Cream of the Crop

'I didn't feel awkward or different in the loincloth at all. It began to feel normal to me.'

Earlier this year, when I was putting together my year end look at the celebrities we lost, I was struck by a few things when I was looking for images of actor Ron Ely.  I don't really have a connection with Ely, except through my father.  When I was a kid growing up int he 80's, my dad used to enjoy watching repeats of Tarzan, that sometimes ran on the weekends.  

I actually remember being annoyed when my dad would make us turn off the cartoons so he could watch Tarzan.   I didn't really like it that much, except for maybe Cheetah.  Like many young kids, my attraction to men in loin clothes wasn't really formed yet, I think I remember preferreing the character of Jane at the time. 

When I was looking for images of Ely, I had to save these shots of the actor with Diana Ross and the Supremes.  I had no idea the music sensations had appeared on the show, but thought the shots of Ely in his loincloth, with the habit wearing trio, were fun.  Although I didn't see the episode, I guessed they were playing nuns, working as missionary's in the jungle.  A little trip to IMDB confirmed they played nuns in an 1968 episode called 'The Convert.'

Searching for images of Ely also led me stores about the tragic death of his wife and son.  I hadn't heard or read that Ely's son Cameron had fatally stabbed his mother Valerie, then died himself after being shot by the police.  Ron, who was in his 80's at the time, was in the house during the incident.  Obviously this must have been traumatizing for the 80 year old actor, who then went to live with is daughter before his death last year.