{"id":1892,"date":"2026-09-27T19:29:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T19:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reallifestory.online\/?p=1892"},"modified":"2026-09-27T19:29:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T19:29:57","slug":"sad-news-tarzan-star-ron-elys-final-years-marked-by-deep-family-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reallifestory.online\/?p=1892","title":{"rendered":"SAD NEWS: Tarzan Star Ron Ely\u2019s Final Years Marked by Deep Family Tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Five years before Ron Ely\u2019s Sept. 29 death, his son fatally stabbed his wife of 35 years in the family home and was then shot and killed by responding Santa Barbara County sheriff\u2019s deputies<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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\"This<\/div>
This Dec. 28, 1987 file photo shows former \u201cTarzan\u201d actor Ron Ely during an interview in Los Angeles. (AP Photo\/Reed Saxon, File)
\nRon Ely, the handsome, affable 6-foot-4-inch actor who starred as \u201cTarzan\u201d in a 1960s TV show, has died at age 86, five years after his wife and son were killed in a devastating family tragedy. <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Ely\u2019s daughter, Kirsten Ely,that her father died peacefully at home on Sept. 29, surrounded by his family. She also shared an emotional tribute to the Texas-born TV actor in a lengthy Instagram post, calling her \u201cbrilliant,\u201d \u201cfunny,\u201d \u201cstoic and sensitive\u201d father her \u201crole model and inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kirsten Ely also mentioned the grief he had lived with since Oct. 15, 2019. That\u2019s when his 30-year-old son, Cameron Ely, fatally stabbed his mother, 62-year-old Valerie London Ely, in the family home outside Santa Barbara. A short time later, Cameron Ely was shot death in the driveway of the home by responding Santa Barbara County Sheriff\u2019s deputies.<\/p>\n

The autopsy done on Ely, a star high school athlete who once played football for Harvard, found that he was in the early stages of CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease that can be caused by repeated blows to the head<\/p>\n

\u201cMy greatest comfort is knowing that my dad is with my momma and my brother,\u201d Kirsten Ely explaining her belief that the three have been reunited in death. \u00a0\u201cIt is also my greatest sadness, because I miss them all so much that it\u2019s etched into my soul. I will proudly carry all of my favorite pieces of them \u2014 lovingly cemented into my heart \u2014 until we all meet again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Authorities<\/figure>\n

Kirsten Ely didn\u2019t mention a cause of death, but the actor was recovering from a stroke at the time his wife and son were killed.<\/p>\n

A year after the incident, the Santa Barbara District Attorney\u2019s Office ruled the fatal shooting of Cameron Ely \u201cjustifiable\u201d even though he was unarmed, Noozhawk.com reported. Cameron Ely was shot 22 times. In a report, the D.A\u2019s office said that, while deputies were trying to take a disheveled-looking Cameron Ely into custody in the driveway, he sprang back up towards the officers. He also bent forward at his waist and claimed, \u201cI have a gun.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Five years before Ron Ely\u2019s Sept. 29 death, his son fatally stabbed his wife of 35 years in the family home and was then shot and killed by responding Santa … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSAD NEWS: Tarzan Star Ron Ely\u2019s Final Years Marked by Deep Family Tragedy - REAL LIFE STORY<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reallifestory.online\/?p=1892\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SAD NEWS: Tarzan Star Ron Ely\u2019s Final Years Marked by Deep Family Tragedy - 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