Ron Hendren | |
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 Hendren in 1995 | |
| Born | Ralph Connolly Hendren August 3, 1945 |
| Died | October 12, 2022 (aged 77) Fuquay Varina, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
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Ralph Connolly Hendren (August 3, 1945 – October 12, 2022)[1][2] was a journalist and television personality. He was best known as one of the original hosts of Entertainment Tonight, joining the syndicated television show at its debut in 1981.
Hendren had a brief career in politics, working for politicians that included Sargent Shriver, Stephen M. Young, and B. Everett Jordan. He transferred to a journalism career with a self-syndicated news column in 1972, which was subsequently picked up and distributed nationally as Ron Hendren In Washington by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. This led to a career as an on-air commentator and critic at the NBC owned and operated station WRC-TV in Washington D.C. During his tenure at WRC, Hendren was a visiting lecturer in journalism at the University of Maryland at College Park.
Hendren joined the Today Show in 1979, becoming the first on-air network television critic in the United States. He joined Entertainment Tonight in 1981 while at the same time continuing a daily local commentary on KNBC News. Hendren also hosted a nationally syndicated radio program, "TV Tonight with Ron Hendren." After leaving Entertainment Tonight in 1984, Hendren hosted nationally syndicated television programs including "All About Us" and "BreakThrough: Television's Journal of Science and Medicine."