Ron Ely

Acting

Ron Ely

Born 1938-06-21 · Hereford, Texas, USA

Ronald Pierce "Ron" Ely (born June 21, 1938) was an American actor and novelist born in Hereford, Texas. Ely is best known for having portrayed Tarzan in the 1966 NBC series Tarzan and for playing the lead role in the 1975 film Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze. Ely obtained the role after playing various bit-parts, including an airplane navigator in the 1958 film South Pacific and a guest-starring role on Barbara Eden's first television series, the romantic comedy How to Marry a Millionaire. Ely's height (6' 4") and athletic build also won him the title role in the 1975 film Doc Savage, as well as various guest shots. In a 1978 Fantasy Island episode, for example, Ely portrayed Mark Antony in a Roman military short tunic and breastplate that displayed almost as much of his physique as his Tarzan costume had. From 1960-61, Ely starred in the series The Aquanauts. In the 1980s, Ely hosted the musical game show Face the Music. Additionally, Ely hosted the 1980 and 1981 Miss America Pageants, replacing longtime host Bert Parks. In the 1990s, Ely’s roles included a retired Superman in the 1991 two-part episode "The Road to Hell" of the Superboy syndicated television series, and a big game hunter named Gordon Shaw in the 1992 episode "Tarzan the Hunted" of the syndicated Tarzán TV series (starring Wolf Larson). In recent years Ely has embarked on a successful writing career and has penned two mystery novels featuring private eye Jake Sands: Night Shadows (1994) and East Beach (1995). Until about 2001, Ely made appearances on popular TV shows, his most recent being Sheena and Renegade. He is now retired from acting. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ron Ely, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

South Pacific poster
6.1

Can a girl from Little Rock find happiness with a mature French planter she got to know one enchanted evening away from the military hospital where she is a nurse? Or should she just wash that man out of her hair? Bloody Mary is the philosopher of the island and it's hard to believe she could be the mother of Liat who has captured the heart of Lt. Joseph Cable USMC. While waiting for action in the war in the South Pacific, sailors and nurses put on a musical comedy show. The war gets closer and the saga of Nellie Forbush and Emile de Becque becomes serious drama.

South Pacific

1958

The Night of the Grizzly poster
5.9

Marshall "Big Jim" Cole turns in his badge and heads to Wyoming with his family in order to settle on some land left him by a relative. He faces opposition both from a neighbor who wants that land for his own sons, and from a grizzly bear nicknamed "Satan" who keeps killing Cole's livestock.

The Night of the Grizzly

1966

Slavers poster
4.0

A story about slave hunting, colonialism, revenge and love.

Slavers

1978

Underground Entertainment: The Movie poster
7.2

On the 20th anniversary of their edgy little 90's cable show Underground Entertainment, the authors, along with many SF, horror and B celebrities in cameos, remember how they pushed the envelope, shocked, entertained, but also introduced the audience to many movies, comics and conventions.

Underground Entertainment: The Movie

2011

Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze poster
5.2

In the Fabulous Thirties, Doc Savage and his five Amazing Adventurers are sucked into the mystery of Doc's father disappearing in the wilds of South America. The maniacal Captain Seas tries to thwart them at every turn as they travel to the country of Hidalgo to investigate Doc's father's death and uncover a vast horde of Incan gold.

Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze

1975

MitGift poster
4.6

Edgar Burgman, after collaborating to assassinate the elder senator husband of Alice Young, the wife remarried. The woman, after a short period, doubts of love Edgar and convinces more and more that, having married out of interest, now wants to eliminate the possession of his great assets.

MitGift

1976

Expecting Amish poster
6.7

Expecting Amish tells the story of 18-year-old Hannah Yoder, who is ready to join the Amish Church and marry her boyfriend Samuel. But things change when she goes to Hollywood and gets a glimpse of the world beyond.

Expecting Amish

2014

The Mountains of the Moon poster
NR

A religious sect, cheated by an adventurer, wants to occupy an African territory not knowing that it is inhabited by a bloodthirsty tribe. Luckily Tarzan intervenes.

