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.
Related Posts
A Return Framed by Warning, Not Nostalgia
The reemergence of George W. Bush feels less like a political comeback and more like a quiet critique of how Washington now operates. His message doesn’t single out a…
A Procedural Test with Political Consequences
A push by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is putting renewed pressure on Republicans to decide how far they are willing to go in advancing election-related legislation. By encouraging the…
A Routine Stop, a Human Story: When Enforcement and Desperation Collide
What began as a routine checkpoint inspection quickly escalated into something far more serious. Authorities conducting standard procedures noticed unusual behavior, and a trained canine unit signaled…
Birthright Citizenship Debate Rekindles a Fundamental Question of Belonging
A new executive action tied to Donald Trump has reignited one of the most consequential constitutional debates in modern American life: who is entitled to citizenship at birth. The…
More Than a Dinner: What One Valentine’s Night Revealed About Us
Valentine’s Day had always meant something to me, even in its simplest form. That evening, my boyfriend surprised me with a reservation at one of the city’s…
What We Inherit Isn’t Always What We Expect
When my father died, he left me his house—a place layered with years of shared life, familiar routines, and quiet memories. I had already been living there,…