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Woman held in Reseda murder case is daughter of late actor Ray Sharkey

Ray Sharkey in 1992 at the Seventh Annual IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards nomination announcement party.

Ray Sharkey in 1992 at the Seventh Annual IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards nomination announcement party.

(Ron Galella, Ltd. / WireImage)
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A woman arrested on suspicion of using a baseball bat to beat her boyfriend’s mother to death is the daughter of actor Ray Sharkey, who succumbed to complications from AIDS after a career marred by drug abuse.

Cecelia Sharkey, 26, was booked on suspicion of first-degree murder Saturday, hours after she allegedly struck her boyfriend’s mother in the head with a baseball bat, said Sgt. James Harper of the Los Angeles Police Department.

The attack, which occurred in the backyard of a Reseda home, was triggered by a dispute, Harper said. The victim, whose identity was not released, was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, according to the L.A. County coroner’s office.

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Harper said that after the incident, Sharkey fled to her Mid-Wilshire home, where she was arrested Saturday afternoon.

Ray Sharkey starred in the TV series “Wiseguy” and won a Golden Globe award for the 1980 film “The Idolmaker,” playing a character inspired by legendary talent manager and producer Bob Marcucci.

On the CBS drama “Wiseguy,” Ray Sharkey played Sonny Steelgrave, an Atlantic City mafioso -- one of many tough guy characters he portrayed in movies and television.

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Off the soundstage, he battled addiction to cocaine, alcohol and heroin. A year before his death, Canadian authorities arrested him on suspicion of heroin possession.

In 1989, his then-wife Carole Graham gave birth to Cecelia Bonnie Sharkey. She was 4 when her father died in a Brooklyn hospital.

Ray Sharkey’s former manager, Herb Nanas, told The Times on Monday that he had not maintained contact with the actor’s ex-wife or their daughter.

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Cecelia Sharkey is being held in lieu of $1-million bond, according to jail records. It’s unclear if she has retained an attorney.

For breaking news in California, follow @MattHjourno.

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