The Mountains of the Moon

1967

Cry of the Black Wolves poster
5.3

A fur hunter living as a hermit in the Alaskan mountains is mistakenly suspected of the murder of a gold prospector. The murdered man's sister hires a gunslinger to catch the hunter, but after a dramatic confrontation, the two men become friends. Adventure movie based on Jack London's novel "Son of the Wolf".

Cry of the Black Wolves

1972

The Fiend Who Walked the West poster
6.4

A convicted bank robber, serving his sentence and yearning for freedom, becomes entangled with a psychotic, homicidal inmate. This inmate turns on him, terrorizing his wife and murdering his friends.

The Fiend Who Walked the West

1958

Tarzan's Jungle Rebellion poster
6.3

In this exciting jungle adventure the esteemed archaeologist, Dr Singleton, and his daughter, Mary, travel to mystical Africa in search of an ancient artifact: the fabled Blue Stone of Heaven. Imbued with the unfathomable power to bestow its holder with immense strength, the statuette attracts corrupt Colonel Tatakombi, who, blind with greed, intends to spark an uprising, and turn the natives against Tarzan. Can mighty Tarzan avert the jungle rebellion?

Tarzan's Jungle Rebellion

1967

Tarzan's Deadly Silence poster
5.0

Tarzan tries to stop a bloodthirsty Colonel from taking over an African village with his soldiers of fortune. The ape-man has been rendered deaf by an exploding hand grenade, effectively limiting one of his keen senses. Tarzan relies on his telepathic powers to stop a lion. Woody Strode also appears in this film that combines two made for television episodes.

Tarzan's Deadly Silence

1970

Once Before I Die poster
3.4

Stranded behind enemy lines when the Japanese attack the Philippines in late 1941, Lt. Bailey must lead a group of soldiers and their families to safety and the streets of Manila. During the perilous trek, Alex befriends a virginal young soldier whose only desire is to have sex once before he dies.

Once Before I Die

1966

Tarzan and the Perils of Charity Jones poster
9.0

Jai, the orphaned boy adopted by the Monkey Man, helps missionary Charity Jones bring an organ to a friendly tribe, but they are captured by hostile natives.

Tarzan and the Perils of Charity Jones

1971

Tarzan and the Four O'Clock Army poster
7.0

Tarzan has to deal with slave traders who are making raids into African villages to get slaves.

Tarzan and the Four O'Clock Army

1968

The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker poster
7.1

In early 1900s' Pennsylvania, Mr. Pennypacker has two company offices and two families with a combined total of 17 children. With an office in Harrisburg and an office in Philadelphia, he has successfully kept two separate homes. However, when an emergency requires his oldest son to find him, Mr. Pennypacker's dual life is revealed.

The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker

1959

Tarzan at the Movies, Part 2: The Many Faces of Tarzan poster
NR

Hollywood remembers the other Tarzans. A history of Hollywood Tarzans featuring profiles of the many actors who played the role, from the silent era to the most recent movie versions.

Tarzan at the Movies, Part 2: The Many Faces of Tarzan

1996

Tarzan Revisited poster
6.5

Tarzan: the super hero who never goes out of fashion. The son of British Royalty, he is raised by apes in the African jungle and finds his true love, Jane. Swinging through trees, communicating with wild animals, he is exotic, entertaining and accessible. This film recounts the birth of the character in the mind of Edgar Rice Burroughs and how each generation has reinvented and reinterpreted him.

Tarzan Revisited

2017

Alleluja & Sartana Are Sons... Sons of God poster
4.6

Two conmen, posing as missionaries, are out to swindle the members of a church group in this slapstick western.

Alleluja & Sartana Are Sons... Sons of God

1972

Tarzan: Lord of the Movies poster
NR

The history of the Tarzan films is presented through behind-the-scenes footage and scenes from the Jungle King’s many classic movies.

Tarzan: Lord of the Movies

2017

In Search of Tarzan with Jonathan Ross poster
NR

A look at Tarzan on the big and small screen with interviews with some of those who have played him.

In Search of Tarzan with Jonathan Ross

1998