'Tarzan' actor, whose wife was stabbed to death by his son, has died aged 86

Ron Ely, the actor who played “Tarzan” in the 1960s NBC series of the same name, has died at the age of 86.

Ely's daughter, Kirsten Casale Ely, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that her father died on September 29 at his home in Los Alamos, California.

“The world has lost one of the greatest men it has ever known – and I have lost my father,” Kirsten Ely said in an Instagram post.

“He was an actor, author, coach, mentor, family man and leader. Wherever he went he created a powerful wave of positive influence. The effect he had on others was something I had never experienced in another person – there was something truly magical about him.”

In 2019, his then 62-year-old wife, Valerie Lundeen Ely, was stabbed to death in their Santa Barbara, California, home by their 30-year-old son, Cameron Ely, who was subsequently shot and killed by police. Ron Ely, who was home during the stabbing, disputed the prosecutor's report that the shooting of his son was justified.

In the early 1980s, Ely hosted the Miss America pageant and met Valerie, a Miss Florida. They married in 1984. The couple had three children and Ely retired from acting in 2001 to focus on his family.

The Associated Press contributed to this report