Carlos Ray Norris aka Chuck Norris was born in Ryan, Oklahoma. Both his parents had a mix of Irish and Cherokee Indian in their bloodlines.
A small tangent: some references report Chuck Norris’s birth date as 10 March 1939 and others as in 1940.
Chuck Norris had a tough childhood. His father was an alcoholic and as the eldest child he helped mother, Wilma, raise his two younger brothers. One brother, Wieland, was to die in action in Vietnam, whilst the other, Aaron, would go on to direct many of Chuck’s performances.
Norris joined the Air Force and whilst in Korea he started to study martial arts. In the 1960s he won many Karate titles, culminating in 1968 with his victory in the World Professional Middleweight Karate championships for the first time. As mentioned above he held the title until 1974 when he retired.
Chuck Norris got into acting via his L.A. karate school where he instructed many celebrities and made his film debut in The Wrecking Crew (1968) although some people refers to Return Of The Dragon (1973) with Bruce Lee as his ‘feature film debut’.
He appeared in many more films, most notably three Missing In Action films in the 1980s.
Norris and his first wife, Diane Holechek divorced after 30 years and in 1988 he married Gena O’Kelley.
From 1993 to 2001 Chuck Norris played the starring role in the hit television series Walker, Texas Ranger. He also exec produced the show.
In 2005 it was reported that Chuck Norris, Sheree Wilson and Judson Mills would renew their roles in ‘Walker, Texas Ranger: Ring of Fire.’—a 2 hour special; and that Aaron Norris, Chuck’s brother, would direct.
In 1997, Chuck Norris became the first man from the Western Hemisphere in 4,500 years to be awarded an 8th degree Black Belt Grand Master recognition in the Tae Kwon Do system.
He is involved in a variety of charitable programmes and has launched initiatives against drug use. He has also embraced a Christian lifestyle.
In 1988, Chuck Norris wrote his autobiography, The Secret of Inner Strength.
