Posted on 03/09/2023 4:49:14 PM PST by DFG
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 defendant in a real-life murder trial, a story more bizarre than any in which he acted.
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.
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 "In Cold Blood."
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He was a miserable sinner like all the rest of us.
Hopefully, we do not get what we deserve.
Rest in peace.
I remember him.
RIP.
So wierd.. The theme song to Baretta has been in my mind lately.
Amen brother
Since everyone was dogging on Barretta, here is a great story.
Peter Falk and Robert Blake were inseparable friends. They were not Hollywood at all, more like HS buddies who hang out, drink beer and pretend to golf.
They conspired to hold a party and prank the Hollywood elite. They invited all the “right people”, told them to dress for a fine dinner and drinks, nice but casual. Which in Hollywood meant almost a tux. When everyone shows up, Blake and Falk are naked in the pool, with a beers floating in an inflatable full of ice, with empties all around.There was a guy cooking burgers, hot dogs, salads, and canned beans.
The entire thing was a gag, and as they relayed the story, they were a bit tipsy, and they couldn’t quit laughing.
I loved both of those actors. Whatever they did in life, I hope they found peace and forgiveness. We need more like them, really.
Neither one of them really cared about stardom, they just were riding the waves of life like you or I might do if we had money, and a blue collar attitude. Someday I want to find the copy of them telling the story. I can’t remember where I watched it. I was thinking Carson, but I never found it again.
bye Baretta!
In Little Rascals?
Yes.
We all watched Little Rascals after school.
I didn’t watch Little Rascals, but I loved Baretta and Robert Blake. I learned, pre-internet, that he was in Little Rascals and ‘Treasure of Sierra Madras’ as a kid.
He ain't never sed dat. He sed, dat's da name uh dat toon. All classy like.
and you can take that to the bank
That dude was still alive? I thought he died years ago.
He had the parrot.
Keep your eye on the sparrow.
I didn’t watch it but know it.
Baretta had a Cockatoo...urp! I just looked it up, for spelling of Cockatoo, and it said Fred was a Macaw.
I didn’t understand your line, ‘Keep your eye on the sparrow,’ until I remembered that was from Baretta’s theme. I looked up lyrics, and I’d forgotten Sammy Davis, Jr sang it. Now I get to look up what ‘keep your eye on the sparrow’ means.
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