TV star Robert Blake, who murdered his wife in 2005, died Thursday, his family said.
KKTV report His niece, Noreen Austin, said in a statement that Blake died of heart disease.
Blake’s career effectively came to an end after his estranged wife, Bonnie Lee Bakery, was shot dead outside an Italian restaurant in 2001, and strange details of the marriage – which resulted in the birth of a child – and Blake’s death. There was a suspicion that he got away with the murder.It tarnishes his image forever.
Blake escaped prison but lost a civil suit that led to a $15 million judgment against him that bankrupted the former star.
He went to the grave denying responsibility for heinous crimes.
Blake’s was a Hollywood story.
He was born Michael James Gubitosi on September 18, 1933 in Nutley, New Jersey. His parents were vaudeville performers and adopted three of their offspring into child actors called the Three His Little Hillbillies.
Blake later accused his parents of mental, physical and sexual abuse.
His parents moved to LA and hired Mickey as an extra in their movie. His uncredited debut in film was MGM’s “Bridal Suite” (1939). Shortly after, he replaced Eugene “Porky” Lee in the “Our Gang” short film, and by 1944 he had appeared in 40 short films.
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Unlike most of his “Our Gang” co-stars, Blake remained a steady act. There were parts in pictures such as Little Beaver in a series of plays, “Big Noise” with Laurel and Hardy (1944), and Joan Crawford’s “Humoresque” (1946). ) and the classic “Treasures of the Sierra Madre” (1948).
Blake struggled with depression and addiction in the ’50s and made a name for himself in television and film roles in projects such as ‘Pork Chop Hill’ (1959) and ‘Town Without Pity’ (1961).
Perhaps his greatest achievement as an actor was the critically acclaimed 1967 film In Cold Blood, which portrayed the murderer Perry Smith.
True fame came when he played the lead role in the series “Baretta” (1975-1978). For his work as an eccentric and street cop with a parrot companion named Fred, Blake won an Emmy.
It was considered intense to work with, so Blake’s credits dwindled, but he did work on such roles as ‘Coast to Coast’ (1980) and the short-lived series ‘Hell Town’ (1985). I appeared in the movie of
His last big screen performances were in 1997’s ‘Money Train’ (1995) and David Lynch’s ‘Lost Highway’.
The unwelcome final act in his career began in 1999 when he met Bonnie Lee Bakery. He had a daughter with her, whose paternity was unclear at first, but he married her in 2000. He was her tenth husband.
On May 4, 2001, Blake and Bakley, widely known as women who routinely cheat men out of money, went out to eat at Vitello’s in Studio City, California. She was then shot in the head while sitting in her husband’s car. Blake claimed he left her alone to return to the restaurant to retrieve her misplaced gun. Arrested and tried for murder in 2002, Blake threw off all charges despite her two testimony alleging that Blake once tried to hire them to kill Bakley. I was.
A jury acquitted Blake for lack of forensic evidence, but the dice were rolled and the public’s mind was made up one way or the other.
Quentin Tarantino’s novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2021) is dedicated to Blake. The story includes the character played by Brad Pitt in the 2019 movie. I don’t know if he murdered his wife.
Blake is survived by a daughter with Bakeley, Rose Lenoir.
