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* Blake was about 6 years old when he started
his Hollywood career. Before that, he and his brother and sister
were part of an act known as "The Three Little Hillbillies" on
the vaudeville circuit. Even though his earnings would provide
most of his family's income, Blake said his father used him as
"his punching bag."
* One of Blake's childhood roles was playing a Mexican boy who
implores Humphrey Bogart's character to buy a lottery ticket in
"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre." As a child he also worked
with Laurel and Hardy, Jack Benny, John Wayne, John Garfield and
Gene Autry.
* While Blake was awaiting his murder trial, actor Anthony
Hopkins visited him in jail and said he had studied Blake's work
in the movie "In Cold Blood" as preparation for playing the
creepy killer Hannibal Lechter in "The Silence of the Lambs,"
according to the Los Angeles Times. Other jailhouse visitors
included musician-composer Quincy Jones, comedian Mort Sahl, and
Scott Wilson, Blake's "In Cold Blood" co-star.
* Blake's son Noah Blake became a television actor with credits
that include a regular role in the 1990s sitcom "Harry and the
Hendersons" and one-off parts in shows such as "The Office,"
"ER" and "Diagnosis Murder."
(Prepared by Bill Trott; Editing by Stephen Coates)
(Photo: Actor Robert Blake takes a smoke break
as he awaits the verdict in his civil trial at the Los Angeles
County Superior Courthouse in Burbank, California November 18,
2005. REUTERS/Jim Ruymen)
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