Robert Blake may have killed his daughter’s mother — but he surely did not destroy the spirit of Rose, the gorgeous little girl he fathered with Bonny Lee Bakley!
In a world exclusive, The National ENQUIRER has obtained remarkable photos of Rose Blake, 15, a Campbell Hall School varsity cheerleader in L.A.
As the images prove, Rose is thriving, confident and the spitting image of her slain mother, Bonny Lee.
“She is beautiful and super nice and is really, really funny,” said a source, who added that Rose enrolled in the private, K through 12 Episcopal school during the last year.
Incredibly, the school, where tuition runs almost $35,000 annually, is located only about a mile from Vitello’s, the Studio City Italian restaurant where Bonny Lee was killed on May 4, 2001.
But our source said Rose is none the worse for being so close, adding, “She is making new friends and meeting new people. She had a boyfriend last year.
“She was a cheerleader for football season and she played on the soccer team,” the source said.
“She’s also involved in the dance program and is taking dance every day and was in a spring dance production.”
Rose, now a sophomore, was only 11 months old when her mother was shot to death.
Rose is living with Blake’s eldest daughter, Delinah, her fiction-writing husband, Gregg Hurwitz, and their 10-year-old daughter, Natalie, in a sprawling $1.94 million home in the affluent Los Angeles suburb of Sherman Oaks.
Blake was tried and ultimately acquitted of murder in his wife’s death in 2005. What’s more, The ENQUIRER can reveal beautiful Rose rarely — if ever — sees her dad.
“Delinah made a conscious decision to make a fresh start,” another source explained. “She didn’t want Rosie anywhere near her father because she didn’t think he was stable.”
Delinah obtained permanent custody of Rose in 2002, a year after Bonny Lee was gunned down in a car outside Vitello’s.
On that night, Blake, now 81, returned to the restaurant to retrieve a gun he said he’d left there. The ENQUIRER later interviewed staff members who said no gun was ever found in the booth they’d shared.
Prosecutors alleged Blake killed his wife in order to gain sole custody of baby Rose. Blake was later found liable for Bonny Lee’s death in a civil suit brought by her other children. Delinah and Gregg adopted Rose shortly before Blake’s trial began in December 2004.
“Even though Rosie is not her biological daughter, Delinah treats her as if she were,” the source added. “She is very affectionate to Rosie.”
