the mid-1980s; his last project was in David Lynch's Lost Highway, released in 1997. He married Bakley because of the child. He starred as a detective who carried a pet cockatoo on his shoulder and was fond of disguises. His father, an Italian immigrant and his mother, an Italian American, wanted their three children to succeed in show business. Blake won a 1975 Emmy for his portrayal of Tony Baretta, although behind the scenes the show was wracked by disputes involving the temperamental star. He later admitted to struggles with alcohol and drug addiction in his early life. It was an ignominious finale for a life lived in the spotlight from childhood. As a youngster, he starred in the Our Gang comedies and acted in a movie classic, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. The story of their strange marriage, the child it produced and its violent end was a Hollywood tragedy played out in court. Many remembered him not as the rugged, dark-haired star of Baretta, but as a spectral, white-haired murder defendant.

Robert Blake — the Emmy-award-winning actor with a long and complex backstory — has died, aged 89, of heart disease, according to a statement released on ...

I'd like to go to bed each night desperate to wake up each morning and create some magic." I had something to live for." In a 2006 interview with the Associated Press, a year after his acquittal, Blake said he hoped to restart his career. My life was on hold. Blake claimed she was shot when he left her in the car and returned to the restaurant to retrieve a handgun he had inadvertently left behind. They divorced in 1983. As a youngster, Blake starred in the Our Gang comedies and acted in a movie classic, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. His personal saga was as dramatic as any of the characters he portrayed. My career was stalled out," he said in an interview with the Associated Press. While jailed and awaiting trial in 2002, Blake told The Associated Press in an interview he bemoaned the change in his status with his fans nationwide. More infamously, Blake became known as the defendant in a murder trial of his wife — a story more bizarre than any in which he acted. At age 2, Blake was performing with a brother and sister in a family vaudeville act called The Three Little Hillbillies.

Blake, an Emmy-winning actor, was also known for his roles in "In Cold Blood" and "Judgment Day: the John List Story." He died Thursday in Los Angeles of ...

He appeared in the series for five years and changed his name to Bobby Blake. His career peaked with the 1975-78 TV cop series, “Baretta.” He starred as a detective who carried a pet cockatoo on his shoulder and was fond of disguises. On her last night alive, Blake and his 44-year-old wife dined at a neighborhood restaurant, Vitello’s. “I’d like to give my best performance,” he said. My career was stalled out,” he said in the AP interview. But evidence was muddled and a jury rejected that theory. He married Bakley because of the child. Blake won a 1975 Emmy for his portrayal of Tony Baretta, although behind the scenes the show was wracked by disputes involving the temperamental star. His father, an Italian immigrant and his mother, an Italian American, wanted their three children to succeed in show business. He was adamant that he had not killed his wife and a jury ultimately acquitted him. It was an ignominious finale for a life lived in the spotlight from childhood. The story of their strange marriage, the child it produced and its violent end was a Hollywood tragedy played out in court.

Robert Blake, the Emmy award-winning performer who went from acclaim for his acting to notoriety when he was...

I had something to live for," he said. He claimed she was shot when he left her in the car and returned to the restaurant to retrieve a handgun he had inadvertently left behind. They divorced in 1983. At age two, Blake was performing with a brother and sister in a family vaudeville act called The Three Little Hillbillies. As a youngster, he starred in the Our Gang comedies and acted in a movie classic, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Blake starred as a detective who carried a pet cockatoo on his shoulder and was fond of disguises, with the show's signature line "don't do the crime if you can't do the time" often quoted.

Blake played “Tony” Baretta from 1975 – 1978, an unorthodox plainclothes detective living in a rundown hotel with his pet cockatoo. He began as a child actor in ...

In 2005, he was found liable in a California civil court for her wrongful death. He also had roles in one of Laurel and Hardy’s later films The Big Noise plus Humoresque, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Naples Bus Boy and Black Hand. Actor Robert Blake, best known for detective series Baretta, has died.

The star of TV's Baretta was charged with, and eventually acquitted, of the murder of his wife Bonnie Lee Blakely.

