Blake, Child Attend Brief Burial Service

Bonny Lee Bakley, the slain wife of actor Robert Blake, was buried Friday morning at a brief, sparsely attended Hollywood Hills cemetery service at which a grim Blake expressed thanks for her persistence in seeing that their child was born.

“It’s because of her conviction, not mine, her dedication that brought Rosie into this world, and I thank God and I thank Bonny,” said Blake. The 11-month-old girl, Rose, was at the morning ceremony.

Blake and 17 of his relatives, friends and lawyers participated in the Catholic service at sprawling Forest Lawn Memorial-Park and Mortuary in Hollywood Hills. It was the actor’s first public appearance since Bakley was fatally shot May 4. Police have not identified a suspect in the case.

During the ceremony, Blake was flanked by his adult son and daughter. Bakley’s family members boycotted the funeral and later issued an angry statement through attorney Cary W. Goldstein.

“There is no unity between the Bakley family and Mr. Blake,” said Goldstein. “Certain members feel certain that Mr. Blake is responsible for the death of Lee Bonny.

“We believe the funeral staged by Mr. Blake to be nothing more than a public relations event for him and his attorneys.”

Blake’s lawyer, Harland W. Braun, responded that the service was dignified and that “there was nothing staged about it.”

Braun expressed surprise at the Bakley family’s attitude, saying Blake had offered to pay Bonny’s sister’s way from New Jersey. “To me,” he said, “if a mother, a sister, a father dies, you go, period.”

In front of Bakley’s casket, Blake rose and spoke for about a minute.

“I stand here before God, and I make this pledge that as long as he gives me breath I will do everything I can to make our daughter Rosie’s life the best I can,” said a somber Blake, dressed in a dark suit and speaking quietly.

In mentioning Bakley’s dedication to having their child, Blake was referring to the fact that he had disagreed with her during the pregnancy over whether she should have an abortion. The pair married after the baby’s birth when DNA tests confirmed that Blake was the father.

As he left the ceremony, the actor reached atop Bakley’s casket and took a single white rose that was part of a bouquet.

Bakley was buried at a cemetery where entertainers such as Bette Davis, Lucille Ball and Liberace are interred.

Bakley’s friends and relatives have said that she long had an obsession with entertainers, trying for decades to get close to such singing stars as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Frankie Valli, before meeting Blake.

On May 4, Blake told police he found Bakley, 44, shot in the head in the passenger seat of his Dodge Stealth, parked on a quiet street in Studio City. The couple had just dined at a popular Italian restaurant and had returned to their car about a block away when, Blake said, he left briefly to retrieve a gun he had left at their table.

Braun has said his client remains “under a cloud of suspicion” because of the facts surrounding Bakley’s killing.

Since the shooting, Braun has released a flood of Bakley’s correspondence and audiotapes in what he says is an effort to show there were many people who might have wanted to harm her.

The materials, including nude photos, show Bakley to have been involved in an elaborate scheme to swindle men out of money with promises of romantic relationships.

Bakley used a network of postal boxes to support the undertaking, Braun says. On Thursday, detectives confiscated correspondence that Bakley received at the Packing and Postal Emporium in Studio City. Braun signed documents allowing police to take the materials.

Police would not comment on what they found and are not discussing the progress of their investigation. They have interviewed Blake twice as a witness and have said everyone close to Bakley is being investigated.

On Friday, Blake arrived at the cemetery about 8:15 a.m., roughly 45 minutes before the ceremony. The vehicle that carried him as a passenger quickly passed a crowd of reporters and photographers at the cemetery gate. Blake looked straight ahead.

Braun, who allowed pool media coverage of the ceremony, said he and Blake exchanged small talk and discussed legal strategy as they waited for the ceremony to begin.