Chuck Norris is an American actor, martial artist and instructor, film producer and screenwriter. Born on March 10, 1940, in Ryan, OK, Norris moved to California with his mother and brothers after his parents divorce. In 1958, he joined the United States Air Force as a policeman and was stationed in Korea. It was there that he developed an interest in martial arts. After his discharge in 1962, Chuck Norris opened his own martial arts school, Chun Kuk Do, which means The Universal Way. He had locations all over the country and trained celebrities, such as, Steve McQueen, Donny and Marie Osmond and Bob Barker.
Chuck Norris’ acting debut come in 1960 with a part in the film, The Wrecking Crew, starring Dean Martin. His break-out role happened in 1972, when he was cast as the enemy of Bruce Lee in Way of the Dragon. That lead to his first starring role in the 19877 film, Breaker! Breaker! Several other roles followed: Good Guys Wear Black (1978), An Eye For An Eye (1981), and Lone Wolf McQuade (1983), a role that he would reprise for the 2012 Sylvester Stallone film, The Expendables 2. Over the next 8 years, Chuck Norris would star in films that had a “no man left behind” theme to them, starting with the 1984 film, Missing in Action. Fiercely patriotic, films such as Code of Silence, Delta Force, and Firewalker glorified the role of the US military soldier.
In 1993, Norris turned his sights on TV and starred as Cordell Walker in Walker, Texas Ranger. It ran for eight season and is still in syndication. The show was so popular that on December 2, 2010, the Texas Governor, Rick Perry, made Chuck Norris, and his brother Aaron, honorary Texas Rangers.
Chuck Norris has endorsed such products as the Total Gym (with Christie Brinkley,) Mountain Dew, and the popular video game, World of Warcraft. He is very active with the United Way, Make-A-Wish Foundation and the US Veterans Administration. He started the organization, Kickstart Kids, to turn at-risk kids away from drugs and toward the martial arts.
Chuck Norris is married and has a total of five children.
