In The News

Former child actor who became a top political analyst passes away

Former child actor who became a top political analyst passes away

TONY Blankley, who was a British-born child-actor before going on to become a top political analyst in the United States, has passed away. He was 62.

Mr. Blankley was one when his family moved from England to California where his father was to work in the film industry.

During the 1950s he appeared as a child actor in a number of television shows including Highway Patrol and Lassie. His movie credits included The Harder They Fall (1956), which starred Humphrey Bogart and Rod Steiger.

But he was to abandon acting in favour of a career in the law — becoming a prosecutor in the California Attorney General’s office. 

During this time he had developed an interest in politics and had worked on Ronald Reagan’s campaign to become Governor of California. When Mr. Reagan ran for President, Mr. Blankley worked on his campaign.

When Mr. Reagan won the election, Mr. Blankley was appointed as a senior policy analyst at the White House. He later worked as one of the President’s speech writers.

While his work at the White House was important, Mr. Blankley remained relatively unknown to the public. This was to change when at the beginning of the 1990s he became press secretary for Newt Gingrich who went on to become Speaker in the U.S. Congress.

As Gingrich’s spin doctor, Mr. Blankley became a nationally known figure, regularly appearing on TV political shows.

In recent years he was a political columnist for The Washington Post as well as producing synidicated material for a number of newspapers across the US. He also made regular appearances on political shows on TV (see below).

To see Tony Blankley taking part in TV show click here.

 

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