Baretta actor Robert Blake has died at the age of 89

Robert Blake, the controversial actor who won an Emmy Award for Lead Actor for the crime series Baretta, passed away today in Los Angeles from a heart ailment. He was 89 years old. Noreen Austin, a niece of the actor, has confirmed the news. Blake's long career spanned from a youth role in Our Gang at the age of five to major films and television series before he was acquitted of murdering his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, in 2001.



Over the course of more than six decades working in Hollywood, Blake (pictured) appeared in such classic films as The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) alongside Humphrey Bogart, In Cold Blood (1967) with John Forsythe and a series of studio westerns under the stage name 'Bobby Blake' in the 1940s. His last film role was in Lost Highway (1997), directed by David Lynch.

On television, Blake was best known for his role as streetwise undercover detective Tony Baretta in Baretta (pictured below), which aired on ABC for four seasons from 1975-78. He received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1975 and was nominated again for the role in 1977. He also earned two other Emmy nominations during his career, for Lead Actor in the Miniseries Blood Feud (1983) and Judgment Day : The John List Story (1993).

Created by prolific television writer-creator Stephen J. Cannell, Baretta featured the memorable theme song "Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow," sung by Sammy Davis Jr. It was a spin-off of another ABC crime drama, Toma, which debuted in 1973. But the star of the series, Tony Mustane, grew tired of the weekly production. Subsequently, ABC bosses decided to recast Blake in the role and rename the series Toma starring Robert Blake. But a few changes to the format later, Baretta was born.



The series debuted as a replacement program in January 1975 and ended its first season in the Top 25 primetime series. It rose to the Top 10 for its second season fueled by main character catchphrases such as "And that's the name of that tune" and "You can take that to the bank", but was canceled in 1978 after more than 80 episodes.

A few years later, Blake was cast as the lead in the NBC drama Hell Town. He played Father Noah Rivers, aka Hardstep, who was pretty much Baretta in priestly garb trying to bring hope to the East L.A. parish of St. Dominic's. The series only lasted a handful of episodes in 1985.

On television, fans also saw Blake on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson where he was a recurring guest appearing in funny skits with his old friend Johnny Carson and other celebrities.

He is also remembered as a pitchman in commercials for STP, Geico and others.

But there was also a dark side to the Blake story.

Bonny Lee Bakley, Blake's second wife, was found shot to death outside Vitello's restaurant in the San Fernando Valley in 2001 after the couple dined there. Blake told police he went back to the restaurant to get a gun he left on the floor of their table.

Blake was charged with Bakley's murder in 2002, along with incitement to murder, conspiracy, and special circumstances of waiting. But a jury found him not guilty of the crimes in 2005, following a three-month trial that saw Blake cry into his lawyer's shoulder after the jury acquitted him. The seven men and five women found him not guilty of provoking a former stunt double he had met on the set of Baretta to kill his wife.

And although Bakley's children won a lawsuit against Blake soon after, her murder officially remains unsolved.

In his later years, Blake wrote his memoir, “The Life of a Rascal,” and lived quietly in the Los Angeles area.

A private memorial service will be held to honor his life. In lieu of flowers, his family is asking for donations to City of Hope.