The invincible champion and the coolest ranger in Texas: 15 facts about Chuck Norris (13 photos)

On March 10, 2023, the coolest man in the world, Chuck Norris, turned 83 years old. Over the course of his life, Chuck became an action movie icon, a martial artist, and a father of five children.





1



As a child, Chuck had a different name - Carlos Ray Norris. Born to an alcoholic Irish father and a Cherokee mother, he spent the first years of his life in the same trailer with his mother and two brothers. From his father, Ray Norris, the son received his middle name, and his first name in honor of Minister Carlos Berry, whom his father greatly respected.

Norris received his more famous name while serving in the Air Force. In 1959, at the Osana military base in South Korea, his fellow soldiers nicknamed him Chuck.

2





The service turned out to be too boring for Chuck, so instead of joining the police, as he dreamed of as a child, Norris took up sports and enrolled first in judo, and later in the Korean martial art group Tangsudo.

In the 60s, Chuck opened two karate schools, and in 1965 he won the Los Angeles All-Star Championship. Later, Norris already owned a network of 32 martial arts schools. He was a six-time light heavyweight world karate champion.

During his career as an athlete, Norris did not lose a single fight - we will not count unfinished fights.

3

Norris is the first Westerner to hold the honor of holding an eighth-dan black belt in taekwondo. In total, five Americans have received it in history.



4

The future actor also got into cinema thanks to martial arts. He gave lessons to the then not very famous Steve McQueen, and he invited him to the filming as a thank you. Chuck Norris's first serious acting work was the 1972 film "Way of the Dragon" with Bruce Lee.

5



The final fight between Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee in Way of the Dragon took 45 hours to film! Almost a quarter of the film's script was devoted to the choreographers' instructions for this climactic scene.

According to Norris, it was during the battle that he truly became close to Lee. Chuck openly states that in a fair fight Bruce could easily defeat him.

6

In fact, Norris's first screen appearance was in Dean Martin's 1968 comedy The Wrecking Crew - where he wasn't even credited. On the set, Chuck actually met Bruce Lee, who would give impetus to his film career.

By the way, “The Wrecking Crew” is the last film in which actress Sharon Tate starred before her murder by followers of Charles Manson. These events are played out in the film “Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood” by Quentin Tarantino.

7



Many have heard that Chuck Norris turned down the role of the villain in the 1984 film The Karate Kid. In fact, Chuck, despite his martial arts prowess and film experience, was not offered the role at all.

8

Chuck Norris's most famous character, Ranger Cordell Walker from the series "Cool Walker", largely reflects the personality of the actor himself. The character's full last name was Firewalker - he shortened it to Walker because he was teased for not looking like a Native American. Norris himself often mentions his tribal roots, and the surname Firewalker is a reference to his previous film Firewalker.

9



"Cool Walker" aired for 8 seasons, but due to its enormous popularity, CBS was planning to film at least two more seasons. Then Chuck’s wife, former model Gina O’Kelly, who is 23 years younger than her husband, became pregnant, and the actor decided to be with her rather than continue acting. In 2001, the couple welcomed twins Dakota Alan Norris and Dannylee Kelly Norris.

10



On the set of Walking on Fire, Chuck met Oscar-winning actor Louis Gossett Jr. Later, both received honorary stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and they were located next to each other.

11

Norris is also a writer. In 1975, he published his first book, Winning the Karate Tournament. As you can guess from the name, this is a methodological material for beginner fighters with sparring techniques, fighting stances and individual techniques.

In 2006, Norris published his first Western novel, The Justice Riders, and a year later released the sequel, A Threat to Justice.



Chuck's main success as a writer came in 1988 - he became the most popular author according to the New York Times. That year, Norris released his autobiography, The Secret of Inner Strength: My Story, in which he shared his philosophy, talked about the struggle with internal demons, and also revealed key events in his life and friendship with Bruce Lee.

12

Chuck Norris is the most famous international meme man. There are constant jokes on the Internet about his invincibility and coolness. Chuck the character performs impossible feats, scares Freddy Krueger and even Death to death, and always remains a role model and example of masculinity.

13

In honor of his brother Wieland Clyde Norris, who died in Vietnam in 1970, Norris starred in the film Missing in Action. The main character of the film is a Vietnam War veteran who returned to the battlefield to save missing soldiers.

14

At 64, Chuck retired, but returned to films in 2012 for a role in “The Expendables 2” - Sylvester Stallone personally invited him there. He asked him to take some fan “fact” about Chuck Norris to use in the film. In the end, Chuck's wife chose.

This is how this dialogue from the film was born:

Stallone: ​​“I heard you were bitten by a king cobra.”

Norris: “Yeah. But after five days of hellish pain, the cobra died.”



15

Norris's character in The Expendables 2 is one big callback to his previous roles. In the credits, his character is listed as “Booker,” which was also the name of Norris’s character from “Black Tigers.” In addition, Chuck is called a "lone wolf" in the film - this is a direct reference to the film "Lone Wolf McQuade".

In the dub, the distributor simply listed Chuck Norris in the credits “as himself.”