Robert Blake: The Untold Story

“The world is for thousands a freak show; the images flicker past and vanish; the impressions remain flat and unconnected to the soul. Thus they are easily led by the opinions of others, are content to let their impressions be shuffled and rearranged and evaluated differently.” --Goethe

Do you believe in the curse of The Little Rascals? Look at the strange saga of Robert Blake. I mean here’s a guy who started out as a child actor in the 1930s and has been acting pretty steadily (well that might be a stretch) ever since. Let’s face it, he’s probably the only actor from the "Our Gang" series that actually got some decent roles as an adult. I mean whatever happened to kids like Allen “Farina” Hoskins, Joe Cobb, Norman “Chubby” Chaney, Bobby “Wheezer” Hutchins and Matthew “Stymie” Beard. Oh yeah, of course Jackie Cooper and Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer took a stab at having a semblance of a post-Our-Gang career but that was rather short-lived. For instance, you can see Alfalfa briefly as the jealous high school guy who opens the pool underneath a clueless Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed during the dance contest scene in It’s a Wonderful Life. However, according to The Film Encyclopedia, Alfalfa’s life was snuffed during a drunken brawl with a former hunting buddy over a $50 bet. The year was 1959. 

Blake has so far managed to escape that notoriety - at least up to this point. So as a public service to our readers, we’ve compiled a treasure trove of obscure trivia about the actor who became embroiled in another Hollywood tragedy. Baffle and astound your fellow coworkers Monday morning around the water cooler with your newfound knowledge about the former “Our Gang” star:

• Robert Blake was born Michael James Vijencio Gubitosi on September 18, 1933, in Nutley, New Jersey.

• Acting under the name “Mickey Gubitosi,” Blake appeared in 39 features in the “Our Gang” series alongside such luminaries as “Spanky” and “Alfalfa.”

• Renamed “Bobby Blake,” he appeared as Little Beaver in Republic Studios’ “Red Ryder” Western series.

• You can also see Blake in an uncredited role as the Mexican boy who tries to sell Bogie (or was it John Huston?) a lottery ticket in the classic Treasure of Sierra Madre.

• Blake’s acting talent was quite evident when he appeared in the Korean War action flick, Pork Chop Hill [1959, which featured the all-star cast of Gregory Peck, Martin Landau, Harry Guardino, Rip Torn, George Peppard, Woody Strode, Norman Fell and Gavin McLeod.

• Believe it or not, Blake appeared as Simon the Zealot in The Greatest Story Ever Told [1965]. 

• In 1967, Blake portrayed “cold-blooded” killer Perry Smith in the critically acclaimed adaptation of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. The movie documents the infamous murder of the Clutter family of Kansas by two ex-cons who were executed for the crime.

• Alternative Reel’s favorite Robert Blake role is his brilliant portrayal of a diminutive motorcycle cop John Wintergreen in Electra Glide in Blue [1973]. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his on-target performance. The film also stars acclaimed character actor Billy “Green” Bush.

• Blake is most remembered as the unconventional New York City detective Tony Baretta in the series “Baretta,” which ran from 1975-78. This guy made Barnaby Jones and Ironsides look like total pussies in comparison. Remember Fred, his pet cockatoo. What the fuck was that all about?

• Blake received a Razzie Award for worst actor in Coast to Coast [1980] for his portrayal as a truck driver who transports an insane woman (Dyan Cannon) across the country in his rig. Leonard Maltin generously gave the film two stars, calling it a “strained road comedy, often abrasive, with occasional laughs.”

• Does anyone remember Blake’s hardcore performance as Father Noah “Hardstep” Rivers in the 1985 TV movie, “Father of Hell Town”? We sure don’t.

• Blake made a comeback of sorts by appearing in the critically lambasted Money Train [1995], which also starred Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson.

• David Lynch hired Blake to portray the pasty-faced “Mystery Man” in Lost Highway [1997], a film that nobody even cared to try to figure out.

• Blake stands just 5 feet four inches tall, the same height as President James Madison.

• According to Blake, his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, was shot in the head as she waited for the actor, who had gone into a popular Italian restaurant called Vitellos to retrieve his own gun. Apparently, he carried the gun for protection against a mysterious stranger who was stalking his wife.

• Blake married Bakley four months ago when DNA testing determined that he was the father of her 11-month-old daughter. Bakley had originally claimed that the baby’s father was none other than Marlon Brando’s troubled son.

• Bakley had been using lonely-heart-type scams for years to bilk elderly men throughout the country out of their money. One 80-year-old coot from Boston once gave her $250 after she wrote him one of her infamous “hard-luck” stories. She has been described in various news reports as a “con woman,” “would-be actress” and “celebrity hound.”

• Police have recovered a phony photo of Bakley with the king himself, Elvis Presley. She once claimed to have dated Elvis. 

• According to various news sources, Blake once told his wife, “I have a bullet with your name on it.”

• Bakley lived separately from Blake in a bungalow on his property.

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