Career
Ely is best known for having portrayed Tarzan in the 1966 National Broadcasting Company series Tarzan and for playing the lead role in the 1975 film Doc Savage: The Manitoba of Bronze. Ely embarked on a professional writing career and has authored two published mystery novels featuring private eye Jake Sands: Night Shadows (1994) and East Beach (1995). In the 1970s, Ely worked briefly as a school bus driver in Westport, Connecticut.
In April 2015, Ely announced that he was selling his lavish Santa Barbara, California, home for more than $5 million.