Robert Blake launches into bizarre tirade at Piers Morgan in first interview since being sensationally acquitted of wife's murder
Baretta star Robert Blake let rip at Piers Morgan during a sensational interview last night where he finally opened up about being acquitted of his wife's murder.
The 78-year-old actor was in full combat mode as he launched into a profanity-laden tirade against Piers - who questioned him about how truthful he was being about the incident.
Blake was acquitted of wife Bonnie Lee Bakley's murder in 2005 following a spell in prison - and four years after the killing, in which Bakley was shot in the head while sitting in a car outside a Los Angeles restaurant they had just dined at.
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Breaking his silence: Robert Blake appeared on the Piers Morgan Tonight show yesterday after keeping a low profile for several years, opening up about his acquittal of his wife's murder
But the actor was found liable for her wrongful death by a Californian court in the same year and ordered to pay $30m as part of a civil action taken by Bakley's children.
Firing at Morgan, Blake said: 'You want to get to the truth if you can. Does that mean I'm lying to you? Tell me where I'm lying.
Morgan retorted: 'I'm not saying you're lying.'
Blake then went on: 'But you say you don't know if I'm telling the truth, what the hell's the difference?'
Pulling no punches: The 78-year-old actor laid into Piers after the host questioned him about how truthful he was being. He also called Piers 'Charlie Potatoes' and referred to him as 'Pierce'
'I'm saying I've met you for, what, 20 minutes?' Morgan replied, before, asking the In Cold Blood actor: 'Why are you being so defensive?'
Things then got even more heated, with Blake spitting back: 'Because you just insulted me … nobody tells me I'm a liar
Killed: Bonnie Lee Bakley was gunned down outside a Los Angeles restaurant in May 2001
'You said I might not be telling the truth. What the hell is the difference? … I've never allowed anybody to ask me the questions that you're asking. I allowed you to do that because I trust you.
'And I would have assumed that you and that guy in your ear would trust me. And if you don't, then we'd better start talking about The Little Rascals.'
Blake grew angrier still, attempting to dismiss the murder case as 'boring' and irrelevant.
And in the second part of the show he called Morgan 'Charlie Potatoes,' and continued to refer to his as 'Charlie' until the end of the interview when he called him 'Pierce'.
Blake, who maintained a low profile since his acquittal and filing for bankruptcy, was on Pier's CNN Tonight show to plug his new memoir, Tales of a Rascal: What I did for Love.
Elsewhere in the interview he opening up about his feelings towards his second wife, who died aged 44, ultimately blaming the murder an unknown person from her past.
Describing her as a con artist, he said he believed someone she had 'burned' tracked her down and shot her.
He described his relationship with Bakley - who he was married to for just six months before her death - as 'not bad' (Bakley's marriage to Blake was her tenth).
But he went on: 'I think she came to Hollywood to con her way into show business.
Portrait of a couple: Robert and Bonnie pictured on holiday in Sequoia National Park, California, in April 2001, just a month before her death
'I felt sorry for her sometimes because God never gave her that little piece of sunshine that he gave me.'
Blake went on to say he didn't know Bonnie 'well enough to know her'.
'I love her - well, I love you as a human being. You're my brother in arms,' Blake described.
'We're all in this thing together. But we were not dramatically in love or things like that.'
He also didn't pull any punches against the law enforcement officials who dealt with him during his spell in custody.
Looking and pointing into the camera, as if addressing them, he raged: 'I was supposed to die in that cell, wasn't I?
Off the hook: Blake seen breaking down in tears after being acquitted of this wife's 2001 murder in a 2005 criminal court hearing
'But I didn't die. And you didn't get your book deals, you mothers! I wrote a book about you.'
His story: The actor was promoting his memoir, Tales of a Rascal: What I did for Love
Admitting he was bankrupt and friendless these days, Blake said the only thing that will 'cure' him would be to 'get back on that bull that bucked me off and ride him'.
He added: 'If I can go out in front of the camera, making the most beautiful film that I ever made, that's all I really want from life.'
Bakley was shot in the head on May 4 2001 after Blake took her to Vitello's Restaurant on Tujunga Avenue in Studio City.
She was sat in the car, parked around the corner from the restaurant at the time of the incident.
At the time, Blake told police he had gone back inside the restaurant to retrieve the gun he had left at the table - and came back to the car after the shooting.
His gun - a .38 caliber pistol - was tested and determined not to be the murder weapon.
Bakley had an obsession with pursuing celebrities and even had a fling with rock legend Jerry Lee Lewis.
She had one child with Blake - Rose Lenore Sophia Blake, now aged 12.
Rose was initially named Christian Shannon Brando as Bakley first believed Christian Brando - the son of Hollywood great Marlon Brando - was the father - but a DNA test disproved this.
Heyday: Blake was best know for his role in the Seventies TV show Baretta
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