Ron Hazelton

Hazelton was born March 29, 1942 in Binghamton, New York to Earl, a building contractor, and Wanda Hazelton. He graduated from the Florida State University College of Business with a BS in Marketing in 1965. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity[2] and was part of the Air Force ROTC Drill team.

After graduation, Hazelton joined US Navy Officer Candidate School for Anti-Submarine Warfare School.[3] Hazelton was a marketing consultant in Boston. He founded a storefront restoration workshop in San Francisco called Cow Hollow Woodworks in 1978. He sold the business in 1993.

In 1989, Hazelton created, co-produced, and hosted a reality-based, on-location home improvement television program called The House Doctor. It ran from 1990-1997 with more than 200 episodes and 600 house visits. It originated on ABC affiliate KGO-TV in San Francisco, and aired for several years on the HGTV network until 2001. He related that he got started on television by accident: his dentist connected him with a KGO-TV producer[4] for what became The House Doctor.

Hazelton was the Home Improvement Editor for ABC's Good Morning America from 1997-2007. Ron reported regularly on a variety of topics related to home improvement, design, repair, health, and safety. He has been featured as a home improvement expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Inside Edition, Discovery Channel's Popular Mechanics, Lifetime's Our Home and The History Channel's series Modern Marvels — History of Tools, Hands on History and Save our History: Frontier Homes.

Ron Hazelton's HouseCalls is a 30-minute Tribune Entertainment nationally-syndicated home improvement show that Hazelton produced and hosted. He traveled by motor home with a mobile workshop to help people with weekend DIY home projects. As of May 2023, Ron Hazelton's HouseCalls is broadcasting season 24.[5]

Hazelton was the national spokesperson for the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, a non-profit, fire safety organization, from 1997. He received a special Appreciation Award from Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition Steering Committee member, the National Fire Sprinkler Association, for his work on behalf of the organization.

Hazelton was the author of:

• Ron Hazelton's HouseCalls: America's Most Requested Home Improvement Projects (1999, Time-Life Books)
• Plumbing Made Easy (2009, F+W Publications’ Home Basics series)
• Electrical Made Easy (2009, F+W Publications’ Home Basics series)

Hazelton married Lynn Robin Drasin in October 1997.[6] At the time of their marriage, Drasin was a segment producer on Good Morning America on ABC while Hazelton was the show's home improvement editor.[6] Drasin later became a producer on Ron Hazelton's HouseCalls.[7]

Hazelton died at his Connecticut home on April 30, 2023, at the age of 81.[8]

• Ron Hazelton's HouseCalls Web site at ronhazelton.com
• Ron Hazelton at IMDb
• The Home Safety Council
• Ron Hazelton at Good Morning America