Ronald Pierce Ely (June 21, 1938 – September 29, 2024) was an American actor and novelist, best known for portraying Tarzan in the 1966–1968 NBC series Tarzan and playing the lead role in the film Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975).[1] He hosted the Miss America pageant telecast in 1980 and 1981.
During the filming of Tarzan, Ely did almost all of his own stunts,[2] and received over two dozen injuries, including two broken shoulders and several lion bites.[3]
In the 1990s, Ely's roles included a retired alternate universe variant of Superman in the Superboy episode "The Road to Hell", and hunter Gordon Shaw in the Tarzán episode "Tarzan the Hunted".[citation needed] Until about 2001, he appeared on such shows as Sheena and Renegade.[citation needed] He wrote two mystery novels featuring private investigator Jake Sands: Night Shadows (1994) and East Beach (1995).[1]
Ely retired from acting in 2001, returning with an appearance in the television film Expecting Amish (2014).[1]
Personal life and death
Ely was born in Hereford, Texas on June 21, 1938 and raised in Amarillo.[5] He married his high school sweetheart, Helen Janet Triplet,[6] in 1959. Both natives of Hereford, Texas, they divorced in July 1961.[7]
In 1984, Ely married Valerie Lundeen, who won the Miss Florida USA title in 1981,[7] and they had three children.[1]
Murder of wife and death of son
On October 15, 2019, Ely's son Cameron, then 30 years old, stabbed Valerie Ely to death at the family's home in Hope Ranch, California, a coastal residential community in Santa Barbara.[8] Police officers were called to the scene for a "family disturbance"[1][9] and killed Cameron Ely, claiming he posed a threat to officers.[2]
The Santa Barbara district attorney ruled the police shooting a justifiable homicide. No charges were filed, and an attorney representing Ely disputed the police account of Cameron's death.[10][11] An autopsy found Cameron was in the early stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy before he died.[12]
Death
Ely died at the home of one of his daughters in Los Alamos, California, on September 29, 2024, at age 86.[13][14][15] His death was not announced until October 23, 2024.[16][17]
