Current:Home > Contact-usRobert Blake, the actor acquitted in wife's killing, dies at 89-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Robert Blake, the actor acquitted in wife's killing, dies at 89
View Date:2024-12-24 00:37:27
LOS ANGELES — Robert Blake, 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 at age 89.
A statement released on behalf of his niece, Noreen Austin, said Blake died from heart disease, surrounded by family at home in Los Angeles.
Blake, star of the 1970s TV show, Baretta, had once hoped for a comeback, but he never recovered from the long ordeal which began with the shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, outside a Studio City restaurant on May 4, 2001. The story of their strange marriage, the child it produced and its violent end was a Hollywood tragedy played out in court.
Once hailed as among the finest actors of his generation, Blake became better known as the center of a real-life murder trial, a story more bizarre than any in which he acted. Many remembered him not as the rugged, dark-haired star of Baretta, but as a spectral, white-haired murder defendant.
In a 2002 interview with The Associated Press while he was jailed awaiting trial, he bemoaned the change in his status with his fans nationwide: "It hurt because America is the only family I had."
He was adamant that he had not killed his wife and a jury ultimately acquitted him. But a civil jury would find him liable for her death and order him to pay Bakley's family $30 million, a judgment which sent him into bankruptcy. 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. She would tell People magazine that she called him "Robert," not "Dad."
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. As an adult, he was praised for his portrayal of real-life murderer Perry Smith in the movie of Truman Capote's true crime best seller In Cold Blood.
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. It was typical of his specialty, portraying tough guys with soft hearts, and its signature line: "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time," was often quoted.
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 gained a reputation as one of Hollywood's finest actors, but one of the most difficult to work with. He later admitted to struggles with alcohol and drug addiction in his early life.
In 1993, Blake won another Emmy as the title character in, Judgment Day: the John List Story, portraying a soft-spoken, churchgoing man who murdered his wife and three children.
Blake's career had slowed down well before the trial. 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. According to his niece, Blake had spent his recent years "enjoying jazz music, playing his guitar, reading poetry, and watching many Hollywood Classic films."
He was born Michael James Gubitosi on Sept. 18, 1933, in Nutley, New Jersey. His father, an Italian immigrant and his mother, an Italian American, wanted their three children to succeed in show business. At age 2, Blake was performing with a brother and sister in a family vaudeville act called, The Three Little Hillbillies.
When his parents moved the family to Los Angeles, his mother found work for the kids as movie extras and little Mickey Gubitosi was plucked from the crowd by producers who cast him in the Our Gang comedies. He appeared in the series for five years and changed his name to Bobby Blake.
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 Oscar-winning The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
In adulthood, he landed serious movie roles. The biggest breakthrough was in 1967 with In Cold Blood. Later there were films including, Tell Them Willie Boy is Here and Electra Glide in Blue.
In 1961, Blake and actress Sondra Kerr married and had two children, Noah and Delinah. They divorced in 1983.
His fateful meeting with Bakley came in 1999 at a jazz club where he went to escape loneliness.
"Here I was, 67 or 68 years old. My life was on hold. My career was stalled out," he said in the AP interview. "I'd been alone for a long time."
He said he had no reason to dislike Bakley: "She took me out of the stands and put me back in the arena. I had something to live for."
When Bakley gave birth to a baby girl, she named Christian Brando — son of Marlon — as the father. But DNA tests pointed to Blake.
Blake first saw the little girl, named Rosie, when she was 2 months old and she became the focus of his life. He married Bakley because of the child.
"Rosie is my blood. Rosie is calling to me," he said. "I have no doubt that Rosie and I are going to walk off into the sunset together."
Prosecutors would claim that he planned to kill Bakley to get sole custody of the baby and tried to hire hitmen for the job. But evidence was muddled and a jury rejected that theory.
On her last night alive, Blake and his 44-year-old wife dined at a neighborhood restaurant, Vitello's. 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. Police were initially baffled and Blake was not arrested until a year after the crime occurred.
Once a wealthy man, he spent millions on his defense and wound up living on social security and a Screen Actor's Guild pension.
In a 2006 interview with the AP a year after his acquittal, Blake said he hoped to restart his career.
"I'd like to give my best performance," he said. "I'd like to leave a legacy for Rosie about who I am. I'm not ready for a dog and fishing pole yet. I'd like to go to bed each night desperate to wake up each morning and create some magic."
veryGood! (4223)
Related
- Ex-Duke star Kyle Singler draws concern from basketball world over cryptic Instagram post
- Gun deaths hit their highest level ever in 2021, with 1 person dead every 11 minutes
- Blue Ivy Runs the World While Joining Mom Beyoncé on Stage During Renaissance Tour
- Clean Energy Could Fuel Most Countries by 2050, Study Shows
- Watch as massive amount of crabs scamper across Australian island: 'It's quite weird'
- How to protect yourself from poor air quality
- Jack Hanna's family opens up about his Alzheimer's diagnosis, saying he doesn't know most of his family
- India's population passes 1.4 billion — and that's not a bad thing
- Kyle Richards Swears This Holiday Candle Is the Best Scent Ever and She Uses It All Year
- Afghan evacuee child with terminal illness dies while in federal U.S. custody
Ranking
- College football top five gets overhaul as Georgia, Miami both tumble in US LBM Coaches Poll
- A loved one's dementia will break your heart. Don't let it wreck your finances
- Arctic Drilling Lease Sale Proposed for 2019 in Beaufort Sea, Once Off-Limits
- Priyanka Chopra Reflects on Dehumanizing Moment Director Requested to See Her Underwear on Set
- Trump on Day 1: Begin deportation push, pardon Jan. 6 rioters and make his criminal cases vanish
- Boston Progressives Expand the Green New Deal to Include Justice Concerns and Pandemic Recovery
- FDA approves a new antibody drug to prevent RSV in babies
- Pfizer warns of a looming penicillin supply shortage
Recommendation
-
Taylor Swift gifts 7-year-old '22' hat after promising to meet her when she was a baby
-
In Australia’s Burning Forests, Signs We’ve Passed a Global Warming Tipping Point
-
Kate Spade 24-Hour Flash Deal: Get This $300 Crossbody Bag for Just $69
-
How Pruitt’s New ‘Secret Science’ Policy Could Further Undermine Air Pollution Rules
-
Larry Hobbs, who guided AP’s coverage of Florida news for decades, has died at 83
-
Teen volleyball player who lost her legs in violent car crash sues city of St. Louis and 2 drivers involved
-
Swimmers should get ready for another summer short on lifeguards
-
Helping a man walk again with implants connecting his brain and spinal cord