In the 1960s he became famous as “Tarzan” and later filmed with Uschi Glas. Ron Ely has now died at the age of 86.
The US actor Ron Ely is dead. The 86-year-old died on September 29th with his family in Los Alamos, his daughter Kirsten told the TMZ portal. “Wherever he went, he unleashed a powerful wave of positive influence,” she said in an Instagram post.
Popularity through “Tarzan”
Ely became famous in the 1960s as “Tarzan” in the NBC series of the same name, which also ran in Germany. Ely did not achieve the fame of Johnny Weissmuller, a Tarzan actor in the 1930s and 1940s and an Olympic swimmer. But he helped shape the image of the jungle hero wearing only a loincloth.
In 1972 he also appeared in front of the camera with Uschi Glas in the spaghetti western “100 Fists and the Lord's Prayer”. He also had a leading role in the adventure film “Doc Savage – The Man of Bronze” (1975). He later appeared in TV series such as “Fantasy Island” and “Love Boat”. In the 1990s he also wrote two crime novels.
In 2001, Ely ended his acting career to focus on his family. In 2014 he briefly returned to the screen for the film “Expecting Amish”.
Violent crime shocked family
Ely had been married to Valerie Lundeen, a former Florida beauty queen, since 1984. The couple had three children: two daughters and a son. In 2019, the family was rocked by a violent crime in which Ely's son Cameron first stabbed his mother and was later shot by police.
Ron Ely later questioned the prosecution's report that the shooting was justified. Ron Ely was at home when the crime occurred.
