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.
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.
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.
Valerie was 62 years old when she was killed.
What happened with Ron and Valerie’s son, Cameron Ely?
Valerie was killed on October 15, 2019, when she was stabbed to death by her son, Cameron Ely, at the family home in California.
Officers who were called to the scene in Santa Barbara reported that they found Valerie dead after having suffered ‘multiple stab wounds’.
They found Cameron, who was 30 at the time, outside the home. He was deemed a threat after deputies were unable to ‘gain verbal control of the suspect’ and officers fired shots at him, fatally wounding Cameron and killing him at the scene.
A statement on the tragic incident from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff said: ‘The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call at the home of actor Ron Ely.
‘Upon arrival, deputies contacted Ron Ely and discovered his wife, Valerie Lundeen Ely, 62, deceased with multiple stab wounds inside the home. While on scene, deputies identified the suspect as the Ely’s son, 30-year-old Cameron Ely.
‘Deputies searched the residence and surrounding area for Cameron Ely. During the search, the suspect was located outside the home. He posed a threat and in response four deputies fired their service weapons at the suspect, fatally wounding him. No deputies were injured during the confrontation with the suspect.’
‘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.’