A CONTROVERSIAL actor who was tried and acquitted for the death of his wife has passed away.
Robert Blake, who starred in films like In Cold Blood, died in Los Angeles from heart disease on Thursday, according to his niece. He was 89.
Robert Blake, a controversial actor who was acquitted of the murder of his wife, has passed awayGetty
He got his start as a child acting in Our Gang, also known as Little Rascals, from 1939 to 1944.
The actor would go on to star in dozens of films and television programs throughout his career.
Controversy surrounding Blake swirled after his second wife Bonny Lee Bakely was found dead outside of an Italian restaurant in Burbank, California, in 2001.
She was gunned down inside Blakes’s car right after the two had dinner, the AP reported at the time.
The following year, the actor was charged with her murder.
A criminal trial was launched, but 12 jurors decided that he was not guilty.
Prosecuting attorneys argued that he hated his killed wife after believing that she trapped him into marriage after getting pregnant.
They alleged he wished to raise their daughter Rosie by himself.
Meanwhile, the defense argued that several people wanted Bakely dead and portrayed her as a grifter who promised men sex and marriage.
She was on probation for fraud when the two wed.
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