Robert Blake, Thankful and Sad, Furious With the Media

Robert Blake is a lot of things right now. He’s thankful for his daughter, his lawyers, and his fans. He’s sad about his wife’s death and her life being dragged through the public forum of a murder trial. He’s angry with the media for the part they played in sensationalizing his trial and ruining his life. And because of that trial, he’s broke.

In a CNN interview with Larry King, Blake talked frankly about the trial in which he was acquitted of killing his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. Bakley was the mother of his daughter, now four years old, and prosecutors claimed that fact played a large part in Blake having her killed. They said that Blake felt Bakley had tricked him into marriage by getting pregnant, and that he hated her so much he wanted to do anything to keep her away from his child, even if it took killing her. Blake’s lawyers suggested from the early days of the trial that someone from Bakley’s past was responsible for her death, but Blake refuses now to speculate on who that might have been. "Do you want me to really go into Bonny's past so people can accuse me of trashing her? It's been four years, and I don't have the answers. She had an awkward, interesting, different kind of life. There were a lot of things that she told me. But I don't know." When asked if he thought his wife’s murderer would be caught someday, he replied, "Somebody may rat somebody out in that kind of world. I don't know." Blake said that he will always be sorry and deeply saddened for what happened to his wife, and that he will always be grateful to her for giving him his daughter. "And I hope I will do well for the rest of my life, for the gift that God and Bonny have given me."

Blake is also thankful for the people who wrote to him in jail, as well as the panel of jurors who voted to acquit him. Jury members after the trial said that they did not believe the prosecution’s key witnesses and considered the mostly circumstantial evidence to be flimsy and not convincing. He said he bears no ill will toward his wife’s family, but he had some harsh words for the media and all the people who fed reporters unfounded stories about the case. His voice bitter and sarcastic, he was reminiscent of his Baretta character on television as he mockingly imitated reporters. "Now, mind you, sir, we have four people that have testified -- and we have written statements from them -- that when you were in college, you had sex with an elephant. Now, we're running this story. I'm giving you an opportunity to square matters here, but I'm asking you the question. How many elephants did you screw? And who did you tell about it?" He added that he held "a lot of anger for the media" for a long time after the trial began, until he realized that "they're out to get everybody. Anybody above the ground, they'll cook and eat. There's a whole litter of lunatics out there, pig-face bags of rat guts that are telling all kinds of lies, and the media's soaking it up."

Blake’s life is much quieter and calmer now that he has faded from the public scrutiny, and he spends quality time with his daughter, who is being raised by his other daughter and her family. "I'm a better grandfather," he said. "I get to have all the gravy, but I don't have to get up at three in the morning. Rosie and I spend a lot of time together, and it's all good time. And that's probably the best contribution that I could make to her life." In the meantime, the 72-year old actor tries to figure out what he’s going to do with the rest of his life. He owes large amounts of money for back taxes, and he’s facing a civil wrongful death suit from Bakley’s family. He offered to settle the case for $250,000, but after receiving no response to the offer he dropped the sum to $150,000 due to having to pay huge lawyers’ fees. Blake says that he has received offers of work, but hasn’t committed to anything because he’s spending a lot of time driving around the Southwest, trying to clear his head. "I'm not good right now at staying put, or making engagements, or appointments, because all I do is hurt people's feelings. I'm here because I had some things I wanted to say. But most of the time, I'm out letting the wind blow in my hair."