An actor who once played a cop on TV, Blake was charged in 2002 with the shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, and finally cleared in 2005. As a child actor Blake appeared in the Our Gang movie series; as an adult his specialty was hard-bitten heroes with soft hearts, particularly the cockatoo-carrying, disguise-wearing TV detective Baretta (1975-78). Blake and Bakley were married in November of 2000 after paternity tests proved he was the father of her infant daughter Rose. On 4 May 2001 Bakley was shot and killed while sitting in a car near Vitello's Restaurant in Studio City after having dinner with Blake. After an investigation of nearly a year, Blake was arrested and charged with murder. (His bodyguard Earle Caldwell also was arrested and charged with conspiracy.) Police alleged that Blake had shot Bakley himself after trying to hire others to do the killing. After many procedural delays, Blake's trial took place in 2005, with the jury ruling Blake not guilty of the murder charge. 

Later that same year, a civil suit was brought against Blake by the children of Bakley. On November 18, 2005, Blake was found guilty of the murder of Bonny Lee Bakley and was ordered to pay $30,000,000 restitution to Bakley's surviving children.