Factbox-Life and career of film and TV actor Robert Blake

FILE PHOTO: Actor Robert Blake takes a smoke break as he awaits the verdict in his civil trial at the Los Angeles County Superior Courthouse in Burbank, California November 18, 2005. REUTERS/Jim Ruymen

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The following are select facts about the life and career of screen actor Robert Blake, who was acquitted in 2005 of murdering his wife but later found liable for her death in a civil trial:

* Blake was about 6 years old when he started his Hollywood career. Before that, he and his brother and sister were part of an act known as "The Three Little Hillbillies" on the vaudeville circuit. Even though his earnings would provide most of his family's income, Blake said his father used him as "his punching bag."