Ely made a brief return to acting for one television film, Expecting Amish, in 2014, where he played an Amish elder.
In the 1980s, he appeared in other hit television programmes including cruise ship-based comedy The Love Boat, as well as Wonder Woman with star Lynda Carter.
Born in Texas in 1938, Ely went on to marry his high school sweetheart in 1959, before divorcing two years later.
He was also known for hosting the Miss America pageant in the early 1980s, where he met his wife Valerie. The couple went on to have three children.
Ely died at his home in Los Alamos in Santa Barbara, California on 29 September.
Announcing the death in an Instagram post on Wednesday, the actor’s daughter said: “My father was someone that people called a hero. He was an actor, writer, coach, mentor, family man and leader.”
She added: “I knew him as my dad – and what a heaven sent honour that has been. To me, he hung the moon.”
