Former New Orleans television news anchor Ron Hunter, known for his dramatic and often colorful television persona which he developed during a career at several New Orleans TV and radio stations, died late Tuesday in Las Vegas.  He was 70.

Ron Hunter

His broadcasting career also included stints in Miami, Philadelphia and Chicago, where he anchored alongside Jane Pauley and Maury Povich.  Hunter returned to New Orleans in the 1980s to work at the ABC television affiliate and host several radio talk shows.

Hunter’s daughter Ali confirmed his death Wednesday, saying her brother had discovered their father’s body in his Las Vegas home.  Ali Hunter said her father appeared to die of natural causes.  She said her father had moved there about ten years ago.

A native of Bogalusa, Hunter helped establish WWL as the dominant television station in New Orleans, during his stint as anchor and reporter from 1967 to 1972.  His style was often controversial and showy, but attracted viewers.  Often his penchant for making news while reporting it, earned him attention – both positive and negative.

In 1990, his wife Marilou “Bunny” Hunter died from what was reported as a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest, while Hunter lay next to her in bed in their apartment.  The incident happened hours after his wife called into Hunter’s radio talk show to discuss their marital problems, while Hunter was interviewing a sex therapist on the air.  The Orleans Parish coroner said there was no evidence that the death was a homicide, but Hunter could not escape the headlines and his radio station even fired him a few days later.

It was essentially the end of a career which catapulted Hunter from the newspaper and radio business in Bogalusa (where his father was once the mayor) to the network television level.  According to The Times-Picayune, Hunter’s family had founded the Bogalusa Enterprise, and he worked at the newspaper as a young boy before turning to radio broadcasting.  According to The Times-Picayune, his mother later purchased a small radio station and put her son to work part-time there.

Hunter was hired by former WWL-TV news director Bill Reed in 1967.  In a 1990 Times-Picayune interview, Reed recalled, “He was a hustler, a very good air man, and excellent with film, but it was difficult to determine whether his interest was in the story, or his own participation in it."

When Phil Johnson took over as Channel 4 news director in 1970, he promoted Hunter to the 6 and 10 p.m. anchor desk.  Johnson recalled to The Times-Picayune that six months after that move, WWL jumped to the top of the television ratings. 

Hunter left WWL in 1972 to take a job in Buffalo, New York.  After anchoring stints in other major cities, Hunter returned to New Orleans in 1981 to work at WVUE-TV as main news anchor for approximately four years.  After a change in ownership at the station, Hunter moved back into local radio.