RIP Robert Blake

Or I guess this could be in the TV forum. Either way, RIP.

But let’s remember his movies.

Blake’s monologue from In Cold Blood, lit by the brilliant Conrad Hall, is an all-timer.

Unforgettable as the mystery man, Satan, whatever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZowK0NAvig

I know he was acquitted, but do you think he murdered his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley?

He certainly had the most brazen alibi I’ve ever heard!

On May 4, 2001, Ms. Bakley, 44, was found dead from a gunshot to her head in her husband’s Dodge Stealth, parked outside an Italian restaurant in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, where the couple had just dined. Mr. Blake said he was not there when she was shot; he said he had gone back to the restaurant to retrieve a gun he had left in a booth.

Wow. The light of the rain on his face looking like tears is incredible.

And the sound editing, where it goes silent for the conversation, makes this so much creepier.

You’re right. That is the most brazen alibi I’ve ever heard.

It’s telling that some news orgs ran with that on top of his death announcement:

image

image

image

image

I do believe he was blacklisted by Hollywood after that, correct?

Pretty much, but then again, it wasn’t like he was getting a lot of calls for acting gigs at that point in his life anyway. His IMDB is pretty spotty when you hit the 90’s.