Online Encyclopedia
Chuck Norris
Carlos Ray Norris Jr. (born March 10, 1940), better known in the entertainment world as Chuck Norris, is a martial artist, an American action movie actor and Hollywood star. A native of Ryan, Oklahoma, Norris has two younger brothers, of which Hollywood producer Aaron Norris is one. Norris is part Cherokee (from his father) and part British and Irish (from his mother).
When Norris was 12, his parents divorced and he relocated to California with his mother and brothers. There, he finished high school and soon married his girlfriend, Diane Holechek. After marriage, Norris joined the United States Air Force and was sent to South Korea. It was in South Korea that Norris acquired the nickname Chuck. Later on, he joined the Marines as well. He has portrayed an Army Major in Delta Force, Army Colonel in Missing in Action, and a Marine Captain during flashback scenes in his T.V. hit series Walker, Texas Ranger.
Sensei Norris has indicated in his own biography that he has black belts in Tang Soo Do, Tae Kwon Do, and is founder of Chun Kuk Do ("Universal Way"). Mr. Norris has also practiced Judo, Shito-Ryu Karate, and Brazilian Jujutsu. He is also creator of The United Fighting Arts Federation (UFAF).
Norris returned to the United States in 1962, working for the Northrop corporation and opening a karate school. Many celebrities, including fellow Marine Steve McQueen attended Norris' school, and in 1963, his son Mike was born. A daughter, Dina followed in 1964, and a second son, Eric, in 1965. But another important moment happened in 1964: at a demonstration in Long Beach, Norris met Bruce Lee. Impressed with Norris' ability, it was Lee who began to persuade Norris into trying an acting career.
In 1968, Norris was Karate's world Middleweight champion, and in 1969, he won Karate's triple crown for the most tournament wins of the year, and the fighter of the year award by Black Belt magazine. It was also in 1968 that Norris made his acting debut, in the Dean Martin movie The Wrecking Crew. In 1972, he acted alongside Lee in the movie Way of the Dragon, and in 1974, McQueen encouraged him to begin acting classes on the MGM Studio .
Norris' first starring role was 1977's Breaker, Breaker! , and subsequent films such as The Octagon , An Eye for an Eye , and Lone Wolf McQuade proved his increasing box office bankability. In 1984, Norris starred in Missing in Action, the first of a series of POW rescue fantasies produced by Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus and released under their Cannon Films banner. Over the next four years, Norris became Cannon's most prominent star, appearing in eight films, including Code of Silence , The Delta Force (Lee Marvin's last picture), and Firewalker , in which he costarred with another Academy Award winner, Louis Gossett, Jr.
With his career at an all-time high, one of Hollywood's most enduring relationships came to an end. Norris and Holechek divorced in 1988, after 30 years of marriage.
In 1990, Norris founded the non-profit organization Kick Drugs Out of America. It has since been renamed KICKSTART.
By the close of the 1980s, Cannon Films had faded from prominence, and Norris' star appeal seemed to go with it. He reprised his Delta Force role for MGM, who had acquired the Cannon library after their Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Norris went on to make several more largely ignored films before making a graceful transition to television. In 1993, he began shooting the series Walker, Texas Ranger, which lasted eight years on CBS and continued in heavy syndication on other channels.
He re-married in 1998, this time to former model Gena O'Kelley , and she delivered twins in 2001: Dakota Alan Norris, a boy, and Danilee Kelly Norris, a girl.
His filmography includes:
- The Wrecking Crew (1968)
- Room 222 (1970)
- The Way of The Dragon (1972)
- The Student Teachers (1973)
- Slaughter In San Francisco (1973)
- Enter The Dragon (1973)
- Bruce Lee's The Man And The Legend (1973)
- The Warrior Within (1977)
- Breaker! Breaker! (1977)
- Game of Death (1978)
- Good Guys Wear Black (1979)
- A Force of One (1979)
- The Octagon (1980)
- An Eye for an Eye (1981)
- Silent Rage (1982)
- Forced Vengeance (1982)
- The Making of 'Lone Wolf McQuade' (1983)
- Lone Wolf McQuade (1983)
- Missing in Action (1984)
- (1985)
- The Making of The Terminator & Missing in Action 2 (1985)
- Code of Silence (1985)
- Invasion U.S.A. (1985)
- The Delta Force (1986)
- Firewalker (1986)
- (TV, 1986)
- Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos (TV, 1986)
- Karate Daily Dozen (1988)
- (1988)
- Hero And The Terror (1988)
- One for the Road (TV, 1989)
- The Presidential Inaugural Gala (TV, 1989)
- (TV, 1990)
- The World's Greatest Stunts (TV, 1990)
- (TV, 1990)
- (1990)
- (1990)
- The Hitman (1991)
- Dying For a Smoke (TV, 1992)
- Sidekicks (alongside Jonathan Brandis and Danica McKellar, 1992).
- Combat Karate 1992
- Hellbound (1993)
- Walker, Texas Ranger (1993 to 2001)
- The Course of The Dragon (1993)
- Wind in The Wire (TV, 1993)
- Kids in The Crossfire (TV, 1993)
- WWF Survivor Series (TV, 1994)
- Top Dog (1995)
- Heroes of The Street (TV, 1995)
- The Immortal Masters (1996)
- (1996)
- Forest Warriors (1996)
- (video, 1997)
- (TV, 1998)
- The Path of The Dragon (video, 1998)
- Informal, El (TV, 1999)
- Sons of Thunder (TV, 1999)
- (2000)
- The President's Man (TV, 2000)
- (TV, 2002)
- The Bells of Innocence (2002)
- Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)