From acclaimed actor to acquitted on murder charges, Emmy award-winning performer Robert Blake has died Thursday at the age of 89. 

A statement was released on behalf of his niece, Noreen Austin that stated Blake died from heart disease, surrounded by family at home in Los Angeles.

As a child actor, Blake had an extensive resume by the time he starred in his most prominent role in the 1970s TV show “Baretta” before playing the part of Perry Smith in the film “In Cold Blood.” 

Smith was one of two career criminals convicted of murdering a family in 1959 which inspired Truman Capote’s famous novel In Cold Blood. Blake’s role in the movie appears as a cruel twist of fate after the murder trial of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. 

Outside a Studio City restaurant on May 4, 2001, Bakley was shot and killed and Blake became known as the defendant in the murder trial. 

Throughout the ordeal Blake was adamant that he had not killed his wife and a jury ultimately acquitted him. But a civil jury found him liable for her death and ordered him to pay Bakley’s family $30 million, a judgment which sent him into bankruptcy.

Blake won a 1975 Emmy for his portrayal of Tony Baretta, although behind the scenes the show was wracked by disputes involving the temperamental star. He gained a reputation as one of Hollywood’s finest actors, but one of the most difficult to work with.

In 1993, Blake won another Emmy as the title character in, “Judgment Day: the John List Story,” portraying a soft-spoken, churchgoing man who murdered his wife and three children.

“He died at home with family around him peacefully, long-term heart issues,” Austin told Fox News Digital. “He spent the last few years listening to jazz music and playing his guitar and watching classic movies.”

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