Robert Blake (actor)
In the Red Ryder series and in many of his adult roles, the Italian-American actor was often cast as an American Indian or Latino character.Owing to Blake's becoming one of the first child actors to successfully transition to mature roles as an adult, author Michael Newton called his career "one of the longest in Hollywood history".Blake later stated that he was physically and sexually abused by both of his parents while growing up and was frequently locked in a closet and forced to eat off the floor as punishment.[9] Then known as Mickey Gubitosi, Blake began his acting career as Toto in the MGM movie Bridal Suite (1939), starring Annabella and Robert Young.He also had roles in one of Laurel and Hardy's later films The Big Noise (1944), and the Warner Bros. movies Humoresque (1946), playing John Garfield's character as a child, and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), playing the Mexican boy who sells Humphrey Bogart a winning lottery ticket and gets a glass of water thrown in his face by Bogart in the process.[15] Blake entered Jeff Corey's acting class and began working on improving his personal and professional life.[16] In 1959, Blake turned down the role of Little Joe Cartwright, a character ultimately portrayed by Michael Landon, in NBC's Western television series Bonanza.[citation needed] He did appear that year as Tobe Hackett in the episode "Trade Me Deadly" of the syndicated Western series 26 Men, which dramatized true stories of the Arizona Rangers.Blake garnered further exposure as a member of the ensemble cast of the 1963 acclaimed but short-lived The Richard Boone Show, appearing in fifteen of the NBC series' 25 episodes.After Baretta ended, NBC offered to produce several pilot episodes of a proposed series titled Joe Dancer, in which Blake would play the role of a hard-boiled private detective.Blake starred in the 1985 television series Hell Town, playing a priest working in a tough neighborhood, and wrote the screenplay for the pilot as Lyman P.[24] He also had character parts in the theatrical movies Money Train (1995) and played the Mystery Man in David Lynch's Lost Highway (1997), which turned out to be his last film role.[25] In 1999, eight years after his attorney Louis L. Goldman's death, Blake met Bonny Lee Bakley, formerly of Wharton, New Jersey, who had already been married nine times and reportedly had a history of exploiting older men, especially celebrities, for money.[32] In 2017, Blake applied for a marriage license for his fiancée, Pamela Hudak, an event planner whom he had known for decades, and who had testified on his behalf at his trial.A key event that gave the Los Angeles Police Department the confidence to arrest Blake came when a retired stuntman, Ronald "Duffy" Hambleton, agreed to testify against him.[37] According to author Miles Corwin, Hambleton had agreed to testify against Blake only after being told that he would be subject to a grand jury subpoena and a misdemeanor charge.On October 31, in a major reversal for the prosecution, the judge dismissed the conspiracy charges against Blake and Caldwell during a pre-trial hearing.Los Angeles County District Attorney Stephen Cooley, commenting on this ruling, called Blake "a miserable human being" and the jurors "incredibly stupid" to fall for the defense's claims.[50] Blake maintained a low profile after his acquittal and filing for bankruptcy, with debts of $3 million for unpaid legal fees as well as state and federal taxes.When asked about the night of Bakley's murder, Blake became defensive and angry, stating he resented Morgan's questioning and felt he was being interrogated.Initially, he seemed to decline the interview and instead delegated it to a friend, but then began to participate, discussing the murder and the behavior of the police officers who dealt with him, the culture of Hollywood and its reaction to the event, and his early life and difficulties with his parents.On the topic of whether or not Blake should be included in the annual "In Memoriam" montage, Kimmel stated, "Everybody please get out your phones, even at home, it's time to vote.[67] Blake was featured in the 2023 'TCM Remembers' montage, an annual tribute to the film industry's dearly departed by Turner Classic Movies.
Blake in 1944
As Baretta with Fred, 1976
Nutley, New JerseyLos Angeles, CaliforniaBonny Lee BakleyIn Cold BloodBarettaLost Highwaychild actorMetro-Goldwyn-MayerOur GangRed RyderLatinoU.S. ArmyMichael Newtonwrongful deathNutleyLos Angelesextrasexpulsionphysicallysexually abusedBridal SuiteAnnabellaRobert Youngshort subjectsEugene "Porky" LeeDonna ReedBillie "Buckwheat" ThomasAndy Hardy's Double LifeDancing RomeoYoung Artist FoundationFormer Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" AwardWesternRepublic PicturesLaurel and HardyThe Big NoiseWarner Bros.HumoresqueJohn GarfieldThe Treasure of the Sierra MadreHumphrey BogartThe Black RoseBlack HanddraftedKorean WarcocaineJeff CoreyHollywoodPaul BurkeNaked CityLittle Joe CartwrightMichael LandonBonanzasyndicated26 MenArizona RangersThe Cisco KidHave Gun Will TravelJohn PayneThe Restless GunNick AdamsThe RebelBat MastersonThe CaliforniansStraightawayLaramieThe Purple GangPork Chop Hilloccupied GermanyTown Without PityJohn F. KennedyPT 109Ensign PulverThe Greatest Story Ever ToldThe Richard Boone ShowLouis L. GoldmanCus D'AmatoLew WassermanPerry SmithRichard BrooksTruman CapotebullshitTell Them Willie Boy Is HereOf Mice and MenElectra Glide in BlueNASCARRichard PettyCale YarboroughcockatooJoe DancerParamount PicturesCoast to CoastSecond-Hand HeartsJimmy HoffaBlood FeudJohn ListHell TownMoney TrainDavid LynchWharton, New JerseyChristian BrandoMarlon BrandoStudio City, CaliforniaconspiracyLos Angeles Police Departmentstuntmanhire himGary McLartygrand jurysubpoenaspecial circumstancesdeath penaltyPeter Van Sant48 Hours Investigatesforensic evidenceopening statementsLos Angeles County District AttorneyStephen Cooleycivil suitM. Gerald Schwartzbachtax lienPiers Morgan TonightYouTubeQuentin TarantinoOnce Upon a Time in Hollywoodfilm of the same nameBrad Pitt