Tony Blankley, Actor, Pundit, Political Adviser, Dies at 63

COMMENTARY | Tony Blankley, actor, newspaper columnist and editor, prosecutor, and political adviser, has died at the age of 63 from stomach cancer, according to the Washington Times

Blankley, born in Great Britain but a naturalized American citizen, was famous for his TV appearances in which he pontificated on various political and social issues.

What is less known about Blankley is that he was a child actor in the 1950s, appearing in a number of movies and TV shows. He appeared in movies with stars like Humphrey Bogart and Rod Steiger, as well as on shows like "Lassie," "The Highway Patrol," and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents."

Blankley has also served as a prosecutor with the California District Attorney's office, a speech writer and policy analyst in the Reagan administration, and press secretary for Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. He was also an editor for the Washington Times and has written columns for Townhall.Com. He has provided commentary for Fox News, CNN, NPR, and NBC.

Blankley had one of those wonderful onscreen personalities that was at once reassuring and challenging. He never quite lost the British accent of his youth, something that is always pleasing to the American ear. Indeed, because between diets he was a man of substantial size, he often seemed Churchillian in his appearance in manner.

Because Blankley died so relatively young, there will be a sense of what might have been about him. If Newt Gingrich were to achieve the presidency, admittedly a now diminishing prospect, who better to be his official spokesman than the man who served him as press secretary during his speakership? Blankley's sonorous tone and his ready wit would have graced many a White House press briefing in a hypothetical Gingrich administration. Official White House spokesmen are, when they are good (Tony Snow certainly comes to mind), disarming to the media gaggle, ever hot to find some embarrassing story to pin on the president they cover.

Blankley could deliver his political insights in a calm, civilized manner that eschewed the media food fights that so often frequent TV news these days. That too will be missed. He was a class act in everything he set out to do. That in and of itself should be celebrated about his life.

Sources: Ex-Times Editorial Page Editor Tony Blankley dead at 63, David Eldridge, Washington Times, Jan 8, 2012

Tony Blankley, IMDB

Tony Blankley, Townhall