Ron Ely, the handsome, affable 6-foot-4-inch actor who starred as “Tarzan” in a 1960s TV show, has died at age 86, five years after his wife and son were killed in a devastating family tragedy.
Ely’s daughter, Kirsten Ely, has revealed to TMZ that her father died peacefully at home on Sept. 29, surrounded by his family. She also shared an emotional tribute to the Texas-born TV actor in a lengthy Instagram post, calling her “brilliant,” “funny,” “stoic and sensitive” father her “role model and inspiration.”
Kirsten Ely also mentioned the grief he had lived with since Oct. 15, 2019. That’s when his 30-year-old son, Cameron Ely, fatally stabbed his mother, 62-year-old Valerie London Ely, in the family home outside Santa Barbara. A short time later, Cameron Ely was shot death in the driveway of the home by responding Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies.
The autopsy done on Ely, a star high school athlete who once played football for Harvard, found that he was in the early stages of CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease that can be caused by repeated blows to the head, Noozhawk.com reported.
“My greatest comfort is knowing that my dad is with my momma and my brother,” Kirsten Ely wrote on Instagram, explaining her belief that the three have been reunited in death. “It is also my greatest sadness, because I miss them all so much that it’s etched into my soul. I will proudly carry all of my favorite pieces of them — lovingly cemented into my heart — until we all meet again.”
Authorities investigated a 2019 homicide at the home of actor Ron Ely, seen here in his most famous role as Tarzan. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty)
Kirsten Ely didn’t mention a cause of death, but the actor was recovering from a stroke at the time his wife and son were killed.
A year after the incident, the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office ruled the fatal shooting of Cameron Ely “justifiable” even though he was unarmed, Noozhawk.com reported. Cameron Ely was shot 22 times. In a report, the D.A’s office said that, while deputies were trying to take a disheveled-looking Cameron Ely into custody in the driveway, he sprang back up towards the officers. He also bent forward at his waist and claimed, “I have a gun.”
Cameron Ely’s actions, coupled with deputies’ belief that he had violently stabbed his mother and could still be armed, made the deputies “fear” for their lives, the D.A’s report said, according to Noozhawk.com. Investigators also were told by the family that Cameron Ely’s behavior had been “erratic,” “unstable” and “volatile” for a long time, but it had become “more concerning” in the days leading up to October 15, 2019, the report said. One sister said her brother’s behavior was “definitely delusional,” while the other sister refused to go to the house because she was afraid of him.
A short time later, Ron Ely, Kirsten Ely and his other surviving daughter, Kaitland Ely-Sweet, contested the D.A.’s report at a press conference outside the family home, Noozhawk.com also reported. Kirsten Ely said her brother “posed no threat” when deputies encountered him, and their attorney, Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris, said, “the shooting itself was unjustified.” Burris said the deputies “engaged in the unjustified use of deadly force and denial of medical care,” resulting in the deaths of both Ron Ely’s wife and son.
Following the deaths of his wife and son, Ely’s diehard fans, as well as people who were just discovering him for the first time through news reports about the tragedy, were asking how this could have happened.
Ely first gained prominence playing Tarzan in the NBC series that ran for two seasons, from 1966-1968, according to his IMDB page. In interviews, he explained how he did his own stunts for the show.
Ely thereafter carved out a busy, journeyman Hollywood career, getting a lead in the 1975 action film, “Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze” and doing appearances on shows like “Wonder Woman,” “Fantasy Island” and “The Love Boat” in the 1970s and the syndicated show “Sheena” in the early 2000s. He also hosted the Miss America pageant in 1981 and 1982 and turned to writing, publishing two mystery novels in the 1990s.
Ron and Valerie Ely at the wedding of their daughter Kaitland in 2016, with son Cameron on the far left and daughter Kirsten on the far right. (Kaitland Ely/Facebook)
Following a brief marriage to his high school sweetheart that ended in divorce in 1961, Ely stayed single until he met Valerie, who was crowned Miss Florida USA in 1981 and who competed in the Miss USA beauty pageant. Ely and Valerie married in 1984 and had two daughters, Kirsten and Kaitland, and then Cameron.
From published reports about the Ely family over the decades, it appears that the actor and his wife of 35 years created a loving home for their son and daughters in the exclusive Hope Ranch neighborhood of Santa Barbara. In interviews, Ely talked about how he left acting to devote himself to being a hands-on father.
Cameron Ely also seemed to thrive. Having inherited his father’s good looks and athletic prowess, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy, earned a spot at Harvard and joined the elite university’s football team in 2007 as a quarterback. He reportedly graduated from Harvard in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, but it’s not clear what he did after he left college, other than Ron Ely saying that year that his son was back living at home.
On Instagram, Kirsten Ely said her father was an actor, writer, coach, mentor, family man and leader. “He created a powerful wave of positive influence wherever he went,” she said. “The impact he had on others is something that I have never witnessed in any other person — there was something truly magical about him.”
Kirsten Ely described how his life was marked by “relentless perseverance, unending dedication to his family and friends, courage to do what was right and willing sacrifice to facilitate the dreams of those he loved.”
“It was also a story of joy and love — something everyone close to him had the privilege of experiencing,” Kirsten Ely said. “Once you knew my father’s love, the world grew to be a brighter and more meaningful place.”