Chuck Norris facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Chuck Norris
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Norris in 2015
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Carlos Ray Norris
March 10, 1940 Ryan, Oklahoma, U.S.
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| Occupation | Martial artist, actor, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1968–present |
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| Children | 5; including Mike and Eric |
| Relatives | Aaron Norris (brother) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
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 United States Air Force |
| Years of service | 1958–1962 |
| Rank |  Airman first class |
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Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. After serving in the United States Air Force, Norris won many martial arts championships and later founded his own discipline, Chun Kuk Do. Shortly after, in Hollywood, Norris trained celebrities in martial arts. Norris went on to appear in a minor role in the spy film The Wrecking Crew (1968). Friend and fellow martial artist Bruce Lee invited him to play one of the main villains in The Way of the Dragon (1972). While Norris continued acting, friend and student Steve McQueen suggested he take it seriously. Norris took the starring role in the action film Breaker! Breaker! (1977), which turned a profit. His second lead, Good Guys Wear Black (1978), became a hit, and he soon became a popular action film star.
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Early life
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Norris was born in Ryan, Oklahoma, on March 10, 1940, to Wilma (née Scarberry) and Ray Dee Norris, who was a World War II Army soldier, a mechanic, bus driver, and truck driver. Norris has stated that he has Irish and Cherokee roots. Norris was named after Carlos Berry, his father's minister. He was the oldest of three brothers, the younger two being Wieland and Aaron. When Norris was sixteen, his parents divorced, and he later relocated to Prairie Village, Kansas and then to Torrance, California with his mother and brothers.
Norris has described his childhood as downbeat. He was nonathletic, shy, and scholastically mediocre. His father, Ray, worked intermittently as an automobile mechanic. Embarrassed by his father's behavior and the family's financial plight, Norris developed a debilitating introversion that lasted for his entire childhood.
Career
He joined the United States Air Force as an Air Policeman (AP) in 1958 and was sent to Osan Air Base, South Korea. It was there that Norris acquired the nickname "Chuck" and began his training in Tang Soo Do (tangsudo), an interest that led to black belts in that art and the founding of the Chun Kuk Do ("Universal Way") form. When he returned to the United States, he continued to serve as an AP at March Air Force Base in California.
Norris was discharged from the U.S. Air Force in August 1962. Following his military service, Norris applied to be a police officer in Torrance, California. While on the waiting list, Norris opened a martial arts studio.
Norris started to participate in martial arts competitions. In 1969, Norris defended his title as world champion at the International Karate Championship. The competition included champions from most of the fifty states as well as a half dozen from abroad who joined for the preliminaries. Norris retained his title. Norris won Karate's triple crown for the most tournament wins of the year, and the Fighter of the Year award by Black Belt magazine. That year, Norris made his acting debut in the Dean Martin film The Wrecking Crew.
Shortly after, in Hollywood, Norris trained celebrities in martial arts. Norris went on to appear in a minor role in the spy film The Wrecking Crew (1969). Friend and fellow martial artist Bruce Lee invited him to play one of the main villains in Way of the Dragon (1972). While Norris continued acting, friend and student Steve McQueen suggested him to take it seriously. Norris took the starring role in the action film Breaker! Breaker! (1977), which turned a profit. His second lead Good Guys Wear Black (1978) became a hit, and he soon became a popular action film star.
Norris went on to star in a streak of bankable independently-made action and martial arts films, with A Force of One (1979), The Octagon (1980), and An Eye for an Eye (1981). This made Norris an international celebrity. He went on to make studio films like Silent Rage (1982) with Columbia, Forced Vengeance (1982) with MGM, and Lone Wolf McQuade (1983) with Orion. This led Cannon Films to sign Norris into a multiple film deal, starting with Missing in Action (1984), which proved to be very successful and launched a trilogy. Norris started to work almost exclusively on high-profile action films with Cannon, becoming their leading star during the 1980s. Films with Cannon included Invasion U.S.A (1985), The Delta Force (1986), Firewalker (1986), etc. Apart from the Cannon films, Norris made Code of Silence (1985), which was received as one of his best films. In the 1990s, he played the title role in the long running CBS television series Walker, Texas Ranger from 1993 until 2001. Until 2006, Norris continued taking lead roles in action movies, including Delta Force 2 (1990), The Hitman (1991), Sidekicks (1992), Forest Warrior (1996), The President's Man (2000) and its sequel (2002). Norris made his last film appearance to date in Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables 2 (2012).
