'Baretta' actor Robert Blake dies at age 89

Actor Robert Blake, best known for his role in television's Baretta and major films The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and In Cold Blood, died on Thursday at age 89.

Blake's niece Noreen Austin confirmed his death to the press, according to Deadline.

Blake spent 60 years working in Hollywood before he was accused of killing his wife Bonnie Lee Bakely in 2001 while the two were having dinner in a restaurant.

After a lengthy and public trial, Blake beat the murder rap in 2005, but his wife's family won a civil suit against him over her death.

His career was ended after the trial, and he continued living in the Los Angeles area.

He wrote a memoir, The Life of a Rascal, in the years after the trial.