Actor Robert Blake Passes Away at 89

On March 9, 2023, Robert's son Noah Blake confirmed the In Cold Blood actor's death. According to Noah, Robert died from heart disease at his house in Los Angeles.

Robert was born Michael James Gubitosi in Nutley, New Jersey, on September 18, 1933. The actor's birth certificate listed his father as James Gubitosi.

However, Robert would later learn that his biological father was James' brother, his uncle Tony, who had an affair with his mother.

As a child, Robert received little affection at home and was sometimes beaten and locked in a closet. However, James played a vital role in Robert's acting career.

He got the actor into show business, forming a family act, The Three Hillbillies — comprising Robert, a half-brother, and a half-sister — who performed in parks and on sidewalks.

When he was four, Robert's family soon moved to Los Angeles and started working as extras at MGM studios in Its Our Gang films. 

Not long after, Robert got his chance to become an actor and took it. According to reports, a child actor was supposed to say the line "Confidentiality, it stinks."

However, the child couldn't pronounce "confidentiality," so Robert got the director's attention, recited the line, and eventually became an actor.

Robert took on several childhood movie roles in the following years, including Rin Tin Tin and a persistent lottery ticket dealer in Treasure of Sierra Madre.

At some point, Robert left the movie industry for a short stint in the army. When he returned, he took on roles in several classic movies before landing his standout role as Perry Smith in the 1967 movie, In Cold Blood. 

The following year, Robert won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role in Baretta. The star also became a regular face on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. 

Sadly, a few years after he became a force to reckon with, Robert's career derailed when he was accused of murdering his second wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, in 2001.

The couple, who tied the knot in 2000, had enjoyed dinner at a Studio City restaurant before Bonny got into her husband's car and was shot in the head on May 4.

The actor claimed he escorted his wife to the car but returned to the restaurant to retrieve a gun he mistakenly left behind. Upon his return, he found Bonny in the car, wounded.

Initially, the Los Angeles police did not consider Robert a suspect, as they found the murder weapon ditched in a nearby dumpster.

However, the actor was arrested and charged with the shooting one year later. Robert spent 11 months in jail before bail was eventually set.

Throughout a highly-publicized, three-month trial, details about Robert and Bonny's unhappy marriage emerged, including that she had at least a dozen aliases and 10 former husbands.

In the end, a jury found that the actor had "intentionally caused" his wife's death, and her family was awarded $30 million in damages — though that was later reduced to $15 million.

Robert was eventually acquitted of Bonny's murder, but sadly, the case had taken a big toll on his career. The actor hoped for a resurgence, which never came.