Actor Robert Blake, Dies at 89

LOS ANGELES, CA —Michael James, better known in the world of film as Actor Robert Blake, 89, famous for his lead role as a New York gumshoe in "Baretta" died Thursday, March 9. Blakes's death was confirmed by his niece, Noreen Austin, who told Deadline, Robert Blake passed away in Los Angeles of heart disease.

Blake's personal life took a turn when he subsequently, stood trial and was acquitted in March 2005 of murdering his wife,44-year-old Bonny Lee Bakley, who was shot to death on May 4, 2001, while seated in Blake's automobile outside Vitello's restaurant in Studio City.

Although acquitted in the criminal case, later that year a civil court jury, found Blake liable for his wife's death and ordered Blake to pay Bonny's four children $30 million in damages.

Blake was born in New Jersey in 1933 and entered the world of acting six decades appearing in "Our Gang" when he was a kid, and other short flicks of the 1930s. Later Blake starred in sequels of "Red Ryder" westerns in the 1940s.

He climbed to fame in 1967 in the crime noir thriller "In Cold Blood."and won an Emmy Award for the best lead actor as Tony Baretta in "Baretta," in the late 1970s.

As reported in Deadline, a private memorial service will be held. Robert Blakes's family has asked  that donations in his name be made to the City of Hope.

City News Service and Anita Johnson-Brown contributed to this story

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