# Robert Blake has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [March 10, 2023, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958 "2023-03-10T02:20:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/21 "2023-03-10T18:40:06Z")
I saw Electra Glide a couple years ago on AMC. It was pretty good. It was filmed a bit oddly. They used camera angles that emphasized Blake’s short stature. It contributed to the characters other problems. Usually camera angles are used to disguise the height of actors. Baretta never seemed short. Tom Cruise plays action heroes. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/22 "2023-03-10T21:31:02Z")
It’s the movie I was going to mention, because once when I was talking about it to a friend I had a brain fart and called it Astroglide in Blue. LOL. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/23 "2023-03-10T21:52:42Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I saw Electra Glide a couple years ago on AMC. > > It was pretty good. It was filmed a bit oddly. They used camera angles that emphasized Blake’s short stature. It contributed to the characters other problems. > > Usually camera angles are used to disguise the height of actors. Baretta never seemed short. Tom Cruise plays action heroes. Tom Cruise is below average height. Blake was several inches shorter than Cruise. ---
**Author:** ![dummygladhands71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c0e974/32.png) [@dummygladhands71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dummygladhands71)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/24 "2023-03-11T01:43:00Z")
89 is a shock! ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/25 "2023-03-12T00:49:53Z")
Born Michael James Vijencio Gubitosi ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/26 "2023-03-12T14:25:31Z")
I loved Baretta - and Mr. Blake made frequent appearances on the Johnny Carson show. The things that came out of his mouth! You never knew… ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/27 "2023-03-12T15:05:46Z")
> [@salinqmind1](#): > > The things that came out of his mouth! You never knew… After his aquittal didn’t he say something like “Maybe I’m going to travel the west in a RV and shoot pool with a one armed Polish woman.”? Who even concieves of shit like that? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/28 "2023-03-12T16:37:42Z")
I don’t remember that, but he said a lot of unfiltered things, it seemed, on his frequent Johnny Carson appearances years earlier. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/29 "2023-03-12T20:16:19Z")
> [@Ignatz](#): > > Born Michael James Vijencio Gubitosi That’s why he was Mickey Gubitosi on the _Little Rascals_ … or _Our Gang._ I don’t remember which version he was in. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/30 "2023-03-12T20:29:52Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > That’s why he was Mickey Gubitosi on the _Little Rascals_ … or _Our Gang._ I don’t remember which version he was in. My understanding is that the shorts were all titled _Our Gang_ when they were originally produced, and released in theaters. The _Little Rascals_ name was used when the older _Our Gang_ shorts were repackaged for television broadcast, in part because Hal Roach had regained control of the films, but not the name. Meanwhile, MGM syndicated the newer _Our Gang_ shorts for TV, using the _Our Gang_ name. Wikipedia says that Blake joined the series in 1939; it also says that the older shorts, which Roach had syndicated to TV as _Little Rascals_, were the ones from 1927-1938. So, the ones that Blake appeared in were, I think, branded on TV as _Our Gang_. > **[Our Gang | Later years and The Little Rascals revival](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Gang#Later_years_and_The_Little_Rascals_revival)** > > When Roach sold Our Gang to MGM, he retained the option to buy the rights to the Our Gang trademark, provided he produced no more children's comedies in the Our Gang vein. In the late 1940s, he created a new film property in the Our Gang mold and forfeited his right to buy back the name Our Gang to obtain permission to produce two Cinecolor featurettes, Curley and Who Killed Doc Robbin. Neither film was critically or financially successful, and Roach turned to re-releasing the original Our Gang c... ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/31 "2023-03-12T20:38:45Z")
Thanks! I never really cared what the difference was, but this was interesting. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/32 "2023-03-12T20:40:28Z")
> [@salinqmind1](#): > > I loved Baretta - and Mr. Blake made frequent appearances on the Johnny Carson show. The things that came out of his mouth! You never knew… I’ll never forget when he met Orson Welles, and told him, “you make Wimpy look skimpy”. To which Welles replied, “I’m fat, and you’re ugly. But I can diet”. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/33 "2023-03-12T21:01:30Z")
OH, so that’s where that came from? I thought it was Winston Churchhill or Oscar Wilde. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/34 "2023-03-12T23:09:22Z")
[Orson Welles and Robert Blake Trade Jabs With Each Other - Carson Tonight Show - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN576TSACtM) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/35 "2023-03-13T02:53:58Z")
No, just Michael James Gubitosi. Wikipedia is wrong. His book shows a copy of his birth certificate. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/36 "2023-03-13T04:13:49Z")
“Woim” is the last surviving member? Didn’t see that coming. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/37 "2023-03-13T04:39:29Z")
Rose apparently was raised quietly and protected from the paparazzi. But her mother’s death did shape her childhood. > **[Robert Blake's Daughter Speaks Out for First Time About 'Traumatic Childhood'...](https://people.com/crime/robert-blake-daughter-rose-lenore-speaks-out-mom-murder/)** > > As she embarks on an acting career, Rose Lenore says she wants to finally take control of the narrative of her life ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/38 "2023-03-13T23:13:56Z")
> [@Ignatz](#): > > Born Michael James Vijencio Gubitosi per _World Almanac and Book of Facts -2022_ Maybe not “born”, maybe added to later. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/39 "2023-03-14T01:15:11Z")
The bird is still alive, right? They live to be like 150 years old. Unless Blake…you know? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958/40 "2023-03-14T01:34:19Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > The bird is still alive, right? Died at ~age 70, apparently - Blake outlived him. That might actually be about average for a Sulfur-crested in captivity, though they can get past the century mark. He was actually bird-napped in 1990 from the San Diego Wild Animal Park, but was returned unharmed shortly thereafter. Insomuch as he was confiscated at an airport smuggled in a flight in from Hong Kong and purportedly originally spoke some Chinese, I imagine his true age may have been a little uncertain. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-has-died/980958.md?page=1)