Tarzan star Ron Ely’s tragic final years after son stabbed wife Valerie to death

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.

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.

Her future husband, Ron, also had associations with the world of pageants, having hosted the Miss America competition for two years in a row in 1980 and 1981.

Ron and Valerie got married in 1984 and had three children. The couple became grandparents for the first time in 2018 when their daughter Kaitland gave birth to her first child, a little boy.