(born March 10 , 1940 ) is an American Martial Art ist, action star, and Hollywood actor.
A native of '', May 12, 1993 Norris describes his childhood as downbeat. He was unathletic, shy, and scholastically mediocre. Other children taunted him about his mixed ethnicity, and Norris daydreamed about beating up his tormenters. 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 , an interest that would segue into Black Belts in Tang Soo Do , Tae Kwon Do , and Shinto-Ryu Karate , and a brown 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 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.
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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.
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 often noted in a People magazine article that his sons as adults still hugged and kissed him goodbye. "Its 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, it should be noted that 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-2000's, 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, with Norris himself showing up to parody his show and using his martial arts on O'Brien. 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 , 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 {Link without Title} .
- Adult_Swim , a late night segment on Cartoon_Network currently aires The_Karate_Kommandos as a joke.
- Norris was parodied in a '' Saturday Night Live '' music video spoof entitled "The Young Chuck Norris", aired January 21 , 2006 . {Link without Title}
- The group Supafloss produced a video called "Chuck Norris (His Face is So Porous)" which has been widely circulated on the Internet. Among the people who appear in the video are '' Saturday Night Live '''s Chris Parnell , Jack Black , and John C. Reilly . {Link without Title}
- 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 WWF'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 Jeff Jarrett square in the stomach.
- In the popular internet Flash Video and song accompanying it, The Ultimate Showdown , Chuck is said to descend from the heavens. During the video's main plot, in which the various heroes of Pop Culture fight in a death duel, Chuck takes out both Batman / Bruce Wayne , and Indiana Jones before being mutilated by a mob of random other pop icons. In this interpretation of the Norris mythos, he is arguably one of the most powerful members of the pop culture pantheon. The video can be found here: http://www.ultimateshowdown.org/
- 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.
- In the video game magazine Nintendo Power, the volume 203 'Pulse' section features 11 humorous references to Chuck Norris, which were all stated in numerous letters and responses from Nintendo Power writers and the magazine's subscribers. One article features a photograph of a Chuck Norris look-alike "...about to break a man in half with his bare hands."
- Chuck Norris has gained popularity from the game World Of Warcraft , in game players pay homage to Chuck by making guilds named after Chuck Norris. Players also name their characters after Chuck, but humorously altering his name.
- On Gaia Online , an Internet community, an item for members' avatars has been released, known as the Chyaku Norisu Scarf. The discription of the item is "There are only two things in the world that can cut diamonds ... other diamonds, and CHYAKU NORISU!!"
- ''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.
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