Chuck Norris
Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born
March 10,
1940) is an
American martial artist, action star, and
Hollywood actor.
Beginnings
A native of
Ryan, Oklahoma, Norris has two younger brothers, Wieland and Aaron Norris, the latter of whom is a Hollywood producer. Norris was born to an
alcoholic father,
Ruud Draak, half Irish and half
Cherokee, who later changed his name to Norris. Norris's mother is also half Irish and half Cherokee.
["At Dinner with: Chuck Norris", The New York Times, May 12, 1993] Norris is very proud of his Native American heritage, and frequently referred to his origins on his hit show
Walker, Texas Ranger. When Norris was ten, his parents divorced
["Chuck Norris â€" Strong, Silent, Popular," The New York Times, September 1, 1985] and he later relocated to
Prairie Village, Kansas and then
Torrance,
California with his mother and brothers.
["At Dinner with: Chuck Norris," The New York Times, May 12, 1993] Norris describes his childhood as downbeat. He was nonathletic, shy, and scholastically mediocre. Other children taunted him about his mixed ethnicity, and Norris daydreamed about beating up his tormentors. Norris mentioned in his autobiography that his father had a very serious problem with drinking and "wasn't there" a lot for him growing up. Norris admitted that he loved his father but did not like him. However, he professed that he only felt pity for the man because "that was just how he was, and he missed so much."
Norris finished high school and soon married his girlfriend, Diane Holechek. In 1958 Norris joined the
United States Air Force as a
Military Policeman and was sent to
Osan Air Base,
South Korea. It was in South Korea that Norris acquired the nickname
Chuck and began his training in
Tang Soo Do (tangsudo), an interest that would lead to
black belts in
Tang Soo Do,
Tae Kwon Do, and Shinto-Ryu
Karate, and a black belt in
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu; and the founding of the
Chun Kuk Do ("Universal Way") form and the education associations
United Fighting Arts Federation and "Kick Start," formerly "Kick Drugs Out of America," a middle school and high school based program intended to give at-risk children a focus point in life through the martial arts. When he returned to the
United States he continued to act as an MP at
March Air Force Base California. Norris was discharged in August of 1962. He worked for the
Northrop corporation and opened a chain of karate schools, which the son of
Steve McQueen,
Chad McQueen attended.
On July 1, 2000 he was presented the Golden Lifetime Achievement Award by the World Karate Union Hall of Fame.
Rise to fame
|
Chuck Norris as a martial artist. |
Chuck's entrance into tournament karate began on a losing note. He was defeated in his first two tournaments, dropping decisions to
Joe Lewis and
Allan Steen. However, by 1967, Norris began to demonstrate his skill and scored victories over the likes of
Joe Lewis,
Skipper Mullins,
Arnold Urquidez,
Victor Moore,
Ron Marchini and
Steve Sanders. In early 1968, Chuck suffered the 5th and last loss of his career, losing an upset decision to
Louis Delgado. However, on
November 24,
1968, Chuck avenged his defeat to Delgado and in the process won the Professional Middleweight Karate champion (non-contact) title, which he held for six consecutive years.
["Chuck Norris â€" Strong, Silent, Popular", The New York Times, September 1, 1985] 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 1969 that Norris made his acting debut, in the
Dean Martin movie
The Wrecking Crew.
In 1970, his younger brother Weiland was killed in
Vietnam. Norris later dedicated his
Missing in Action films to his brother's memory.
At a martial arts demonstration in
Long Beach, Norris met the soon-to-be famous
martial artist Bruce Lee. In 1972, he acted as Bruce Lee's nemesis in the movie
Way of the Dragon (also known as 'Return of the Dragon'), and in 1974, McQueen encouraged him to begin acting classes at the MGM Studio. Chuck Norris retired with a karate record of 65-5 and he reversed all of his defeats.
