Baretta star Robert Blake dies of heart disease aged 89

Robert Blake has died at the age of 89 after a battle with heart disease, according to his family.

Blake worked for more than 60 years in Hollywood, starring in classics like Treasure of the Sierra Madre with Humphrey Bogart and In Cold Blood with John Forsythe. He was also the star of a number of studio westerns under the stage name Bobby Blake. 

On television, he was also known as undercover New York City detective Tony Baretta in Baretta, which aired on ABC for four seasons in the mid-1970s.

But his career derailed in the early 2000s when he was charged with the murder of his wife Bonny Lee Bakley, along with solicitation of murder, conspiracy and special circumstances of lying in wait.

A jury, though, found him not guilt of soliciting a former stuntman he worked with on Baretta to kill Bakley, and her murder was never solved.

Robert Blake has died at the age of 89 after battling heart disease. He is pictured here driving around Los Angeles in 2020

Blake worked for more than 60 years in Hollywood, starring in classic films and television

Blake got his start in Hollywood at a young age, appearing in Our Gang comedies at just the age of 5, and later Rin Tin Tin with Robert Woods.

As an adult, he took on roles in a number of classic movies before landing his standout role as murderer Perry Smith in the 1967 film adaptation of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.

The following year, he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Baretta.

His fans would spot him regularly on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where he was a recurring guest who appeared in a number of skits with his host friend.

He is also remembered for his Eveready battery commercials in which he would dare someone to knock one off his shoulder. 

Blake’s final role came in the 1977 David Lynch film Lost Highway.

Just a few years later, his career derailed when he was accused of murdering Bakley, 44, in 2001.

The two were enjoying dinner at a Studio City restaurant, after which Bakley got into her vehicle, where she was shot in the head on May 4.

Blake claimed he escorted his wife to the car, but went back inside the restaurant to retrieve a gun he accidentally left behind.

He said he found his wife wounded in the car when he returned.

Blake is pictured as a child appearing in Rin Tin Tin in 1947 with Donald Woods

Blake is seen here as a child in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre with Humphrey Bogart

Blake is pictured at the screening of Pirates on July 17, 1986

He was known on television as undercover New York City police officer Baretta

In 2002, Blake stood trial for killing his wife Bonny Lee Bakley. He was ultimately found not guilty

At first, Los Angeles police did not consider Blake a suspect, finding the murder weapon ditched in a nearby dumpster.

But one year later, he was arrested and charged with the shooting.

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During the trial, it was revealed that Bonny Lee Bakley (pictured) had several alibis and 10 previous husbands

He spent 11 months in jail before bail was even set, and spent millions on lawyers and private investigators. 

Over the course of a highly-publicized, three-month trial, details about their unhappy marriage emerged, including that Bakley had at least a dozen different aliases and 10 former husbands.

Prosecutors argued that she trapped Blake into a loveless marriage by becoming pregnant with his child.

The defense, meanwhile, had to argue that the actor who so convincingly played murderers like Perry Smith — who slaughtered an entire family in Kansas — and John List — who killed his own wife, children and mother in a shooting spree — was not capable of carrying out a murder in real life.

By 2005, a jury of seven men and five women did not believe the stuntman’s testimony, citing his history of drug use.

But Blake was not in the clear — with Bakley’s family suing him soon after.

He was forced to testify, and over the course of eight days on the stand, the Los Angeles Times reports, he came across as angry and callous.

A jury ultimately found that Blake had ‘intentionally caused’ Bakley’s death, and her family was awarded $30million in damages — though that was later reduced to $15mllion.

‘As a group,’ the jury foreman said at the time, ‘we believe that Mr. Blake was probably his own worst enemy on the stand.’ 

In the aftermath, Blake had to declare bankruptcy. 

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Blake is seen here in an interview from the Los Angeles County Jail for ABC News 

Blake is pictured in 2004 returning to court as he stood trial for the murder of his wife

The actor is seen here weeping with his head on the table as he was found not guilty

In more recent years, he has been living quietly in his home in Los Angles, where he enjoyed listening to jazz music, playing his guitar, reading poetry and watching classic films 

Blake would later write his memoir The Life of a Rascal.

In more recent years, he has been living quietly in his home in Los Angles, where he enjoyed listening to jazz music, playing his guitar, reading poetry and watching classic films, Deadline reports.