Chuck Norris, martial arts master and actor, dies at 86
Updated ,first published
Chuck Norris is a martial arts grandmaster and action star. Walker, Texas Ranger and other television shows and movies made him an iconic tough guy – sparking parodies and fandoms across the internet – he died at age 86.
Norris died on Thursday (Friday AEDT) in what his family described as a “sudden death”.
“While we want to keep this situation private, please know that he is surrounded by his family and is at peace,” the family said in a statement on social media.
Before becoming a star in movies and television, Norris was extremely successful in competitive martial arts. He was a six-time undefeated World Professional Middleweight Karate champion. He also founded the Korea-based American style of hardcore karate, sometimes known as Chun Kuk Do, and the United Martial Arts Federation, which has awarded more than 3,300 Chuck Norris System black belts worldwide. Black Belt magazine ultimately inducted Norris into its hall of fame as a 10th-degree black belt, the highest honor possible.
Carlos Ray Norris was born on March 10, 1940, in Ryan, Oklahoma, and grew up poor. He moved with his family to Torrance, California, when he was 12 and joined the U.S. Air Force after high school in 1958. He began training in martial arts, including judo and Tang Soo Do, during his military service in Korea.
“I went out for gymnastics and football at North Torrance high school,” she told the Associated Press in 1982. “I played some football, but I also spent a lot of time on the bench. I was never really athletic until I was drafted in Korea.”
After being honorably discharged in 1962, he worked as a file clerk at Northrop Aircraft and applied to become a police officer, but was put on a waiting list. Meanwhile, he opened a martial arts studio that became a chain of students, including such stars as Bob Barker, Priscilla Presley, Donnie and Marie Osmond, and later Steve McQueen, who he credits with encouraging him to take up acting.
From one studio to another
Norris made his film debut as an uncredited bodyguard in the 1968 film. Demolition CrewIncluding a fight with Dean Martin. He also crossed paths with Bruce Lee in martial arts circles. Their friendship as sometimes sparring partners led to an iconic encounter in the 1972 film. Return of the DragonIn which Lee fights and kills Norris’ character in the Colosseum in Rome.
He appeared in more than 20 movies. Missing in Action, Delta Force And Helpers.
Norris said in 1982: “I wanted to project a certain image of a hero on the screen. I had seen too many anti-hero films where the protagonists were neither good nor bad. I had no one to root for.”
In 1993, he took on his most famous role as a crime-fighting lawman in TV series. Walker, Texas Ranger. The show ran for nine seasons, and in 2010, then-Gov. Rick Perry named him an honorary Texas Ranger. The Texas Senate later named him an honorary Texan.
“This is not violence for the sake of violence, without any moral fiber,” Norris told the AP in 1996, speaking about the demonstration. “You try to portray accurately what it’s about — fighting injustice with justice, good versus evil. … It’s fun for the whole family.”
Norris also made a surprise comedic appearance as the deciding referee in the final match of the 2004 film. dodgeball. He has only taken on occasional acting roles in recent years, including in 2012. Expendables 2 and the 2024 science fiction action movie Agent Discovery. It needs to emerge Zombie PlaneA new movie starring Vanilla Ice.
Chuck Norris: man, meme, legend
It was around that time dodgeball his tough guy image has literally become legendary: Facts about Chuck Norris It went viral with wildly exaggerated statements like “Chuck Norris had a staring contest with the sun and won” and “They wanted to put Chuck Norris on Mount Rushmore, but the granite wasn’t solid enough for his beard.”
Norris eventually embraced the absurdity of the meme craze and The Official Chuck Norris Trivia Book, He combined his favorites with supposedly true stories and the rules he aimed to follow. He would also write books on martial arts training, a memoir, political issues, Civil War-era historical fiction, and more.
“To some who know very little about my martial arts or film career but perhaps grew up that way Walker, Texas Ranger, “It seems I’ve become something of a legendary superhero icon,” Norris wrote in the book’s foreword. “I was flattered and humbled.”
This book raised money for a nonprofit organization he founded with President George H. W. Bush that promotes martial arts education for children.
The 2008 Republican presidential primaries featured deliberately odd statements during the 2008 Republican presidential primaries, when Norris supported Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and filmed an ad that was played on television. Facts about Chuck Norris.
Supporters of President Donald Trump later promoted Trump Facts in the same way, and political pundits also tried it; They described the commander-in-chief’s decision to take on Venezuela’s incumbent president, Nicolas Maduro, as a “Chuck Norris Moment” and its initial impact on oil prices as a “Chuck Norris Bonus.”
Norris has been outspoken about his Christian beliefs and support for gun rights, and has supported political candidates for years; He even went skydiving with Bush for the former president’s 80th birthday. As for Trump, Norris supported him in the 2016 general election and wrote guest posts praising him without explicitly endorsing him in the days before the 2020 and 2024 elections.
Norris is survived by five children: stunt performers Mike and Eric with his late ex-wife Dianne Holechek, twins Dakota and Danilee with his wife Gena Norris, and Dina, the result of a “one-night stand” revealed in his autobiography in the early 1960s.
A week before his death, Norris celebrated his birthday by posting a discussion video on Instagram.
“I’m not getting old. I’m leveling up,” he wrote.
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