Chuck Norris ( full name Chuck Ray Norris Jr. ) was born on March 10, 1940 in Ryan, Oklahoma, United States. He is a martial artist, an American action movie actor and Hollywood star.
Biography and Career :
A native of Ryan, Oklahoma, Chuck Norris has two younger brothers, of which Hollywood producer Aaron Norris is one. Norris is part Cherokee (from his father) and part British and Irish (from his mother).
When Chuck Norris was 12, his parents divorced and he relocated to California with his mother and brothers. There, he finished high school and soon married his girlfriend, Diane Holechek. After marriage, Chuck Norris joined the United States Air Force and was sent to
South Korea. It was in South Kor
ea that Chuck Norris acquired the nickname Chuck. He later joined the United States Marine Corps. He has portrayed an Army Major in Delta Force, Army Colonel in Missing in Action, and a Marine Captain during flashback scenes in his T.V. hit series Walker, Texas Ranger.
He has indicated in his own biography that he has black belts in Tang Soo Do, Tae Kwon Do, and is founder of Chun Kuk Do ("Universal Way"). Mr. Norris has also practiced Judo, Shito-Ryu Karate, and "Brazilian Jujutsu". He is also founder of The United Fighting Arts Federation (UFAF).
He returned to the United States in 1962, working for the Northrop corporation and opening a karate school, which many celebrities, including fellow Marine Steve McQueen attended. In 1963, his son Mike was born. A daughter, Dina followed in 1964, and a second son, Eric, in 1965. But another important moment happened in 1964: at a demonstration in Long Beach, Norris met Bruce Lee. Impressed with Norris' ability, Lee began to persuade Norris to try an acting career.
In 1968, Chuck Norris was Karate's world Middleweight champion, and in 1969, he won Karate's triple crown for the most tournament wins of the year, and the fighter of the year award by Black Belt magazine. It was also in 1968 that Norris made his acting debut, in the Dean Martin movie The Wrecking Crew. In 1972, he acted alongside Lee in the movie Way of the Dragon, and in 1974, McQueen encouraged him to begin acting classes at the MGM Studio.
While at acting classes his voice and drama coach was Jonathan Harris, of Lost In Space fame. Harris taught Norris how to speak by putting his fingers in Norris's mouth, and stretching his mouth wide open. He describes Harris as the only man in the world who could get away with doing that to him.
Chuck Norris's first starring role was 1977's Breaker, Breaker! , and subsequent films such as The Octagon , An Eye for an Eye , and Lone Wolf McQuade proved his increasing box office bankability. In 1984, Norris starred in Missing in Action, the first of a series of POW rescue fantasies produced by Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus and released under their Cannon Films banner. Over the next four years, Chuck Norris became Cannon's most prominent star, appearing in eight films, including Code of Silence , The Delta Force and Firewalker , in which he co-starred with Academy Award winner Louis Gossett, Jr.
In 1988, after 30 years of marriage, Chuck Norris and Holechek divorced.
In 1990, Chuck Norris founded the non-profit organization Kick Drugs Out of America. It has since been renamed KICKSTART.
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.
Chuck Norris 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.
Chuck Norris's Dates :
Beverly Johnson
Diane Holechek (1958 - 1988)
Gena O'Kelley (1998 - now)
Chuck Norris Image : images.art.com
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