Tony Blankley

{{Infobox person

| name = Tony Blankley

| image =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1948|1|21}}

| birth_place = London, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|2012|1|7|1948|1|21}}

| occupation = Public relations executive, newspaper editor, television commentator, radio commentator, prosecutor, child actor

| spouse = Lynda Davis {{Circa|1985–2012}} (his death)

| children = 3

| footnotes = {{cite news|newspaper=Washington Times|date=January 9, 2012|title=Tony Blankley, former editorial page editor of Times, dies at 63|pages=A1, A4|first=David|last=Eldridge|author2=Jennifer Harper}}

[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/8/former-times-editorial-page-editor-tony-blankley-d/ Web version]{{cite news|newspaper=Washington Post|date=January 9, 2012|page=B4|title=Speechwriter became conservative columnist|first=Emily|last=Langer|author2=Karen Tumulty|author2-link=Karen Tumulty}}

{{cite news|author=Cathleen Decker|title=Tony Blankley dies at 63; press secretary to Speaker Newt Gingrich|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=January 9, 2012|access-date=February 19, 2016|url=https://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-tony-blankley-20120109,0,3973692.story}}{{cite web|title=Tony Blankley|work=The Writers Directory|location=Detroit|publisher=St. James Press|year=2011|access-date=February 19, 2016|url=http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=BIC1&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CK1649584433&mode=view&userGroupName=fairfax_main&jsid=e88de82067e1b8b10d5faa7993b0ddb5|format=fee, via Fairfax County Public Library}}. Gale Biography In Context. {{subscription required}}

| education = UCLA, B.S. (political science)
Loyola Marymount University, J.D.
University of London, international law certificate

| nationality = American

| alma_mater = Fairfax High School (Los Angeles){{cite web|first=Kevin|last=Roderick|title=Tony Blankley, KCRW commentator was 63|work=LA Observed|location=Los Angeles|access-date=February 19, 2016|url=http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/01/tony_blankley_kcrw_commen.php|quote=Blankley went to Fairfax High School here and UCLA, and worked for Bobbi Fielder when she ran for Congress (and won) from the Valley.}}

| notable_works = The West's Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations? (2005)
American Grit: What It Will Take to Survive and Win in the 21st Century (2009)

}}

Anthony David Blankley (January 21, 1948 – January 7, 2012) was an American political analyst who served as press secretary for Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and as a regular panelist on The McLaughlin Group. He later became an executive vice president at Edelman, a Washington, D.C.–based public relations firm.{{cite web|url=http://www.edelman.com/expertise/practices/public_affairs/publicaffairsstrategists.html|title=Edelman Public Affairs Strategists|publisher=Edelman.com|access-date=November 20, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111212125752/http://www.edelman.com/expertise/practices/public_affairs/PublicAffairsStrategists.html|archive-date=December 12, 2011}}

He was a visiting senior fellow in national security communications at The Heritage Foundation and{{cite web|last=Stimson|first=Charles|url=http://www.heritage.org/about/staff/b/tony-blankley|title=Heritage Foundation Staff|publisher=Heritage.org|access-date=November 20, 2011|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323163609/http://www.heritage.org/about/staff/b/tony-blankley|archive-date=March 23, 2012}} a weekly contributor to the nationally syndicated public radio programme Left, Right & Center,{{cite web|url=http://www.kcrw.com/news/programs/lr|title=Left, Right and Center|publisher=KCRW|access-date=November 20, 2011}} author of The West's Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations? and American Grit: What It Will Take to Survive and Win in the 21st Century.{{cite web|url=http://www.regnery.com/books/americangrit.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927083601/http://www.regnery.com/books/americangrit.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 27, 2011|title=Book Details – American Grit|publisher=Regnery Publishing|access-date=January 9, 2012}} From 2002 to 2009, he served as editorial page editor at The Washington Times.{{Cite news|title=Tony Blankley, former editorial page editor of The Times, dies at 63|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/8/former-times-editorial-page-editor-tony-blankley-d/?page=all|newspaper=The Washington Times|access-date=February 19, 2016}}

Early life and education

Blankley was born in London, England, on January 21, 1948. He was a child actor briefly, appearing as Rod Steiger's son in The Harder They Fall, starring Humphrey Bogart and released in 1956.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0087586|title=Tony Blankley profile/IMDb|website=IMDb }} The movie was, as Blankley liked to joke, both his and his co-star Bogart's last movie.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/9011183/Tony-Blankley.html|location=London, UK|work=The Daily Telegraph|title=Tony Blankley|date=January 12, 2012}}

He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, and then Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, where he earned a J.D. He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1972.{{cite web|url=http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Member/Detail/53175|title=California State Bar Member Records|publisher=Members.calbar.ca.gov|access-date=November 20, 2011}}

Career

Blankley spent ten years as a deputy attorney general with the California attorney general's office.{{cite web|url=http://www.uclalumni.net/alumnistories/notable/Blankley.cfm|title=UCLA Alumni biographies|publisher=Uclalumni.net|access-date=November 20, 2011|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929132506/http://www.uclalumni.net/alumnistories/notable/Blankley.cfm|archive-date=September 29, 2011}}

