Hazelton Projects

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Hazelton's television career began in 1989 when he created, co-produced, and hosted a reality-based, on-location home improvement program called The House Doctor. It ran from 1990 to 1997 with more than 200 episodes and 600 house visits. The show originated on ABC affiliate KGO-TV in San Francisco and aired for several years on the HGTV network until 2001. Hazelton related that he got started on television by accident: his dentist connected him with a KGO-TV producer for what became The House Doctor. He later became the Home Improvement Editor for ABC's Good Morning America from 1997 to 2007, reporting regularly on topics related to home improvement, design, repair, health, and safety. He also hosted Ron Hazelton's HouseCalls, a 30-minute Tribune Entertainment nationally syndicated show where he traveled by motor home with a mobile workshop to help people with weekend DIY home projects. As of May 2023, the show was broadcasting season 24.

In Their Own Story

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 and was part of the Air Force ROTC Drill team. After graduation, he joined US Navy Officer Candidate School for Anti-Submarine Warfare School. He worked as a marketing consultant in Boston and founded a storefront restoration workshop in San Francisco called Cow Hollow Woodworks in 1978, selling the business in 1993. Hazelton married Lynn Robin Drasin in October 1997. 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. Drasin later became a producer on Ron Hazelton's HouseCalls. Hazelton died at his Connecticut home on April 30, 2023, at the age of 81.

Reader's Guide

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. He was also the author of three books: 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), and Electrical Made Easy (2009, F+W Publications’ Home Basics series). 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. A new syndicated version of HouseCalls features a new logo mixing vintage clips of Ron with new clips featuring host Brian Kelsey, syndicated by The Television Syndication Company, Inc. on a barter basis, with a copyright date of 2026.

Did You Know?

• Hazelton got his start in television by accident when his dentist connected him with a KGO-TV producer.
• He founded a storefront restoration workshop in San Francisco called Cow Hollow Woodworks in 1978 and sold it in 1993.
• His show The House Doctor ran from 1990 to 1997 with more than 200 episodes and 600 house visits.
• He was the national spokesperson for the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition from 1997.
• He married Lynn Robin Drasin in October 1997; she was a segment producer on Good Morning America at the time.