Richard Gary Leventhal (born January 24, 1960) is an American reporter. Since 2024, he hosts ''The Leventhal Report'' on Newsmax2. Previously, he was a senior correspondent for

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...

from June 1997 to June 2021. Before joining Fox, he spent 10 years in local news, reporting and anchoring in markets including

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

;

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city had a population of 38,732 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in South Carolina, 11th ...

;

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

;

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

;

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

; and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He is a graduate of

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, with a B.A. in broadcast journalism.

Career

Leventhal has been to war zones nearly two dozen times, including five trips to

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, four to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, eight to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

(including multiple journeys to the West Bank and Gaza), tours of

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

, and

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

during the war in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

and two trips to

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

in 2011. In 2003, Leventhal spent nine weeks in

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

and

, embedded with the United States Marine Corps' 3rd L.A.R., crossing the border and advancing to the outskirts of Baghdad, where he joined the Sinners and Saints of the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines. He was one of the first reporters on the scene at the World Trade Center during the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, before the towers fell to the ground. He traveled to

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

and Afghanistan later that year, embedding with Marines at Camp Rhino and Kandahar Airport for the launch of the War on Terror. More recently he provided live coverage of flooding in Louisiana, the killing of

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

and the 10 year commemoration of the September 11 attacks. He spent significant time covering 2010's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and has been dispatched to numerous natural disasters over 24 years of reporting, riding out major hurricanes including Katrina, Rita, Andrew, and Hugo. He went to

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

for the devastating earthquake in 2010 and to Vatican City to cover the death and funeral of Pope John Paul II and the selection of his successor and was live on scene for The Miracle on the Hudson and later, Captain "Sully" Sullenberger's return to flight. He also recently took a ride in an F-15 with the Massachusetts Air National Guard.

Biography

Leventhal is a younger son of Dr. Allan Leventhal, a retired psychologist in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Carol Leventhal, the retired director of Greenbelt Cares in

Greenbelt, Maryland Greenbelt is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and a suburb of Washington, D.C. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 24,921. Greenbelt is the first and the largest of the three experimental ...

. He is second of three siblings. He has an older brother, Scott Leventhal (born 1958), and a sister, Leigh (born 1963). He completed his high school education in Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring in 1978.

Personal life

Leventhal was married to Penny Daniels, who was on-air reporter for WSVN-TV in Miami and

WFLD WFLD (channel 32) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is owned and operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network through its Fox Television Stations division alongside Gary, Indiana–licensed WPWR-TV (channe ...

-TV in Chicago. He and Daniels are divorced. They have two daughters. Leventhal later eloped with Beth Shak; they were married on June 9, 2016 in Las Vegas. Leventhal and Shak divorced in 2017. In 2020, Leventhal married Kelly Dodd, star of The Real Housewives of Orange County.

References

External links

Rick Leventhal's Fox News BioRemembering 9/11: Incredible Raw Video Shows Rick Leventhal Interviewing Survivors at Ground Zero as North Tower Collapses
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leventhal, Rick 1960 births American television reporters and correspondents American University School of Communication alumni American war correspondents Fox News people Living people Montgomery College alumni People from Long Island People from Prince George's County, Maryland People from Silver Spring, Maryland Journalists from New York City People from Newport Beach, California Journalists from Florida People from Columbia, South Carolina Journalists from Chicago Newsmax TV people