Throughout his film and TV career Norris diversified from his regular endeavors. He is a noted writer, having penned books on martial arts, exercise, philosophy, politics, Christianity, western fiction, and biography. He was twice a New York Times bestselling author, first with his book on his personal philosophy of positive force and the psychology of self-improvement based on personal anecdotes called The Secret of Inner Strength: My Story (1988). His second New York Times Best Seller, Black Belt Patriotism: How to Reawaken America (2008), was about his critique on current issues in the USA. Norris also appeared in several commercials endorsing several products most notably being one of the main spokespersons for the Total Gym infomercials. In 2005, Norris found new fame on the Internet when Chuck Norris facts became an Internet meme documenting humorous, fictional and often absurd feats of strength and endurance. Although Norris himself did not produce the "facts", he was hired to endorse many products that incorporated Chuck Norris facts in advertising. The phenomenon resulted in six books (two of them New York Times best sellers), two video games, and several appearances on talk shows, such as Late Night with Conan O'Brien where he read the facts or participated in sketches.
In 2004, Norris published his autobiography Against All Odds: My Story. In 2005, Norris founded the World Combat League (WCL), a full-contact, team-based martial arts competition, of which part of the proceeds are given to his Kickstart Kids program.
On November 29, 2007, Gotham Booksreleased a book penned by Ian Spector entitled The Truth About Chuck Norris: 400 facts about the World's Greatest Human. The book is a New York Times Best Seller. Since then, Spector has published four more books based on Chuck Norris facts.
In 2008, he published the political non-fiction book Black Belt Patriotism: How to Reawaken America, which reached number 14 on The New York Times best seller list in September 2008.
Since 2010, Norris has been a nationally syndicated columnist with Creators Syndicate writing on both personal health issues and broader issues of health care in America.
Martial arts knowledge
Norris has founded two major martial arts systems: American Tang Soo Do and Chuck Norris System (formerly known as Chun Kuk Do).
American Tang Soo Do
- Further information: American Tang Soo Do
American Tang Soo Do was formed in 1966 by Norris, which is combination of Moo Duk Kwan-style Tang Soo Do, Judo and Karate (Shito-Ryu and Shotokan). Over the years it has been further developed by former black belts of his and their students.
Chuck Norris System
Norris's present martial art system is the Chuck Norris System, formerly known as Chun Kuk Do.
The style was formally founded in 1990 as Chun Kuk Do by Norris, and was originally based on Norris's Tang Soo Do training in Korea while he was in the military.
During his competitive fighting career, Norris began to evolve the style to make it more effective and well-rounded by studying other systems such as Shōtōkan, Gōjū-ryū, Shitō-ryū, American Kenpo, Enshin kaikan, Kyokushin, Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Arnis, Tae Kwon Do, Tang Soo Do and Hapkido. Chun Kuk Do now emphasizes self defense, competition, weapons, grappling, and fitness, among other things. Each summer the United Fighting Arts Federation (UFAF) holds a training conference and the Chun Kuk Do world championship tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The art includes a code of honor and rules to live by. These rules are from Norris's personal code. They are:
- I will develop myself to the maximum of my potential in all ways.
- I will forget the mistakes of the past and press on to greater achievements.
- I will continually work at developing love, happiness and loyalty in my family.
- I will look for the good in all people and make them feel worthwhile.
- If I have nothing good to say about a person, I will say nothing.
- I will always be as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am about my own.
- I will maintain an attitude of open-mindedness.
- I will maintain respect for those in authority and demonstrate this respect at all times.
- I will always remain loyal to my God, my country, family and my friends.
- I will remain highly goal-oriented throughout my life because that positive attitude helps my family, my country and myself.
Like most traditional martial arts, Chuck Norris System includes the practice of forms (Korean hyung and Japanese kata). The majority of the system's forms are adapted from Korean Tang Soo Do, and Taekwondo, Japanese Shitō-ryū, Shotokan Karate, Goju-ryu Karate, Judo, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, American Kenpo and Kyokushinkai. It includes two organization-specific introductory forms, two organization-specific empty-hand forms, and one organization-specific weapon form (UFAF Nunchuk form, UFAF Bo form, UFAF Sai forms).
The United Fighting Arts Federation has graduated over 3,000 black belts in its history, and currently has nearly 4,000 active members world-wide. There are about 90 member schools in the US, Mexico, Norway, and Paraguay.