Norris' first starring role was 1977's
Breaker! Breaker!, and subsequent films such as
The Octagon (1980),
An Eye for an Eye (1981), 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. Also in that year, he was offered the part of the
sensei of the Kobra Kai dojo in the movie
The Karate Kid, but declined the part. He reportedly did not want to take part in depicting martial artists in an unfavorable light.
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087538/trivia]. However, Norris disputes this story. On a
February 9,
2006 episode of
The Adam Carolla Show, Norris said that he was never offered the role. Norris noted that he was already playing leading roles by the time
The Karate Kid was in production.
Over the next four years, Norris became Cannon's most prominent star, appearing in eight films, including
Code of Silence,
The Delta Force, and
Firewalker, in which he co-starred with Academy Award winner
Louis Gossett, Jr.In 1986, he was involved in the production of the Ruby Spears Cartoon
Karate KommandosWalker, Texas Ranger
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 the latter's
Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Norris went on to make several more largely ignored films before making a 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.
On October 16th, 2005, CBS Premiered the Sunday night "Movie of the Week"
Walker Texas Ranger: Trial By Fire. The production was a continuation of the series, and not scripted to be a reunion movie. Norris reprised his role as Cordell Walker for the movie. He has stated that future Walker Texas Ranger "Movie of the Week" projects are expected.
Chuck Norris is currently ranked 5th
[Accurate August 10th 2006, 02:15 PST. Data is viewable after voting] in a poll for naming a new bridge in
Budapest, Hungary.
The recent controversy began when the Hungarian
Ministry of Economy and Transport released an internet
poll which may determine the name of a new
Danube crossing bridge, scheduled to open in
2008[Chuck Norris leads the way in Budapest bridge-naming vote, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 August 2006.]. The poll closes on the
8th of September, and
internet users may vote. However, as of August 10th, the site functions intermittently due to heavy traffic after the site was featured on
The Colbert Report.
In 1963, his first child with Holechek, a son named Mike, was born; a daughter, Dina, was born in 1964; and a second son, Eric, followed in 1965. After 30 years of marriage, Norris and Holechek divorced in 1988. He married again 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. Norris has always been a very loving family man; it was noted in
People that his adult sons still hug and kiss him goodbye. "It's great my boys aren't afraid to show love," Norris said. "Nothing can buy that." Norris's son, Mike, said of his father, "Dad never had a lot of love growing up, but he has given me and my brother all that he should have had in multiples." However, in the same interview Mike said that he still wouldn't want to mess with his dad.
Norris regained popularity as a
cult icon during the mid-2000s, especially on the Internet. Among the more high-profile parodies and references are these instances:
*
Late Night with Conan O'Brien's parent company, NBC, acquired Universal in early 2004, giving O'Brien permission to show footage of
Walker, Texas Ranger without paying royalties. O'Brien and his writers subsequently created a new segment in which O'Brien shows short, out of context clips for comedic purposes. The "Walker, Texas Ranger Lever" quickly became one of the most popular segments on Late Night. This segment has been credited as jump-starting the Norris craze and leading to enough interest to produce a
Walker, Texas Ranger TV movie.
* Norris is the object of an
Internet phenomenon known as
Chuck Norris Facts documenting and proclaiming fictional, often heroic feats and characteristics, which began to circulate in late 2005. Norris has written his own response to the parody on his website, stating that he does not feel offended by them, and finds some of them funny. [
1]. He recently read 10 of them on a
The Best Damn Sports Show, Period, and said that his favorite one is
"They once tried to carve Chuck Norris's face into Mount Rushmore, but the granite wasn't hard enough for his beard"[
2].
*
Adult Swim, a late night programming block on
Cartoon Network, currently airs
Chuck Norris' Karate Kommandos in response to Norris's popularity.
*Chuck Norris, in the
CTYI 2006 session, was elevated to the popular status of a demi god.
* Norris was parodied in a
Saturday Night Live music video spoof entitled "Young Chuck Norris", aired
January 21,
2006.
* Chuck Norris sponsors the
infomercial, Total Gym Fitness, which usually airs in the late night or early morning hours.
