If you were growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, I can all but guarantee you were a fan of Robert Blake.
There were two shows that most of us watched at the time.
One was a rerun, the other was a cop drama that lasted only a few years, but would also do the rerun circuit for the better part of the next decade.
Sadly, Blake passed away at the age of 89.
Gone…
It seems as though every day we are reporting another iconic figure from the 1970 dying on us.
Blake was a childhood star in “Our Gang,” better known as “The Little Rascals.”
In that show, which many of us watched in black and white reruns, he played Mickie.
Then, in the 1970s, he had his big break landing the title role in the TV series “Baretta.”
His tagline during the show was, “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.”
He also made a name for himself in westerns, starring in, “The Big Noise,” “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” and “The Black Rose.”
Blake was accused of killing his wife, Bonny Lee, after she had been found with a bullet wound to the head outside of a local restaurant.
He was eventually acquitted, but the civil case ruled against him, bankrupting him in the process.
About his death, his niece stated, “He died at home with family around him peacefully, long-term heart issues.
“He spent the last few years listening to jazz music and playing his guitar and watching classic movies.”
Source: Fox News
