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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Robert Blake, the Emmy Award-winning actor who rose to notoriety for his acting skills after being tried and acquitted of his wife’s murder, died Thursday at age 89.
A statement issued on behalf of his niece, Noreen Austin, said Blake died of a heart attack surrounded by family members at their Los Angeles home.
Blake, star of the 1970s TV show “Baretta,” had hoped to make a comeback, but he never recovered from the long ordeal his wife Bonny Lee Bakley was killed outside a Studio City restaurant on May 4. Shot, 2001. The story of their bizarre marriage, their children and its violent end is a Hollywood tragedy played out in court.
Blake was once hailed as one of the best actors of his generation, but he is better known for playing the accused in a real-life murder that was more bizarre than anything he’d acted in.
In a 2002 interview with The Associated Press while he was in prison awaiting trial, he bemoaned his changing status with fans across the country: “It hurts because America is the only family I have.”
He insisted that he did not kill his wife, and the jury ultimately acquitted him. But a civil jury would find him responsible for her death and order him to pay $30 million to Barkley’s family, a verdict that would bankrupt him.
It was an ignominious end to a life spent in the spotlight as a child. As a young man, he starred in the comedy “Our Gang” and starred in a classic film “Treasure of the Sierra Madre”. As an adult, he was credited with playing real-life murderer Perry Smith in the Truman Capote film In Cold Blood.
His career culminated in the 1975-78 TV police series “Baretta”. He plays a detective with a pet cockatoo on his shoulder and loves to disguise himself. It’s typical of his specialty, portraying soft-hearted tough guys whose signature line: “If you can’t do it on time, don’t commit a crime,” is oft-quoted.
Blake won a 1975 Emmy for his portrayal of Tony Baretta, though behind the scenes, the show was marred by controversy involving the moody star. He’s earned a reputation as one of the best actors in Hollywood, but also one of the hardest to work with.
In 1993, Blake won another Emmy for his lead role in “Judgment Day: The John Lister Story,” a soft-spoken churchgoer who murders his wife and three children.
His personal saga was as dramatic as any character he’d portrayed, and he would later admit to having struggled with alcohol and drug addiction in his early life.
He was born Michael James Gubitosi on September 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 performed a family vaudeville show called “Three Little Rednecks” with his siblings.
When his parents moved the family to Los Angeles, his mother found jobs for the children as movie extras, and Mickey Gubitosi was picked from the crowd by producers to let him Starred in the “Our Gang” comedy. He appeared on the series for five years and changed his name to Bobby Blake.
He went on to collaborate with Hollywood legends, playing a young John Garfield in 1946’s “Humoresque” and the man who sold an important lottery ticket to Humphrey Bogart in “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.” little boy.
As an adult, he landed serious movie roles. The biggest breakthrough came in 1967 with In Cold Blood. Subsequent films include “Tell ‘Em Willy the Boys Are Here” and “Blue Electra Glide”.
In 1961, Blake married actress Sandra Kerr and they had two children, Noah and Delina. They divorced in 1983.
His fateful encounter with Bakley came in 1999 at a jazz club where he had escaped solitude.
“Here I am, 67 or 68. My life is at a standstill. My career is at a standstill,” he said in an AP interview. “I’ve been alone for a long time.”
He says he has no reason not to like Barkley: “She took me out of the stands and put me back in the ring. I have something to live for.”
When Buckley gave birth to a baby girl, she named Marlon’s son Christian Brando as his father. But DNA testing pointed to Blake.
Blake first met the little girl, Rosie, when she was two months old, and she became the center of his life. He married Buckley because of the kids.
“Rosie is in my blood. Rosie is calling me,” he said. “I have no doubt that Rosie and I will walk into the sunset together.”
Prosecutors will claim he planned to kill Buckley to gain sole custody of the baby and tried to hire the killer to do the job. But the evidence was muddled, and the jury rejected the theory.
On her last night alive, Blake and his wife, 44, dined at Vitello’s, a nearby restaurant. He claimed she was shot when he left her in the car and returned to the restaurant to retrieve a pistol he had inadvertently left behind. Police were initially confused and Blake was not arrested until a year after the crime.
He was once a wealthy man who spent millions on his defense and ended up living on Social Security and Screen Actors Guild pensions.
In 2006, a year after his acquittal, Black told The Associated Press that he wanted to restart his career.
“I want to give my best performance,” he said. “I want to leave a legacy for Rosie about who I am. I’m not ready for dogs and fishing rods. I want to go to bed every night longing to wake up every morning and create some magic.
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