Do we know Ron Ely’s cause of death?

In his prime, Ron Ely was a tall and muscular man swinging around in a loincloth as Tarzan. But, this week he sadly passed away in Los Alamos, California at the grand old age of 86.

The 6’4” actor is probably the most recognizable face to play the famous character from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes. This was of course way before the 1999 Disney animated movie of the same name.

Ely was also known for playing Doc Savage in the mid-’70s action movie Doc Savage: The Man Of Bronze. In interviews, Ely claimed that he did his own stunts as Tarzan, which were seemingly tame when looked through the lens of modern-day stunt acting, but they took a toll on his body, leaving him with torn shoulders and damaged back muscles.

While the exact cause of death is unknown, his later years were marred by health troubles linked to his career. His daughter Kirsten said:

“I knew him as my dad – and what a heaven sent honor that has been. To me, he hung the moon. My father was my world – and what an incredible world he created. He was strong and protective. He was brilliant and ridiculously funny. He was stoic and sensitive. He was dynamic and powerful. He was my role model and inspiration. He was humble and inherently received respect – the respect he so deserved.”

Ely famously worked directly with the animals on set. “They first tried to cast a former American football player called Mike Henry but he did not like chimpanzees and from the moment he got on set, things went south in a hurry.”

Ely originally wasn’t going to play the part of Tarzan but fate intervened when Henry was attacked by said chimpanzee and hurt his jaw.

“I met with them on a Monday and when they offered me the role I thought, ‘no way do I want to step into that bear trap. You do Tarzan and you are stamped for life’,” Ely said. Ironically, he had an animal injury of his own when he was attacked by a lion on set.

When looking back, Ely said “was I ever right” about the typecasting thing, but his agent convinced him to do it, so he jumped on a plane to Brazil to shoot and never looked back.

“I had so many muscle pulls and tears and busted shoulders, wrists and bones,” he said in a 2013 interview. “Every part of me had been hurt. I pay for it today when I get out of bed in stages.”

Tarzan was a big hit for NBC at the time and ran for 57 episodes over two seasons. He was known as a “modern” Tarzan in that show. He had previously left the jungle life to learn the ways of modern man, but then decided to return back home. There was no Jane in that show but there was his sidekick – a chimp named Cheetah.

Ely was also known for a tragedy that happened to him later in life. In 2019, his son Cameron stabbed his 62-year-old wife Valerie Lundeen to death and then was killed by the police. An autopsy showed that Cameron was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease usually caused by repeated head blows. Cameron was a football star in college.

Ely was a family man to the core. In 2001, he quit acting to spend more time with his family and raise his daughters Kirsten and Kaitland.