Bonnie Lee Bakley in an undated photo.

Bonnie Lee Bakley (born June 7, 1956 – May 4, 2001) was the wife of actor Robert Blake. Image File history File links Leebonny. ... Image File history File links Leebonny. ... June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Robert Blake on the cover of the Baretta Season 1 DVD set. ...

Early Life

Bonnie Lee Bakley was born in Morristown, New Jersey to a tree surgeon Edward J. Bakley and his wife, Marjorie. She had three other siblings: Margeryy Lois Hall, Joeseph, and her half-brother Peter Carlyon from her mother's second marriage, Peter Carlyon. Problems at home as a teenager led Bonnie to move out of the house and in with her grandmother. Morristown is a Town located in Morris County, New Jersey. ...

She dropped out of high school at age 16 and decided to go to New York City to pursue a career in modeling and acting at the Barbizon School of Modeling. She was married at 21 to her first cousin and had two children with him ^[1]. Nickname: Big Apple Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City 1,214. ... A cousin chart identifies the correct name for the relationship between two people with a common ancestor. ...

Bakley's early life is checkered by a criminal record. She was convicted in Little Rock, Arkansas for possessing false identifications. In 1989, she was convicted of drug possession in Memphis, Tennessee and later in 1995, convicted of passing bad checks. Nickname: Rocktown, The Rock, Capital City Coordinates: Country United States State Arkansas County Pulaski Founded 1821 Incorporated 1831 Mayor Jim Dailey Area    - City 302. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The River City, The Bluff City, M-Town Location Location in Shelby County and the state of Tennessee Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Tennessee Shelby County Mayor W. W. Herenton (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 294. ...

FBI records show that in 1994, while under investigation for fraud, Bakley told agents of a con she ran on a college student, sending her then thirteen year old daughter to seduce the man. [1] 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... Con is a variant on the Latin prefix com, meaning with or together In Spanish, con is the word for with, and as such appears in some Spanish borrowings such as chili con carne. In Hong Kong English, con is the short form for contact lens(es). ...

Celebrity Obsession

Bonnie soon made a living running a lonely hearts scheme, sending nude pictures of herself (many of which are now available on the internet) to men with the promise of visiting them if they sent her money.

Bakley also had a history of pursuing celebrities. Her friends and relatives all described her as "celebrity-obsessed". She claimed to have had an affair with rock legend Jerry Lee Lewis and borne his daughter in 1993, but DNA tests later disproved her claim. Lewis has denied ever having a relationship with Bakley. Tapes of Bakley's phone conversations reveal that she was starstruck and bent on marrying someone famous. "I like being around celebrities," she once said, "it makes you feel better than other people." Jerry Lee Lewis (born September 29, 1935) is an American rock and roll and country music singer, songwriter, and pianist. ...

Her lonely hearts fraud, however, continued to be lucrative. She was able to marry several of her victims swindling a number of men out of their savings and life insurance. Eventually she earned enough money to buy two houses and several undeveloped lots in Memphis and a house outside of LA; additionally, her lonely hearts fraud funded her unsuccessful Hollywood career as a singer and actor under the stage name Leebonny ^[2].

Marries Robert Blake

In 1999, Bonnie Lee Bakley met Robert Blake at Chuck McCann's birthday party. At the time she was seeing Christian Brando, before becoming acquainted with Blake. Blake slept with Bakley, later claiming that she had assured him that she was taking birth control pills. Friends of Bakley later said that she was, in fact, taking fertility pills at the time. She was soon pregnant with what would be her fourth child. There have been several notable individuals with the name Robert Blake: Robert Blake (admiral) (1599 - 1657) Robert Blake, Baron Blake (1916-2003), British historian Robert Blake (actor), (born 1933), of TVs Baretta Robert Blake (management), developed the Managerial Grid Model. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Christian Brando (b. ...

Initially, Bakley believed that Christian Brando was the father, but later told Blake she wasn't sure, and that it might have been his. When a DNA test determined that it was Blake, not Brando, that was the father of Bakley's youngest child, Blake agreed to marry her. It was his second marriage, her ninth. Their marriage was somewhat unconventional. Bakley lived in a small guest house beside her husband's house in the Studio City area of the San Fernando Valley. It is rumored that Blake only married her to eventually get custody of their child, who Blake wanted his childless daughter to raise. Christian Brando (b. ... Studio City is a district in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California. ... San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley in Southern California, United States. ...

On May 4 2001 Blake took Bakley to an Italian dinner at Vitello's Restaurant on Tujunga Boulevard in Studio City. Afterward, Bakley was murdered by a gunshot to the head while sitting in the car, which was parked on a side street around the corner from the restaurant. Blake told the police that he had gone back to the restaurant to get a gun he left at the table and was there when the shooting occurred.

She was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, but though members of Bakley's family were invited, they declined to attend.

Bonnie's 9 Marriages

• Husband: Evangelos Paulakis (div.)
• Husband: Paul Gawron (cousin, m. Nov-1977, div. 1982, 2 children)
  • Son: Glenn Paul Gawron (with Paul)
  • Daughter: Holly Lee Gawron (b. 1981, with Paul)
• Husband: Robert Moon (m. 1984, div. 1987)
• Husband: DeMart C. Besly (m. 7-Dec-1988)
• Husband: Joseph Brooksher (m. 1992 for just 1 day)
• Husband: William Webber (m. 1993 for just 2 days)
  • Daughter: Jeri Lee Lewis (b. 28-Jul-1993, father unknown)
• Husband: E. Robert Telufson (married for 6 weeks)
• Husband: Glynn H. Wolfe
• Husband: John Ray (m. 1996, div. 1998)
• Boyfriend: Christian Brando
• Husband: Robert Blake (m. 19-Nov-2000)
  • Daughter: Christian Shannon Brando (renamed Rose Lenore Sophia Blake, b. 2-Jun-2000)

Criminal & Civil Suits

On March 16 2005, Blake was found not guilty of the murder of Bonnie Lee Bakley, and of one of the two counts of soliciting a former stuntman to murder her. The other count of solicitation was dropped after it was revealed that the jury was deadlocked 11-1 in favor of an acquittal. Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, commenting on this ruling, called Blake a "miserable human being" and the jurors "incredibly stupid". Stephen Cooley Stephen Lawrence Cooley (born May 1, 1947 in Los Angeles, California) is a veteran prosecutor who was elected Los Angeles Countys 36th District Attorney on November 7, 2000. ...

Blake's defense team and members of the jury responded that the prosecution had failed to prove its case. During the trial, the defense alleged that Bakley was a drug addict who used her daughter for prostitution ([2]).

On November 18 2005, Blake was found liable for the wrongful death of his wife in a civil trial. Bakley's four children sued him, asserting he was responsible for their mother's death. The jury ordered him to pay $30 million.

References

1. ^ Miles Corwin (2003). Homicide Special.
2. ^ Miles Corwin (2003). Homicide Special.