His parents had a song and dance act, and Blake performed with his two siblings as “The Three Little Hillbillies.” Blake turned down the role of Little Joe in the popular western series, Bonanza, the second longest-running TV western after Gunsmoke. [Baretta](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1vWve339vs) was his breakthrough. In 2001, Bonny Lee Bakley was fatally shot in a car outside a Studio City Italian restaurant where she and Blake had just dined. The actor referred to himself as “old Crazy Horse.” When he appeared on talk shows, Blake could be counted on to careen unpredictably off-script. Instead, Blake went rogue: “There’s no point in me plugging it because it may never get on the air,” he told Johnny Carson.

Robert Blake stood trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court California in 2003 faced with charges in the murder of his wife Bonnie Lee Bakely.

Acquitted in 2005, he was later found liable for her death by a civil jury and ordered to pay her family $30 million, a move which bankrupted him. In 2002, he was charged with murdering his second wife Bonnie Lee Bakely. Robert Blake in pictures: From Hollywood to murder accused

Emmy winner for Baretta was acquitted of 2001 shooting of his wife but found liable by a civil jury.

Police were initially baffled and Blake was not arrested until a year later. He starred as a detective who carried a pet cockatoo on his shoulder and was fond of disguises. But evidence was muddled and a jury rejected that theory. He gained a reputation as one of Hollywood’s finest actors but also one of the most difficult to work with. As an adult, he was praised for his portrayal of the murderer Perry Smith in My career was stalled out,” he said in a 2002 interview.

The Emmy award-winning performer who went from acclaim for his acting to notoriety when he was tried and ac...

I'd like to go to bed each night desperate to wake up each morning and create some magic." As an adult, he was praised for his portrayal of real-life murderer Perry Smith in the movie of Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood'. I had something to live for." He claimed she was shot when he left her in the car and returned to the restaurant to retrieve a handgun he had inadvertently left behind. My life was on hold. In a 2006 interview with the AP a year after his acquittal, Blake said he hoped to restart his career. My career was stalled out," he said in the AP interview. He said he had no reason to dislike Bakley: "She took me out of the stands and put me back in the arena. His personal saga was as dramatic as any of the characters he portrayed and later he admitted to having his own struggles with alcohol and drug addiction in his early life. He went on to work with Hollywood legends, playing the young John Garfield in 'Humoresque' in 1946 and the little boy who sells Humphrey Bogart a crucial lottery ticket in 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'. He starred as a detective who carried a pet cockatoo on his shoulder and was fond of disguises. Robert Blake, the Emmy award-winning performer who went from acclaim for his acting to notoriety when he was tried and acquitted of murdering his wife, died on Thursday at the age of 89.

Blake died from heart disease, his family said. He was known for the TV drama “Baretta” and his later acquittal in the murder trial of his wife, ...

In 2011, Blake penned a memoir entitled “Tales of a Rascal: What I Did for Love” detailing his career and life. Blake did not take the stand in his criminal trial and always maintained his innocence. He also briefly served in the army. He was ordered to pay $30 million, a sum that was later reduced. Prosecutors contended that he had tried to hire hit men to murder his wife before eventually committing the crime himself. This role earned him an

An Emmy-winning actor whose career triumphs were later overshadowed by a trial in which he was acquitted of killing his wife, Robert Blake has died at age ...

He appeared in the series for five years and changed his name to Bobby Blake. My career was stalled out,” he said in the AP interview. He made only a handful of screen appearances after the mid-1980s; his last project was in David Lynch’s “Lost Highway,” released in 1997. His career peaked with the 1975-78 TV cop series, “Baretta.” He starred as a detective who carried a pet cockatoo on his shoulder and was fond of disguises. His father, an Italian immigrant and his mother, an Italian American, wanted their three children to succeed in show business. According to his niece, Blake had spent his recent years “enjoying jazz music, playing his guitar, reading poetry, and watching many Hollywood Classic films.” Blake won a 1975 Emmy for his portrayal of Tony Baretta, although behind the scenes the show was wracked by disputes involving the temperamental star. He later admitted to struggles with alcohol and drug addiction in his early life. It was an ignominious finale for a life lived in the spotlight from childhood. The story of their strange marriage, the child it produced and its violent end was a Hollywood tragedy played out in court. Many remembered him not as the rugged, dark-haired star of “Baretta,” but as a spectral, white-haired murder defendant. The daughter he and Bakley had together, Rose Lenore, was raised by other relatives and went for years without seeing Blake, until they spoke in 2019.