The shadow
The shadow knows!
Robert Blake, born Michael James Gubitosi (September 18, 1933 – March 9, 2023)
Blake began acting as a child, with a lead role in the final years of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Our Gang (Little Rascals) short film series from 1939 to 1944. He also appeared as a child actor in 22 entries of the Red Ryder film franchise. After a stint in the United States Army, Blake returned to acting in both television and movie roles. Blake performed in numerous motion pictures as an adult, including the starring role in The Purple Gang (1960), a gangster movie, and featured roles in Pork Chop Hill (1959) and, as one of four U.S. soldiers participating in a gang rape in occupied Germany, in Town Without Pity (1961). In 1967, Blake experienced a career breakout due to his work in the film In Cold Blood. Blake played real-life murderer Perry Smith, to whom he bore a close resemblance. However, Blake may be best known for his Emmy Award-winning role of Tony Baretta in the popular television series Baretta (1975 to 1978), playing a street-wise, plain clothes police detective.
The show's trademarks included Baretta's pet cockatoo "Fred" and his signature phrases—notably "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time", "That's the name of that tune", and "You can take that to the bank." Blake is also remembered for being on a trial for murder, having been charged in connection with the death of his wife Bonnie Lee Bakley. He was acquitted in a criminal trial, but later found liable for her death in civil court. Blake was ordered to pay Bakley's family $30 million, a judgment which sent him into bankruptcy. The daughter he and Bakley had together, Rose Lenore, was raised by other relatives and went for years without seeing Blake. Blake's career had slowed down well before the trial. He made only a handful of screen appearances after the mid-1980s; his last project was in David Lynch's “Lost Highway,” released in 1997. According to his niece, Blake had spent his recent years “enjoying jazz music, playing his guitar, reading poetry, and watching many Hollywood Classic films.”
Blake died from heart disease in Los Angeles, on March 9, 2023, at the age of 89.
Blake began acting as a child, with a lead role in the final years of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Our Gang (Little Rascals) short film series from 1939 to 1944. He also appeared as a child actor in 22 entries of the Red Ryder film franchise. After a stint in the United States Army, Blake returned to acting in both television and movie roles. Blake performed in numerous motion pictures as an adult, including the starring role in The Purple Gang (1960), a gangster movie, and featured roles in Pork Chop Hill (1959) and, as one of four U.S. soldiers participating in a gang rape in occupied Germany, in Town Without Pity (1961). In 1967, Blake experienced a career breakout due to his work in the film In Cold Blood. Blake played real-life murderer Perry Smith, to whom he bore a close resemblance. However, Blake may be best known for his Emmy Award-winning role of Tony Baretta in the popular television series Baretta (1975 to 1978), playing a street-wise, plain clothes police detective.
The show's trademarks included Baretta's pet cockatoo "Fred" and his signature phrases—notably "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time", "That's the name of that tune", and "You can take that to the bank." Blake is also remembered for being on a trial for murder, having been charged in connection with the death of his wife Bonnie Lee Bakley. He was acquitted in a criminal trial, but later found liable for her death in civil court. Blake was ordered to pay Bakley's family $30 million, a judgment which sent him into bankruptcy. The daughter he and Bakley had together, Rose Lenore, was raised by other relatives and went for years without seeing Blake. Blake's career had slowed down well before the trial. He made only a handful of screen appearances after the mid-1980s; his last project was in David Lynch's “Lost Highway,” released in 1997. According to his niece, Blake had spent his recent years “enjoying jazz music, playing his guitar, reading poetry, and watching many Hollywood Classic films.”
Blake died from heart disease in Los Angeles, on March 9, 2023, at the age of 89.