Distinctions, awards, and honors
- While in the military, Norris's rank units were Airman First Class, 15th Air Force, 22d Bombardment Group, and 452d Troop Carrier Wing.
- Norris has received many black belts. These include a 10th degree black belt in Chun Kuk Do, a 9th degree black belt in Tang Soo Do, an 8th degree black belt in Taekwondo, a 5th degree black belt in Karate, a 3rd degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from the Machado family, and a black belt in Judo.
- In 1967, he won the Sparring Grand Champions at the S. Henry Cho's All American Championship, and won it again the following year.
- In 1968, he won the Professional Middleweight Karate champion title, which he held for six consecutive years.
- In 1969, he won Karate's triple crown for the most tournament wins of the year.
- In 1969, he won the Fighter of the Year award by Black Belt magazine.
- In 1982, he won Action Star of the Year at the ShoWest Convention.
- In 1989, he received his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- In 1992, he won International Box Office Star of the Year at the ShoWest Convention.
- In 1997, he won the Special Award of being a Texas legend at the Lone Star Film & Television Awards.
- From 1997 to 1998, he won for three consecutive years the BMI TV Music Award at the BMI Awards.
- In 1999, Norris was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum's Hall of Fame.
- In 1999, he was nominated for Favorite Actor in a Drama by the TV Guide Award.
- In 1999, he won the Inspirational Acting in Television Award at the Grace Prize Award.
- On July 1, 2000, Norris was presented the Golden Lifetime Achievement Award by the World Karate Union Hall of Fame.
- In 2001, he received the Veteran of the Year at the American Veteran Awards.
- In 2001, he won the Golden Boot at the Golden Boot Awards.
- On March 28, 2007, Commandant Gen. James T. Conway made Norris an honorary United States Marine during a dinner at the commandant's residence in Washington, D.C.
- On December 2, 2010, he (along with brother Aaron) was given the title honorary Texas Ranger by Texas Governor Rick Perry.
- In 2010, he won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the ActionFest.
- In 2017, he was honored as an "Honorary Texan" because for many years he has lived at his Texas ranch near Navasota and he starred as Texas Ranger in his movie Lone Wolf McQuade and starred as ranger Cordell Walker in the TV series Walker, Texas Ranger.
- In 2020, two editions of a book honoring Norris were published titled Martial Arts Masters & Pioneers Biography: Chuck Norris - Giving Back For A Lifetime by Jessie Bowen of the American Martial Arts Alliance.
- In 2024, a small statue was erected by Mihály Kolodkó at the eastern end of Megyeri Bridge in Budapest.
Personal life
Family
Norris married his classmate Dianne Kay Holechek (born 1941) in December 1958 when he was 18 and Dianne was 17 years of age. They met in 1956 at high school in Torrance, California. In 1962, their first child, Mike, was born. After 30 years of marriage, Norris and Holechek divorced in 1989, after separating in 1988, during the filming of The Delta Force 2.
On November 28, 1998, he married former model Gena O'Kelley, 23 years Norris's junior. O'Kelley had two children from a previous marriage. She delivered twins on August 30, 2001.
Norris has thirteen grandchildren.
Philanthropy
In 1990, Norris established the United Fighting Arts Federation and Kickstart Kids. As a significant part of his philanthropic contributions, the organization was formed to develop self-esteem and focus in at-risk children. Norris hopes that by shifting middle school and high school children's focus towards this positive and strengthening endeavor, these children will have the opportunity to build a better future for themselves. Norris has a ranch in Navasota, Texas, where they bottle water; a portion of the sales support environmental funds and Kickstart Kids.
He is known for his contributions towards organizations such as Funds for Kids, Veteran's Administration National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans, the United Way, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation in the form of donations as well as fund-raising activities.
His time with the U.S. Veterans Administration as a spokesperson was inspired by his experience serving the United States Air Force in Korea. His objective has been to popularize the issues that concern hospitalized war veterans such as pensions and health care. Due to his significant contributions, and continued support, he received the Veteran of the Year award in 2001 at the American Veteran Awards.
In India, Norris supports the Vijay Amritraj Foundation, which aims at bringing hope, help and healing to the defenseless and innocent victims of disease, tragedy and circumstance. Through his donations, he has helped the foundation support Paediatric HIV/AIDS homes in Delhi, a blind school in Karnataka, and a mission that cares for HIV/AIDS infected adults, as well as mentally ill patients in Cochin.
Filmography
See also
In Spanish: Chuck Norris para niños
