‘Tarzan’ actor Ron Ely’s wife killed; son shot by deputies

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2019 06:01:19 +0000

Ron Ely (AP)

“Tarzan” actor Ron Ely’s wife was stabbed to death in their California home by their 30-year-old son, who was then shot and killed by sheriff’s deputies, authorities said Wednesday.

Deputies summoned to the home by a 911 call found Valerie Lundeen Ely, 62, dead with multiple stab wounds shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday, a Santa Barbara County sheriff’s statement said.

The deputies talked to Ron Ely and identified his son, 30-year-old Cameron Ely, as the suspect, and found him outside the home in Hope Ranch, a suburb of luxury homes outside Santa Barbara, authorities said.

Cameron Ely posed a threat to deputies, four of whom opened fire and killed him, the statement said. It did not say what he had done that was threatening.

Ron Ely, 81, played the title character on the NBC series “Tarzan,” which ran from 1966 to 1968.

He was host of the Miss America pageant in 1980 and 1981 and later married Valerie Ely, a former Miss Florida. The couple had three children.

There was no report of Ron Ely being injured. Authorities confirmed he was at the home during the stabbing and the shooting, and an earlier sheriff’s statement said an elderly man in the home was taken to a hospital for evaluation.

The home where the killings took place is one of two addresses listed in public records for Cameron Ely. It is not clear whether he had been living with his parents.

The tall, muscle-bound actor Ron Ely was not quite as well-known as Johnny Weismuller, the Olympic swimmer who played “Tarzan,” the character created by novelist Edgar Rice Burroughs, in
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