He then served in the Reagan administration as a policy analyst and speechwriter,{{cite web|url=http://www.creators.com/opinion/tony-blankley-about.html|title=Biography|publisher=Creators.com|date=September 30, 2011|access-date=November 20, 2011}} and was a staff writer for Congresswoman Bobbi Fiedler.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-06-23-ls-17692-story.html|title=The Speaker's Speaker from Los Angeles Times|publisher=Articles.latimes.com|date=June 12, 2007|access-date=November 20, 2011|first=Gregg|last=Zoroya}} He then served for seven years as press secretary to House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

From 2002 to 2009, Blankley was an editorial page editor for The Washington Times,{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/09/17/tony-blankley-stepping-do_n_64787.html|title=Blankley steps down as editorial page editor|work=Huffington Post|access-date=November 20, 2011|first=Max|last=Follmer|date=September 17, 2007}} a contributing editor and monthly columnist for George magazine,{{cite web|url=http://www.steamboatinstitute.org/freedom-conference-2011-2/tony-blankley|title=Steamboat Institute profile of Tony Blankley|publisher=Steamboatinstitute.org|access-date=November 20, 2011}} and a regular panelist on The McLaughlin Group. He was a regular commentator for radio shows, including The Diane Rehm Show,{{cite web|url=http://wbhm.org/Programs/Diane_Rehm.html|work=WBHM|title=Tony Blankley – Regular|publisher=Wbhm.org|access-date=November 20, 2011}} Left, Right & Center,{{cite web|url=http://www.kcrw.com/news/programs/lr|title=Left, Right & Center|work=KCRW|access-date=January 15, 2012}} and The Steve Gill Show with a segment titled Fill In the Blanks.{{cite web|url=http://gillreport.com/fill-in-the-blanks|title=Fill In the Blanks|publisher=Gillreport.com|access-date=November 20, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110821002326/http://gillreport.com/fill-in-the-blanks/|archive-date=August 21, 2011}}

In 2006, he authored a book, The West's Last Chance, in which he argued that, "Within our lifetimes, Europe could become Eurabia, a continent overwhelmed by militant Islam, which poses a greater threat to the United States than Nazi Germany did."{{cite book|url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16639284-the-west-s-last-chance|title=The West's Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations?|date=August 24, 2009|work=goodreads}}

He lectured at universities and institutes. On November 19, 2009, he presented his lecture, A Year out from the 2010 Congressional Elections – National Politics, Policy and their Communication, at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.{{cite web|url=http://www.anselm.edu/Institutes-Centers-and-the-Arts/NHIOP/News-and-Events/Past-Speakers-and-Events.htm|title=Events List Saint Anselm College|publisher=Anselm.edu|access-date=November 20, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220050501/http://www.anselm.edu/Institutes-Centers-and-the-Arts/NHIOP/News-and-Events/Past-Speakers-and-Events.htm|archive-date=December 20, 2010}}

=Political views=

His political opinions were considered to fall within traditional conservatism, although he was labeled as a neoconservative by some critics. He denied that label, claiming that his views are more comparable to a classic conservative such as Ronald Reagan.{{cite web|url=http://www.enotes.com/topic/Tony_Blankley|title=eNotes article on Tony Blankley|publisher=Enotes.com|access-date=November 20, 2011}}{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-06-23-ls-17692-story.html|title=Speaker's Speaker|publisher=Articles.latimes.com|date=June 12, 2007|access-date=November 20, 2011|first=Gregg|last=Zoroya}}

Death

Blankley died of stomach cancer at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., on January 7, 2012, at age 63.{{cite news|last=Clymer|first=Adam|author-link=Adam Clymer|title=Tony Blankley, Gingrich Aide and Columnist, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/us/politics/tony-blankley-gingrich-aide-and-columnist-dies-at-62.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 9, 2012|pages=B8 All other cited sources cite his year of birth as 1948}}{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/former-gingrich-spokesman-conservative-author-tony-blankley-dies|title=Notice of death of Tony Blankley|work=Fox News|date=January 8, 2012}}

Selected filmography

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) (Season 1 Episode 12: "Santa Claus and the Tenth Avenue Kid") as boy
The Harder They Fall (1956) as Nick's son

References

External links

[http://townhall.com/columnists/tonyblankley/ Archives: Tony Blankley], townhall.com
[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-blankley Tony Blankley blog], HuffingtonPost.com
[http://www.outloudopinion.com Podcasts of Blankley's recent articles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211020406/http://outloudopinion.com/ |date=2021-02-11 }}, outloudopinion.com
[http://www.kcrw.com/news/programs/lr Left Right & Center], kcrw.com
{{C-SPAN|25213}}
{{cite web|title=Tony Blankley profile|work=Contemporary Authors Online|location=Detroit|publisher=Gale|year=2010|access-date=February 19, 2016|url=http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=BIC1&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CH1000196670&mode=view&userGroupName=fairfax_main&jsid=edbee7fa91ac3035684885583ab47e8f|format=fee, via Fairfax County Public Library}} {{subscription required}}
{{IMDb name|0087586}}