* During the
March 10,
2006 show of
ESPN's
Pardon the Interruption, numerous references were made to Norris on his birthday, including all of the cut-out heads on the set, which are usually of current sports stars, being replaced with Chuck Norris heads. Also, several humorous comments in reference to Chuck Norris were made by co-host,
Tony Kornheiser, in a similar tone to that featured on the
Chuck Norris Facts website.
* Norris served as a guest referee at the
World Wrestling Federation's Survivor Series 1994 for the
casket match between
The Undertaker and the late
Yokozuna. A similar match had taken place at
Royal Rumble 1994 where ten other wrestlers beat down The Undertaker. Norris was called upon to ensure a similar situation didn't take place. As guest referee, he kicked then-WWF star
Double J square in the stomach.
* Norris appeared as himself on an episode of
Yes, Dear, where he shadows one of the main characters (Jimmy) to understand the life of a
security guard.
*He recently had a
cameo role in the movie
Dodgeball as a judge at a
dodgeball tournament.
*Norris appeared in the
internet meme The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny.
*Chuck Norris also starred in his own Atari 2600 videogame,
Chuck Norris Superkicks*Chuck Norris Yeltsin also appears in
Maddox (real name George Ouzounian)'s book:
Alphabet of Manliness under the letter N.
*In the animated children's show
Danny Phantom, there is a ghost named Walker who is a cop that protects the "ghost zone". It's believed that this is a reference to
Walker, Texas Ranger. It may also refer to the Walker family, from Lee Falk's original The Phantom series.
*Chuck Norris was a reserve police officer for the
Terrell, Texas, Police Department.
* The popular anime forum Gaia online modeled an item description after a Chuck Norris joke, called the "Chyaku Norisu Ninja scarf"
*In the video game magazine
Nintendo Power, volume 203's Pulse section featured many references to Chuck Norris.
* In the 2006
Will Ferrell film
Talladega Nights, Ferrell's character, Ricky Bobby, named his sons "Walker" and "Texas Ranger".
|
Chuck Norris in "Braddock: Missing in Action III". |
The Wrecking Crew (
1969)
Way of the Dragon (
1972)
The Student Teachers (
1973)
Slaughter in San Francisco (
1974)
The Warrior Within (
1976) (documentary)
Bruce Lee, the Legend (
1977) (documentary)
Breaker! Breaker! (1977)
Good Guys Wear Black (
1978)
A Force of One (
1979)
The Octagon (
1980)
An Eye for an Eye (
1981)
Silent Rage (
1982)
Forced Vengeance (1982)
Lone Wolf McQuade (
1983)
Missing in Action (
1984)
Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (
1985)
Code of Silence (
1985)
Invasion U.S.A. (
1985)
The Delta Force (
1986)
The Karate Kommandos (
1986), animated children's show, with Chuck Norris himself appearing to reveal the episode and the moral contained in the episode.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (
1988)
Hero and the Terror (
1988)
The Hitman (
1991)
Sidekicks (
1992)
Hellbound (
1994)
Top Dog (
1995)
Forest Warrior (
1996)
Bells of Innocence (
2003)
The Presidents Man (
2003)
Dodgeball (
2004)
The Contender (
2005)
The Cutter (
2005)
The Secret Power Within: Zen Solutions to Real Problems, Zen Buddhism and martial arts. Little, Brown and Company (1996). ISBN 0316583502.
Against All Odds: My Story, an autobiography. Broadman & Holman Publishers (2004). ISBN 0805431616.
The Justice Riders,
Wild West novels. Broadman & Holman Publishers (2006). ISBN 0805440321.
*
Official web site*
Official Chun Kuk Do Website*
Chuck Norris Facts*
Chuck Norris on facts - by Chuck Norris himself as he appears on
The Best Damn Sports Show Period (video)
*
Another source of Chuck Norris Info*
Chuck Norris - Karate Kommandos Review
