Blake Anderson Hanley, who usually goes by Blake Hanley, is a musician and attorney who was married to NCIS actress Emily Wickersham from November 23, 2010 until their divorce in December 2018. He sings with the indie band Ghost Lion, and by the account of a 2019 profile he also worked as a domestic violence lawyer with a legal aid organisation in Palm Beach County, Florida. He has no verified social media presence and has never discussed the marriage in public.
That is close to the full list of facts you can trust. Dozens of websites have published long biographies of him, and most of them agree with each other only because they copy each other. In this article we sort the confirmed details from the invented ones, explain how the marriage fits into Wickersham’s career, and show why so many pages get his age wrong.
The Name, and Why It Is Written Two Ways
You will see him called Blake Hanley in Wikipedia, IMDb and entertainment news, and Blake Anderson Hanley in wedding records and on most biography sites. They are the same person. The longer form appears in the headline of the society announcement that the Palm Beach Daily News ran about the wedding, which is cited in Wickersham’s Wikipedia entry, while the shorter form is the one used in later reporting.
The name matters because “Blake Anderson” is also the name of a well-known comedian and actor, a co-creator of the series Workaholics. The two men have nothing to do with each other, and confusing them is the single biggest source of error about Hanley online. We come back to that below.
Who Is Blake Hanley?
The picture that emerges from the better sources is of a man with two careers that rarely overlap. IMDb’s biography of Wickersham describes him as a musician and domestic violence lawyer. A profile on Nicki Swift from 2019 adds that he is the lead singer of Ghost Lion, an indie rock band, and that he is not in the band full time because his day job was with the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County.
That same article makes a point worth remembering. Hanley had no social media accounts at the time, and he preferred to talk about music rather than his personal life. Reporters could find interviews about his band, but nothing about his marriage. That pattern has held for years.
The Musician Side: Ghost Lion
Ghost Lion is the project most closely tied to his name. It is described in the Nicki Swift profile as an indie rock band, and Hanley as its lead singer. Beyond that, we found little in reliable outlets. A number of lifestyle sites describe the band’s sound in detail, mention specific founding years and name earlier incarnations, but they disagree about the history, so we do not repeat those specifics.
What is fair to say is that music was his visible public identity, not the law, and that it was the part of his life he was willing to discuss. For a person married to a television actress, that is a notable choice. He did not use her name to promote his work, and she does not appear to have promoted it either.
The Legal Side: Work in Domestic Violence Law
The second half of his professional life is the part that surprises people. According to the 2019 report, he worked with the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County as a lawyer handling domestic violence cases. Organisations of that kind provide free civil legal help to people who cannot afford a lawyer, and in domestic violence matters that usually means helping clients obtain protective orders and navigate related family issues.
A few warnings are in order. First, that description comes from one 2019 profile and from IMDb, so we cannot say whether he still holds the same role today. Second, several biography sites name later employers, including a private law firm, and give the impression that he is now a partner or senior practitioner. We could not find a bar listing, firm announcement or news item that supports those details, so we leave them out.
Emily Wickersham: The Career Beside the Marriage
The reason anyone searches for Hanley is that Emily Wickersham became well known. Born on April 26, 1984, she built her early career with roles in films such as Remember Me (2010), I Am Number Four (2011) and Gone (2012), the period that overlaps with the first years of the marriage.
Her breakthrough came in 2013, when she joined the cast of NCIS as NSA analyst Eleanor “Ellie” Bishop, stepping into a gap left by Cote de Pablo’s departure. She remained a main cast member through season 18, and USA Today reported in May 2021 that she was leaving the show after that season’s finale. Wikipedia lists a guest appearance in the show’s 23rd season as well.
So the years from 2010 to 2018 cover almost exactly the period in which she moved from small roles to a prominent place on one of American television’s longest-running dramas. Hanley, meanwhile, remained in Florida and in music and law, which is part of why the two lives are described as running in parallel.
Timeline of the Marriage
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2010 | Wickersham appears in Remember Me; she and Hanley marry on November 23 |
| 2010 | The wedding is held in the Florida Keys, according to The Independent, as cited by Nicki Swift |
| 2013 | Wickersham joins NCIS |
| 2018 | The couple divorce after roughly eight years |
| December 2018 | IMDb gives December as the month the marriage officially ended |
| 2021 | Wickersham leaves NCIS after season 18 |
| 2024 | Wickersham marries actor James Badge Dale, per IMDb |
One point of caution: some sites say the wedding took place in a different Florida location. We have followed the Florida Keys detail because it comes from a named news outlet, even though it is second-hand through Nicki Swift.
