Ron and Valerie first met after he found fame playing Tarzan on television
Actor Ron Ely, who is best known for being the star of the 1960s Tarzan TV series, has died at the age of 86.
His final years were shrouded in tragedy, and his death comes five years after his second wife, Valerie Lundeen Ely, was killed in tragic circumstances at the couple’s home in California.
The former flight attendant was fatally stabbed by their son, Cameron Ely, in the family’s home in Santa Barbara, at the age of 62.
Cameron was fatally shot at the scene by authorities with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
Ron, who retired from acting in 2001 (apart from a brief appearance in TV movie Expecting Amish in 2014), and his wife Valerie were married for 35 years before her death.
The couple had three children together, Kirsten, Kaitland, and Cameron.
Who was Ron Ely’s wife Valerie Lundeen?
Ron Ely’s wife was Valerie Lundeen, a devoted mother who once worked as a flight attendant and won Miss Airline International, a beauty pageant for flight attendants, in 1980.
A year later, Valerie was crowned Miss Florida, USA in a beauty pageant in 1981, and she would later compete for the title of Miss USA.
‘The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office is conducting criminal, coroner’s, and administrative investigations of this incident. Autopsies of both the victim and the suspect are pending. The names of the involved deputies will be released at a later date.’
In October 2020, Ron Ely filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
In court documents obtained by People, the lawsuit claimed that Cameron was surrendering before police shot him more than 20 times.
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Lawyers for Ron said in the documents: ‘The reprehensible conduct of the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department Deputies was egregious, entirely unreasonable, and, accordingly, unconstitutional.’
In October 2022 a federal jury in California’s Central District rejected the lawsuit, according to local news outlet KEYT.
Sheriff Bill Brown said in a statement at the time, ‘Although we recognize that this was a tragic situation, and have great sympathy for the Ely family, the use of deadly force against Cameron Ely was justified and lawful under the circumstances.’
