Ronald Pierce "Ron" Ely (born June 21, 1938) is an American actor and novelist born in Hereford, Texas. Ely is best known for having portrayed Tarzan on the 1966 NBC series Tarzan and for playing the lead role in the film Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975).
Ely won the role of Tarzan in 1966 after playing various supporting parts in films such as South Pacific (1958), as an airplane navigator, The Fiend Who Walked the West (1958) and The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (1959), as well as a guest-starring role on Barbara Eden's first television series, the romantic comedy How to Marry a Millionaire. During the filming of Tarzan, Ely did virtually all of his stunts for the series, and suffered two dozen major injuries in the process, including two broken shoulders and various lion bites. Ely's height (6' 4") and athletic build also won him the title role in the film Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975), 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.