Why They Divorced
This is the question people most want answered, and the truthful answer is that no one outside the couple knows. Neither Wickersham nor Hanley has given a public reason. The 2019 profile makes the same point, noting that the split drew little commentary from either of them.
Some websites speculate about differing careers, long distances or a growing public profile. None of those theories comes from a statement by either person. The divorce was finalised in December 2018, according to IMDb, and the one thing the public record clearly shows is that it was handled quietly.
What Happened Afterwards
For Wickersham, the record is simple. IMDb lists her marriage to actor James Badge Dale on September 27, 2024, and the couple have two children. She has also returned to NCIS for a guest turn in recent years.
For Hanley, there is much less. A few lifestyle sites say he remarried and became a father, and some give the name of his wife and a child. We found no credible reports or public records to substantiate the claim, and given the privacy of those involved, we refrain from naming them. He appears to have returned to a low profile, which is exactly what he did before the marriage became news.
Why So Many Pages Get His Age Wrong
If you search for how old Blake Anderson Hanley is, most pages answer with a precise date: March 2, 1984. That date is not his. It is the birth date of Blake Anderson, the Workaholics comedian, whose Wikipedia entry lists March 2, 1984 as his birthday. At some point a site merged the two men, and every rewrite that followed copied the error.
The same mix-up produces other mistakes. The comedian’s wife is Rachael Finley, whom he married in 2012; Hanley’s former wife is Emily Wickersham. The comedian was born in California; several pages place Hanley in Palm Beach, Florida, which may be correct but has no named source. The takeaway is that any page that gives Hanley’s exact age or birth date should be treated with suspicion, because that date is borrowed from someone else.
Claims That Could Not Be Verified
| Claim | Status |
|---|---|
| Born March 2, 1984 | Matches the birth date of actor Blake Anderson, not a documented fact about Hanley |
| Born in Palm Beach, Florida | Repeated widely; no named source |
| Father was an Australian rules footballer | Appears on several lifestyle sites; unverified |
| Net worth of $500,000 to $1 million | An estimate without any basis |
| Currently works at a named private law firm | Contradicts the 2019 report; unverified |
| Remarried with a young daughter | No credible report; names omitted |
| Founded Ghost Lion under an earlier name in a specific year | Sites disagree; not confirmed |
Questions People Ask
Who is Blake Anderson Hanley?
He is a musician and lawyer, best known as the former husband of actress Emily Wickersham.
Is Blake Hanley the same person as Blake Anderson Hanley?
Yes. The longer name appears in wedding records, and the shorter one is used in entertainment reporting.
When did Blake Hanley and Emily Wickersham marry?
They married on November 23, 2010, in a ceremony reported to have been held in the Florida Keys.
When did they divorce?
IMDb dates the end of the marriage to December 2018, after roughly eight years.
Why did they divorce?
Neither has publicly said. Any reason you read online is speculation.
What band is Blake Hanley in?
He is the lead singer of Ghost Lion, an indie rock band.
What does Blake Hanley do for a living?
A 2019 profile describes him as a domestic violence lawyer with a legal aid organisation in Palm Beach County. His current job is not confirmed.
Is he related to Blake Anderson from Workaholics?
No. They share a first name and part of a surname, and many websites have confused them.
How old is Blake Hanley?
His age is not confirmed. The commonly quoted birth date belongs to a different person.
Who is Emily Wickersham married to now?
She married actor James Badge Dale in September 2024, according to IMDb.
Is Blake Hanley on social media?
He had no social accounts at the time of the 2019 profile, and we found no verified account since.
Final Thoughts
The confirmed picture of Blake Anderson Hanley fits in a few lines: a musician and legal aid lawyer who married a rising actress in 2010, divorced her in 2018, and has avoided the press ever since. Everything else, from his birthday to his employer to his family, comes from pages that repeat each other or borrow from someone with a similar name. We have said what is known and marked what is not, and we will update this article if reliable reporting appears.
If you like profiles of people who were once married to well-known partners, you may also enjoy our guides to Bert Girigorie, Wendy Williams’ first husband and Kelsy Ully, Jonathan Scott’s first wife. More profiles are collected on the Athens Magazine homepage.
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