Actors wife shot dead

The wife of actor Robert Blake was shot dead as she sat in a car near a restaurant, police said today.

No arrests were made, and there were no suspects.

The woman was shot once in the head on Friday night and pronounced dead at a hospital, police spokesman Guillermo Campos said.

Police identified the woman as 44-year-old Bonny Bakley.

Blake, 67, told officers the couple had dined at Vitello’s Italian restaurant in Los Angeles. As they returned to their car, Blake said, he forgot something and went back inside to retrieve it.

When he returned, Blake said he found his wife shot in the passenger seat of the car and went to a nearby home to call police, Campos said.

Blake’s attorney, Harland Braun, said the item the actor purportedly left behind was a gun. Blake was carrying it because his wife feared for her life, Braun said.

‘‘Apparently she’s had some criminal history,’’ Braun said. ‘‘So it could be any number of people that had it in for her.’’

Blake was questioned on Saturday as a witness but was not considered a suspect, Campos said.

Braun said his client was taken to a hospital on Saturday for high-blood pressure and was detained overnight.

The shooting occurred in a block of modest homes a few miles northeast of downtown in the San Fernando Valley.

Sean Stanek told a local TV crew he was the person who answered the door and found a frantic Blake asking for help.

‘‘He said, ‘My wife’s been hurt,’’’ Stanek said. ‘‘He was falling apart. He was sick, he was throwing up, he was shaking, he was crying. He was really messed up.’’

Blake has two children from his marriage to actress Sondra Kerr, which ended in divorce in 1983.

The actor was a former child star who made his debut at the age of five in the ‘‘Our Gang’’ comedies.

Blake played tough TV detective Tony Baretta in the 1970s show of the same name.

He has had dozens of movie roles, including his portrayal of real-life killer Perry Smith in the 1967 film ‘‘In Cold Blood.’’