Ron Ely

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"Ronald Pierce" redirects here. For the sound engineer, see Ronald Pierce (sound engineer).
Ron Ely
File:Doc Savage Wink.jpg
Ely as Doc Savage in 1975
Born Ronald Pierce Ely
(1938-06-21)June 21, 1938
Hereford, Texas, US
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Los Alamos, California, US
Occupation
  • Actor
  • novelist
Years active 1957–2001, 2014
Spouse(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Helen Janet Triplet (m. 1959; div. 1961)
  • Valerie Lundeen (m. 1984; d. 2019)
Children 3

Ronald Pierce Ely (June 21, 1938 – September 29, 2024) was an American actor and novelist.

Ely is best known for having portrayed Tarzan in the 1966–1968 NBC series Tarzan and for 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.

Career

File:Barbara Bouchet Ron Ely Fernando Lamas Tarzan 1968.jpg

Ely won the role of Tarzan in 1966 after playing supporting roles in films such as South Pacific (1958), as an airplane navigator, The Fiend Who Walked the West (1958) and The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (1959).

During the filming of Tarzan, Ely did virtually all of his stunts for the series,[2] and suffered two dozen major injuries in the process, including two broken shoulders and various lion bites.[3]

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; in one, in 1978, Ely portrayed Mark Antony in a Roman military short tunic and breastplate. Also in 1978, Ely starred in the Wonder Woman television series two-part episode "The Deadly Sting."

Ely starred on the series The Aquanauts in 1960–1961, in the western adventure film The Night of the Grizzly (1966) opposite Clint Walker, and later appeared in Jürgen Goslar's slavery movie Slavers (1978). In the 1980s, he hosted the musical game show Face the Music, as well as the 1980 and 1981 Miss America Pageants, replacing longtime host Bert Parks.[4] Later in the decade, Ely starred in a 1987–1988 revival of the 1960s adventure series Sea Hunt as Mike Nelson, the role played by Lloyd Bridges in the original series.

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". Until about 2001, Ely made appearances on such television shows as Sheena and Renegade.

Ely retired from acting in 2001, but he returned to acting with an appearance in the television film Expecting Amish (2014).[1]

Ely embarked on a professional writing career and authored two published mystery novels featuring private eye Jake Sands: Night Shadows (1994) and East Beach (1995).[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 stayed together until their divorce in July 1961.[7] He later dated actresses Ursula Andress, Barbara Bouchet, Dyan Cannon, and Britt Ekland. In 1984 he married Valerie Lundeen, who won the Miss Florida USA title in 1981,[7] and they had three children.[1]

On October 15, 2019, Lundeen was found stabbed to death in Hope Ranch, California, a coastal residential community in Santa Barbara where she and Ely resided.[8] Police officers were called to the scene for a "family disturbance"[1][9] and killed a suspect identified as the couple's son, Cameron.[2] In October 2020, Ely challenged the Santa Barbara district attorney who had described the police's actions as justifiable homicide. Ultimately, no charges were filed against the deputies involved in the shooting.[10][11] An autopsy found that Cameron was suffering from the early stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy at the time of his death.[12]

Ron 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 made public until his daughter announced it on October 23, 2024.[16][17]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1958 South Pacific Navigator
1958 The Fiend Who Walked the West Deputy Jim Dyer
1959 The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker Wilbur Fielding
1966 The Night of the Grizzly Tad Curry
1966 Once Before I Die Soldier
1972 Der Schrei der schwarzen Wölfe Bill Robinson
1972 100 Fäuste und ein Vaterunser Hallelujah
1975 Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze Clark Savage Jr. aka Doc
1976 MitGift Dr. Kurt Jahn
1978 Slavers Steven Hamilton
1981 The Seal
2014 Expecting Amish Elder Miller

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1959 Father Knows Best Jerry Preston Episode: "Crisis Over a Kiss"
1959 Steve Canyon Pete Randall Episode: "The Sergeant"
1959 Playhouse 90 Buddy Episode: "The Second Happiest Day"
1959 How to Marry a Millionaire Philip Jackson Episode: "The Method"
1959 The Millionaire Jim Phillips Episode: "Millionaire Sergeant Matthew Brogan"
1959 The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis Dobie's Older Brother Episode: "Pilot"
1960 The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp Arleigh Smith Episode: "The Posse"
1961 The Aquanauts Mike Madison 18 episodes
1962 Thriller Lt. Mike Hudson Episode: "Waxworks"
1966–1968 Tarzan Tarzan 57 episodes
1969 The Courtship of Eddie's Father Ronald Episode: "Pain"
1971 Ironside Scott Bradley Episode: "A Killing at the Track"
1974 Marcus Welby, M.D. Ben Brecht Episode: "To Father a Child"
1978 Wonder Woman Bill Michaels Episode: "The Deadly Sting"
1979–1984 Fantasy Island Fred Spenser / Burt Hunter / Kevin Lansing Eric Williams / Marc Anthony / Baron Manfred von Richthofen 5 episodes
1980–1981 Face The Music Host[18] Main role
1980–1981 The Love Boat Ted Cole / Jim / Steve Swaggart / Darryl Brewster 3 episodes
1983 Matt Houston Winston Fowler Episode: "A Deadly Parlay"
1983 Hotel Evan Paige Episode: "Charades"
1987 Sea Hunt Mike Nelson 22 episodes
1991 Superboy Superman Episode: "The Road to Hell"
1992 Tarzán Gordon Shaw Episode: "Tarzan, the Hunted"
1992 The Hat Squad Carl Strong Episode: "Family Business"
1993 L.A. Law Episode: "Book of Renovation"
1993–1994 Renegade Gen. Howard Bird / Reverend McClain 2 episodes
1994 Hawkeye Harry March Episode: "Out of the Past"
2001 Sheena Bixby Episode: "The Feral King"

References

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External links

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