RIP Tarzan - Ron Ely
 

Man I loved that show as a kid, it was just so different from anything else on tv back then

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...r-tribute.html

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He was no Johnny Weissmuller :p but he was the TV Tarzan I grew up watching.

Ely was cast at the last minute after the original choice, Mike Henry, was injured by a chimpanzee on the set of the pilot. Ely was initially reluctant to take the role, but his agent convinced him it was a quality show.

Ely did almost all of his stunts. He suffered two dozen major injuries, including two broken shoulders and various lion bites. (ouch)

A remote village in Mexico stood in for an African village in the series. In one instance, Ely taught children how to catch and throw baseballs.

The Tarzan series ran for two seasons (1966-1968) and 57 episodes.

Ely's wife, Valerie Lundeen, who was Ms. Florida 1981, was found stabbed to death in their residence in Santa Barbara, CA. The police were called to the scene for a "family disturbance" and killed a suspect identified as the couple's son, Cameron. An autopsy found that Cameron was suffering from the early stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

My regards to Jane


RIP Tarzan

There was no Jane in this TV series.

Even watching that trailer you can get an idea of just how dangerous that set could be... wrasslin lions, playing with chimps, riding elephants etc lol

Yeah that deal with his son killing his mom is just nuts, how did he even get CTE?

Wow. I watched that as a kid - IIRC one of the cable channels I got in Jeff City aired in on Sunday mornings in the mid 70s. While listening to the droning narration the theme song started playing in my head before I heard it in the video. I don't remember much about it all these decades later, but I must have liked it back the day.

Anyway, RIP.

RIP Ely, you'll always be the best Tarzan ever.

Here's what I found on a quick search.

Cheeta now prepared to spill the beans on Tarzan.

Sounds like San Marcos HS and Harvard had some horrible concussion protocols, he was awfully young to have such extensive damage that he was crazy enough to brutally murder his own mom

Poor Ron having to deal with that at 81 and stuck in a wheelchair

This sucks.

He'll always be Doc Savage to me.

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I used to watch this show as a kid growing up. I was able to pull off a pretty good Tarzan yell as well. :D Not so much any more.
RIP Ron.

Two dozen major injuries in two seasons of filming? Uh, no thanks.

I thought this show was amazing when I was a little kid.

Reading about his kid's murder makes me lose a lot of respect for Ron Ely. He called the police when his son went nuts. The son killed his wife and then the cops had to get taken down by the police. Ely then sued the police for excessive force and for not rendering aid to his wife quickly enough.

The lawsuit got thrown out, which was a good display of common sense. But I can't imagine Ely deciding to file a lawsuit that stupid.

Yeah, but most of them were just lion attacks.

I grew up with Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan and its the one I most watched.

I didn't I know of watching Ely as Tarzan but RIP. I recognize the face from Westerns.

My Tarzan was an Olympic swimmer and wrestled many a crocodile to its death.
https://media.gettyimages.com/id/517...9RaVh2YjKghEU=

RIP.