Chuck Norris, martial arts legend and actor, dies at 86
Martial arts legend and Hollywood actor Chuck Norris, known for “Walker, Texas Ranger” and action films, has died at 86, leaving behind a legacy in cinema, martial arts and popular culture, including the widely known “Chuck Norris Facts” phenomenon
New Delhi: Chuck Norris, the martial arts grandmaster and action star whose roles in “Walker, Texas Ranger” and other television shows and movies made him an iconic tough guy, sparking internet parodies and adoration from presidents, has died at 86.
Norris died on Thursday, in what his family described as a “sudden passing.” “While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace,” the family said in a statement posted on social media.
Before he became a star in movies and on TV, Norris was highly successful in competitive martial arts. He was a six-time undefeated World Professional Middleweight Karate champion. He also founded his own Korean-based American hard style of karate, known as Chun Kuk Do, and the United Fighting Arts Federation, which has awarded more than 3,300 Chuck Norris System black belts worldwide. Black Belt magazine credited Norris in its hall of fame with holding a 10th-degree black belt, the highest possible honour.
Born Carlos Ray Norris in Ryan, Oklahoma, on March 10, 1940, he grew up poor. At age 12, he moved with his family to Torrance, California, and joined the US Air Force after high school in 1958. It was during a deployment to Korea that he started training in martial arts, including judo and Tang Soo Do. “I went out for gymnastics and football at North Torrance High,” he 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 in the service in Korea.”
After he was honourably discharged in 1962, he worked as a file clerk for Northrop Aircraft and applied to be a police officer, but was put on a waitlist. Meanwhile, he opened a martial arts studio, which expanded into a chain, with students including Bob Barker, Priscilla Presley, Donny and Marie Osmond, and Steve McQueen, whom he later credited with encouraging him to get into acting.
From one studio to another
Norris made his film debut as an uncredited bodyguard in the 1968 movie “The Wrecking Crew,” which included a fight with Dean Martin. He had also crossed paths with Bruce Lee in martial arts circles. Their friendship, sometimes as sparring partners, led to an iconic face-off in the 1972 movie “Return of the Dragon,” in which Lee fights and kills Norris’ character in Rome’s Colosseum.
He went on to act in more than 20 movies, such as “Missing in Action,” “The Delta Force” and “Sidekicks.”
“I wanted to project a certain image on the screen of a hero. I had seen a lot of anti-hero movies in which the lead was neither good nor bad. There was no one to root for,” Norris said in 1982.
In 1993, he took on his most famous role as a crime-fighting lawman in TV’s “Walker, Texas Ranger.” The show ran for nine seasons, and in 2010, then Governor Rick Perry awarded him the title of honorary Texas Ranger. The Texas Senate later named him an honorary Texan.
“It’s not violence for violence’s sake, with no moral structure,” Norris told the AP in 1996, speaking about the show. “You try to portray the proper meaning of what it’s about, fighting injustice with justice, good versus bad. It’s entertaining for the whole family.”
Norris also made a surprise comedic appearance as a decisive judge in the final match of the 2004 movie “Dodgeball.” He only occasionally took acting roles in recent years, including 2012’s “The Expendables 2” and the 2024 sci-fi action movie “Agent Recon.” He is due to appear in “Zombie Plane,” an upcoming film starring Vanilla Ice.
Chuck Norris: the man, the meme, the legend
It was around the time of “Dodgeball” that his toughman image became the stuff of legend: “Chuck Norris Facts” went viral online with such wildly exaggerated statements as, “Chuck Norris had a staring contest with the sun and won,” and, “They wanted to put Chuck Norris on Mt Rushmore, but the granite wasn’t tough enough for his beard.”
Norris ultimately embraced the meme craze, putting together “The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book,” which combined his favourites with true stories and the principles he aimed to live by. He also wrote books on martial arts instruction, a memoir, political views, Civil War-era historical fiction and more.
“To some who know little of my martial arts or film careers but perhaps grew up with ‘Walker, Texas Ranger,’ it seems that I have become a somewhat mythical superhero icon,” Norris wrote in the foreword to the “Fact Book.” “I am flattered and humbled.”
That book raised money for a nonprofit he founded with President George H W Bush that promoted martial arts instruction for children. The statements featured in the 2008 Republican presidential primary, when Norris endorsed Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and appeared in an advertisement based on the “Chuck Norris Facts.”
“Chuck Norris doesn’t endorse. He tells America how it’s going to be,” Huckabee said in the campaign advertisement.
President Donald Trump’s supporters later promoted “Trump Facts” in a similar vein, and political commentators used the phrase to describe major decisions.
Norris was outspoken about his Christian beliefs and his support for gun rights, and backed political candidates for years. He even went skydiving with Bush for the former president’s 80th birthday. As for Trump, Norris endorsed him in the 2016 general election and wrote guest columns praising him without explicitly endorsing him 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 an early 1960s relationship revealed in his autobiography.
Norris celebrated his birthday just over a week before his death, posting a sparring video on Instagram.
“I don’t age. I level up,” he wrote.
