Robert Blake Net Worth

Robert Blake's Quotes

• Every time you think you got it made, old Mother Nature kicks you in the scrotum.
• [About his roles as Tony Baretta and Father Noah Hardstep in Baretta (1975) and Hell Town (1985), respectively]: There are more similarities than differences. They both care a lot about people and they both get impatient with the system if the system seems to be keeping them from doing their jobs. And they both ain't afraid to do a little scuffling to get the job done.
• [Commenting on his difficult childhood and finding success as an actor]: Being locked in the closets, and beat up, and burned, and sexual stuff and to come out from under it, I mean, it's lovely. I mean, most people like me end up on death row, or in the graveyards, or in prison.

Interesting Facts about Robert Blake

1. Born at 8:30am EDT.
2. Father of Noah Blake.
3. Walked away from his career 1986-1993.
4. Daughter, Rose Lenore Sophia Blake (with Bonnie Lee Bakley), was born June 2000.
5. Blake's wife, Bonnie Lee Bakley, was shot in the head and killed while sitting in her car waiting for her husband outside of a restaurant. [May 2001]
6. He received accolades for his performance as a killer who goes to the gallows in 1967's In Cold Blood (1967), and he won a 1975 Emmy for Baretta: He'll Never See Daylight (1975), but his career had been stalled for years.
7. More than a year after her death, he was arrested for the murder of his wife, Bonnie Lee Bakley. He was acquitted on 16th March 2005. Eight months later, however, a jury in a civil suit brought on behalf of her children found Blake liable for the murder and ordered him to pay over $30 million in damages.
8. Almost had the role of Jim Rockford on The Rockford Files (1974), but Stephen J. Cannell thought that, since Rockford didn't like to fight, the diminutive Blake would have seemed too cowardly in the role.
9. To prepare for the role of Hannibal Lecter, Anthony Hopkins had watched Blake's performance in In Cold Blood (1967) several times (Hopkins said this having visited Blake, who he didn't know personally, in prison after Blake was accused of murdering his wife).
10. Passed on Ratso Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy (1969), and lost out on a role in The Godfather (1972) (presumably the role of Michael or Sonny). He also turned down the role of Angel in The Wild Bunch (1969).
11. Appears in the film Lost Highway (1997), about a man who murders his wife. It was inspired, according to David Lynch, by the O.J. Simpson case. Blake later became the centre of another high-profile wife-killing case in real life.
12. Although he is of Italian descent, for many years he specialised in playing either Latino characters or Native Americans.
13. Brother of Joan Blake and James Gubitosi.
14. Was the producers' first choice for the role of Little Joe Cartwright on Bonanza (1959).
15. In 2013 on "The Piers Morgan Show" to promote his autobiography, Blake related that when he was playing John Garfield as a boy in "Humoresque," there was a scene he could not get right. Garfield cleared the set and directed Blake himself. After the scene was finished, Garfield told the nine-year-old, "Robert, remember this for the rest of your life. Your life is a rehearsal. Your performance is real.".
16. Was acquitted on the charge of killing his wife. [March 2005]
17. Arrested and charged with the murder of his second wife. [April 2002]
18. During the production of one of Robert Blake's earliest films, one of the child actors froze in front of the camera. The director called for someone to replace the young actor, and Blake jumped up and yelled, "I'll do it." When asked who he was, Blake replied, "I'm Mickey Gubitosi, and I can do anything!".
19. Learned how to drive a 13-gear 30-ton semi-trailer diesel truck for the comedy-drama film Coast to Coast (1980).