Ronald Pierce Ely (June 21, 1938 – September 29, 2024) was an American actor and novelist, best known for portraying
Tarzan
Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer.
Creat ...
in the 1966–1968
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
series ''
Tarzan
Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer.
Creat ...
'' and playing the lead role in the film ''
Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze'' (1975).
He hosted the ''
Miss America
Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...
'' pageant telecast in 1980 and 1981.
Career

Ely won the role of Tarzan in 1966 after playing supporting roles in films such as ''
South Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
'' (1958), as an airplane navigator, ''
The Fiend Who Walked the West
''The Fiend Who Walked the West'' is a 1958 American Western film based on the 1947 film noir '' Kiss of Death''. Almost a horror western, the story involves a psychotic ex-convict terrorising his former cellmate and his family. The director wa ...
'' (1958) and ''
The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker
''The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker'' is a 1959 American DeLuxe Color comedy film starring Clifton Webb and Dorothy McGuire directed by Henry Levin in CinemaScope. The film is based on the 1953 Broadway play of the same title, which ran for 221 pe ...
'' (1959).
During the filming of ''Tarzan'', Ely did almost all of his own stunts,
and received over two dozen injuries, including two broken shoulders and several lion bites.
Ely's height (6'4") and athletic build also won him the title role in the film ''
Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze'' (1975), as well as various guest shots. He was in five episodes of the series ''
Fantasy Island
''Fantasy Island'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Gene Levitt. It aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984. The series starred Ricardo Montalbán as the mysterious Mr. Roarke and Hervé Villechaize as his assistant, Tattoo. ...
''; in one, in 1978, he portrayed
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman people, Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the Crisis of the Roman Republic, transformation of the Roman Republic ...
in a
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
military short tunic and breastplate and starred in the ''
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...
'' two-part episode, "The Deadly Sting".
Ely starred on the series ''
The Aquanauts
''The Aquanauts'' (later known as ''Malibu Run'') is an American adventure/ drama series that aired on CBS September 14, 1960 - February 22, 1961 (or September 14, 1960 - September 27, 1961). The series stars Keith Larsen, Jeremy Slate and Ro ...
'' in 1960–1961, in the western adventure film ''
The Night of the Grizzly
''The Night of the Grizzly'' is a 1966 Western film starring Clint Walker, Martha Hyer, Keenan Wynn, Jack Elam and Nancy Kulp. Directed by Joseph Pevney and written by Warren Douglas, the film was released by Paramount Pictures on April 20, 19 ...
'' (1966) opposite
Clint Walker
Norman Eugene "Clint" Walker (May 30, 1927 – May 21, 2018) was an American actor. He played cowboy Cheyenne (TV series), Cheyenne Bodie in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC/Warner Bros. Western (genre)#Film, western series ''Cheyenn ...
, and later appeared in
's slavery movie ''Slavers'' (1978). In the 1980s, he hosted the musical
game show
A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...
''
Face the Music'', as well as the 1980 and 1981
Miss America Pageants, replacing longtime host
Bert Parks
Bert Parks (born Bertram Jacobson; December 30, 1914 – February 2, 1992) was an American actor, singer, and radio and television announcer, best known for hosting the annual Miss America telecast from 1955 to 1979.
Early life
Parks was bor ...
. He starred in a 1987–1988 revival of the 1960s adventure series ''
Sea Hunt
''Sea Hunt'' is an American action adventure television series that aired in syndication from 1958 to 1961 and was popular for decades afterwards. The series originally aired for four seasons, with 155 episodes produced. It stars Lloyd Bridges ...
'' as Mike Nelson, the role played by
Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Vernet Bridges Jr. (January 15, 1913 – March 10, 1998) was an American film, stage and television actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. He was the father of four children, includi ...
in the original series.
In the 1990s, Ely's roles included a retired alternate universe variant of
Superman
Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
in the ''
Superboy
Superboy is an identity used by several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. These characters have been featured in several eponymous comic series, in addition to ''Adventure Comics'' and other series ...
'' episode "The Road to Hell", and hunter Gordon Shaw in the ''
Tarzán
''Tarzán'' is a television series that aired in syndication from 1991–1994. In this version of the show, Tarzan ( Wolf Larson) was portrayed as a blond environmentalist, with Jane (Lydie Denier) turned into a French ecologist. The series air ...
'' episode "Tarzan the Hunted". Until about 2001, he appeared on such shows as ''
Sheena
Sheena may refer to:
People
*Ringo Sheena (born 1978), Japanese singer
*Shenna Bellows (born 1975), American politician
* Sheena Belarmino (born 2005), Filipino singer and dancer
* Sheena Catacutan (born 2004), Filipino dancer and singer, member ...
'' and ''
Renegade
Renegade or The Renegade may refer to:
Aircraft
*Lake Renegade, an American amphibious aircraft design
*Murphy Renegade, a Canadian ultralight biplane design
*Southern Aeronautical Renegade, an American racing aircraft design
Games
*''Command ...
''. He wrote two
mystery novel
Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a re ...
s featuring
private investigator
A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...
Jake Sands: ''Night Shadows'' (1994) and ''East Beach'' (1995).
Ely retired from acting in 2001, returning with an appearance in the television film ''
Expecting Amish'' (2014).
Personal life and death
Ely was born in
Hereford, Texas
Hereford ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Deaf Smith County, Texas, United States. It is 48 miles southwest of Amarillo, Texas, Amarillo. Its population was 14,972 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is the only incorporated ...
on June 21, 1938 and raised in
Amarillo. He married his high school sweetheart, Helen Janet Triplet, in 1959. Both natives of Hereford, Texas, they divorced in July 1961.
In 1984, Ely married Valerie Lundeen, who won the
Miss Florida USA
The Miss Florida USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Florida in the Miss USA pageant.
Up until the 2017 pageant, both Miss and Teen state pageants were held separately in different months. In recen ...
title in 1981,
and they had three children.
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. Police officers were called to the scene for a "family disturbance"
and killed Cameron Ely, claiming he posed a threat to officers.
The Santa Barbara district attorney ruled the police shooting a
justifiable homicide
The concept of justifiable homicide in criminal law is a defense to culpable homicide (criminal or negligent homicide). Generally, there is a burden to produce exculpatory evidence in the legal defense of justification.
In most countries, ...
. No charges were filed, and an attorney representing Ely disputed the police account of Cameron's death. An autopsy found Cameron was in the early stages of
chronic traumatic encephalopathy
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets wor ...
before he died.
Death
Ely died at the home of one of his daughters in
Los Alamos, California
Los Alamos (, meaning ''The Cottonwoods'') is an unincorporated community in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located in the Los Alamos Valley, the town of Los Alamos is considered to be a part of the Santa Ynez Valley communi ...
, on September 29, 2024, at age 86. His death was not announced until October 23, 2024.
Filmography
Source:
Film
Television
References
External links
*
Ron Ely at Brian's Drive-In Theater*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ely, Ron
1938 births
2024 deaths
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American male actors
Amarillo High School alumni
American game show hosts
American male film actors
American male novelists
American male television actors
Male actors from Texas
People from Amarillo, Texas