Robert Blake, a controversial actor best known for his roles in the television series “Baretta” and the film “In Cold Blood,” is dead at 89.
His niece, Noreen Austin, announced that he died from heart disease in Los Angeles, Deadline reported.
The Post has reached out to Blake’s representatives and family for comment.
Born Michael Gubitosi in 1933, his tenured Hollywood career spanned six decades – from his childhood appearance “Our Gang” (1939) to his most notable role in the 1967 adaptation of Truman Capote’s book “In Cold Blood.”
He also starred in “Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (1948), “Electra Glide in Blue” (1973) and “Lost Highway” (1997), his final film.
Blake scored a Primetime Emmy Award in 1975 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for “Baretta,” in which he played the titular character, Det. Tony Baretta, for four seasons.
He also received three other Emmy nominations.
Out of his three nominations for a Golden Globe, he only ever received one in 1976 for Best Actor in a Television Series (Drama), again for “Baretta.”
In 2019, Rose Lenore, the daughter of Blake and his second wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, told People that she was following in her actor father’s footsteps, saying she loved “getting to be someone else” when performing.
But his journey to fame was rocked with controversy when the actor was arrested in connection to Bakley’s murder.
The 44-year-old was shot and killed in 2001, the Los Angeles Police Department previously reported, but law enforcement didn’t cuff Blake until the following year.
He was ultimately charged with her murder but eventually posted $1.5 million bail after one year in prison.
In 2005, Blake, who maintained his innocence, went on trial in connection with Bakley’s murder and was acquitted.
Rose described her childhood as “complicated” – she wasn’t even a year old when her mother died.
Until the time of the People interview, she hadn’t seen Blake since she was a small child, raised by her half-sister Delinah.
Blake is survived by his three children: Rose, Delinah and Noah.