Where is Robert Blake currently? When his second wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, was murdered in 2001, the actor who played Baretta went from being a TV celebrity to the centre of tabloid attention suddenly. Blake reappeared in 2019, saying authorities in a television broadcast that he was “beaten to hell” but “still here.”
Saturday, January 23, at 9:00 p.m. EST, Reelz will air the television special Murder in the Family: Robert Blake, which will centre on him. Below is information regarding Blake’s career background, criminal case, and recent years.
Where is Robert Blake Now?
American actor Robert Blake has not been incarcerated as of 2023. In 2005, he was cleared of the murder allegations made against him. Meanwhile, his location is unknown. Blake has remained out of the spotlight since filing for acquittal and bankruptcy despite having $3 million in outstanding legal costs and state and federal taxes.
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Blake has claimed that he may return to acting in the future to support himself financially owing to legal concerns. On April 9, 2010, the state of California issued Blake a tax lien for $111,088 in unpaid past taxes. The 88-year-old actor has participated in numerous interviews over the previous few years but has never discussed the murder of his wife.
Who is Robert Blake?
Michael Gubitosi was given the name Robert Blake in New Jersey on September 18, 1933. After appearing as a young child in the Red Ryder film series, he entered the entertainment industry at a young age.
According to Michael Newton’s book, “celebrities and Crime,” Blake’s alcoholic father and both of his parents allegedly mistreated him as a child. Blake was frequently punished by being locked in a closet and forced to eat food off the ground. at the age of 14, he escaped his home.
In the 1939 MGM film “Bridal Suite,” he made his acting debut as Toto. Afterwards, he appeared in “Our Gang,” “Dancing Romeo,” “The Big Noise,” “In Cold Blood,” and “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.”
His most famous role was as Tony Baretta, the titular police investigator, in the television series “Baretta” from 1975 to 1978. His catchphrases in the role included “you Can Take That to the Bank” and “don’t Commit the Crime if You Can’t Do the Time.”
In 1961, Sondra Kerr and Blake were first wed, and they divorced in 1983. In 1999, he met Binnie Lee Blakely, who allegedly used older men, particularly celebrities, for financial gain. Christian Brando, the son of Marlon Brando, was her boyfriend when Blake and Blakely first met.
In 2000, when Blakely gave birth to a daughter, she initially claimed Brando was the father. However, a paternity test revealed that Blake was the father, and the couple went on to marry in November of 2000.
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Blakely was murdered on May 4, 2001, as the couple was having dinner in their parked car on a side street adjacent to the restaurant. Blake stated that he had returned to the restaurant to get his pistol, which was later determined not to have been the murder weapon.
Has Robert Murdered his wife?
Blake married his second wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, in 2000, a few months after the birth of their daughter Rosie. However, Bakley was fatally shot outside a restaurant in Studio City, California, and Blake was subsequently charged with her murder.
At Blake’s criminal trial, the prosecution contended that Blake murdered Bakley because he was unable to find a substitute killer. ABC News reports that officials were unable to link the murder weapon to the actor or anyone else.
Blake was subsequently acquitted of murder and one count of solicitation to commit murder, and another solicitation count was dismissed by the judge.
However, months later, Bakley’s children filed a wrongful death claim against Blake, and the civil trial jury held the actor guilty of her death, ordering him to pay $30 million in wrongful death damages to Bakley’s children. The damages were lowered in half by an appellate court, and the parties eventually agreed to a secret settlement.
Robert Blake’s Daughter
Rose Lenore Blake’s mother, Bonny Lee Bakley, was shot and killed in California in 2001 when she was 11 months old. Rose added that she has finally bonded with her father, Emmy-winning actor Robert Blake, who was charged in the murder but ultimately exonerated, after not having seen him since she was five years old.
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She also revealed that she paid for her mother’s grave on her first visit at the age of 18. Rose tells People magazine that she intends to follow in her father’s footsteps and seek a career in acting.