Death of Ron Ely: Tarzan star with tragic family history dies at the age of 86

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Ron Ely, who played Tarzan on an NBC television series from 1966 to 1968, has died. He was 86.

The Texan actor also starred in Doc Savage: The Bronze Man and later became known as the host of the television broadcast of the Miss America competition.

His death was announced by his daughter Kirsten in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The world has lost one of the greatest men it has ever known – and I have lost my father,” she said.

She continued: “My father was someone people called a hero. He was an actor, author, trainer, mentor, family man and leader. Wherever he went he created a powerful wave of positive influence.

“The effect he had on others was something I had never experienced in another person – there was something truly magical about him. That’s how the world knew him.”

“I knew him as my father – and what a heavenly honor that was. He hung the moon for me.”

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Ronald Pierce Ely was born on June 21, 1938 in Hereford, Texas. He began his film career with a small role as a navigator in the 1958 film adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific.

In 1966 he won the lead role in Tarzan TV series. He portrayed the character as an educated man who rejects civilization and returns to the African jungle where he grew up. Ely was known for performing all of the stunts himself on the series and regularly suffered injuries, including two broken shoulders and multiple lion bites.

Ely's 6'3″ height and good looks were also used in his starring role in the 1975 pulp action film Doc Savage: The Bronze Man. In the 1980s he hosted a game show, Face the musicand hosted the Miss America Pageants twice in 1980 and 1981.

His first marriage, to high school sweetheart Helen Janet Triplett, lasted from 1959 to 1961. He reportedly dated a number of high-profile fellow actors, including Ursula Andress, Barbara Bouchet and Britt Ekland.

In 1984, he married former Miss Florida, Valerie Lundeen, and they had three children: Kirsten, Kaitland and Cameron.

In October 2019, Lundeen was found stabbed to death in a residential community on the Santa Barbara coast. When police arrived at the scene, they shot the couple's son, Cameron, 24 times, killing him. Ely later sued the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department, saying they failed to try to save his family's lives.