During the filming of Tarzan, Ely did virtually all of his stunts for the series,[3] and suffered two dozen major injuries in the process, including two broken shoulders and various lion bites.[4]
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."
In the 1990s, Ely's roles included a retired Superman from an alternative reality in the 1991 two-part episode "The Road to Hell" of the Superboy syndicated television series, and a big game hunter named Gordon Shaw in the 1992 episode "Tarzan the Hunted" of the syndicated Tarzán TV series (starring Wolf Larson). Until about 2001, Ely made appearances on such television shows as Sheena and Renegade.
Ely had retired from acting in 2001, but he returned to acting with an appearance in the television movie Expecting Amish (2014).[2]
Writer
Ely embarked on a professional writing career and has authored two published mystery novels featuring private eye Jake Sands: Night Shadows (1994) and East Beach (1995).[2]
Personal life
Ely 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 former Miss Florida USA, Valerie Lundeen,[7] and they had three children: Kirsten, Kaitland, and Cameron.[2]
On October 15, 2019, Valerie was found stabbed to death at the Hope Ranch residential community along the Santa Barbara coast where the couple lived; Ron was unharmed.[8] Police were called to the scene for a "family disturbance",[2][9] and a suspect identified as the couple's son Cameron was shot dead by Santa Barbara County sheriff's deputies.[3] In October 2020, Ely challenged the Santa Barbara District Attorney after the police's actions were described as justifiable homicide by the district attorney and no charges were filed against the deputies who were 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]