Hollywood legend Chuck Norris, a staple of action movies and television for decades, has died. He was 86 years old.
His family shared the news of Norris’ passing on his official Facebook page, writing “It is with heavy hearts that our family shares the sudden passing of our beloved Chuck Norris yesterday morning. While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace. To the world, he was a martial artist, actor, and a symbol of strength. To us, he was a devoted husband, a loving father and grandfather, an incredible brother, and the heart of our family.”
“While our hearts are broken,” they added, “we are deeply grateful for the life he lived and for the unforgettable moments we were blessed to share with him. The love and support he received from fans around the world meant so much to him, and our family is truly thankful for it. To him, you were not just fans, you were his friends. We know many of you had heard about his recent hospitalization, and we are truly grateful for the prayers and support you sent his way. As we grieve this loss, we kindly ask for privacy for our family during this time. Thank you for loving him with us.”
Norris joined the Air Force in his teens, where he first began to study martial arts. After his discharge from the military he opened his own school in California and began competing in martial-arts tournaments. Through the competitions, he met fellow martial artist Bruce Lee. Their friendship got Norris his breakthrough role, as the villain in the 1972 Lee film The Way of the Dragon.
One of Norris’ martial-arts students, movie star Steve McQueen, though Norris had promise as a screen presence, and encouraged him to take acting classes. He continued making supporting appearances in action pictures, and then got his first starring role in 1977’s Breaker! Breaker!, a trucker action film. The movie was a hit, and Norris began a run of popular martial arts and action films that would carry him into the 1980s. His more famous titles included Lone Wolf McQuade, Code of Silence, The Octagon, A Force of One, and the Vietnam War film Missing in Action, which rode a wave of pop culture about the conflict in the mid-’80s, and became one of his biggest hits. It went on to spawn a franchise with multiple sequels.
As his career as a big-screen leading man began to wane, Norris pivoted to television. For nine seasons he starred as the title character on Walker, Texas Ranger. The show ultimately produced over 200 episodes, a TV film, and a spinoff. It was rebooted in 2019 with Jared Padalecki in the lead; that version of Walker lasted for four more seasons.
In his later years, Norris, a longtime Republican, championed numerous conservative causes and candidates. He also made an extremely memorable cameo in the 2004 comedy Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, when he plays himself as the judge who casts the deciding vote that helps overturn the heroic “Average Joe”’s forfeit of the championship game. Later, after (spoiler alert) the Joes win the dodgeball tournament, a bereft Ben Stiller, playing the sinister dodgeball baddie White Goodman, utters the immortal line “F—in’ Chuck Norris!”
Norris lived quite a life, and produce a surprisingly extensive body of work. He also starred in the film with maybe the greatest tagline in the history of cinema, Silent Rage. (“Science Created Him. Now Chuck Norris Must Destroy Him.”)
Rest in peace to a true Hollywood legend.
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