Robert Blake

Robert Blake

Robert Blake (born Michael James Gubitosi; September 18, 1933) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his starring roles in the film In Cold Blood and the U. S. television series Baretta. 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. In the Red Ryder series and in many of his other roles as an adult, Blake was cast as a Native American or Latino character. After a stint in the United States Army, Blake returned to acting in both television and movie roles. He was married to Sondra Kerr, his first wife, with whom he had two children, from 1961 until their divorce in 1983. Blake continued acting until 1997's Lost Highway in a career that author Michael Newton called "one of the longest in Hollywood history." In 2005, Blake was tried and acquitted of the 2001 murder of his second wife Bonnie Lee Bakley. On November 18, 2005, he was found liable in a California civil court for her wrongful death.

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