Chuck Norris
Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist, actor, film producer and screenwriter. After serving in the United States Air Force, Norris won many martial arts championships and later founded his own discipline Chun Kuk Do. Norris is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and Judo.[3] 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 actor 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 to 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 Norris became a popular action film star.
Norris would go 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 unto 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 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 and its sequel (2001-2002). 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 novels, 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 the main spokespersons for the Total Gym infomercials. In 2005, Norris found a new fame on the internet with 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 read the facts or participated in sketches.
Early life
Norris was born in Ryan, Oklahoma on March 10, 1940[4] to Wilma (née Scarberry) (b. 4 May 1921)[5] and Ray Dee Norris (2 June 1918 - 17 July 1971)[6], who was a World War II Army soldier,[7] a mechanic, bus driver, and truck driver.[8] Norris has stated that he has Irish and Cherokee roots.[7][9][10] Norris was named after Carlos Berry, his father's minister.[7] He has two younger brothers, Wieland and Aaron (a Hollywood producer). When Norris was sixteen, his parents divorced,[11] and he later relocated to Prairie Village, Kansas and then to Torrance, California with his mother and brothers.[9]
Norris has described his childhood as downbeat. He was nonathletic, shy, and scholastically mediocre.[12] His father, Ray, worked intermittently as an automobile mechanic, and went on alcohol drinking binges that lasted for months at a time. Embarrassed by his father's behavior and the family's financial plight, Norris developed a debilitating introversion that lasted for his entire childhood.[13]
Career
1958 to 1968: United States Air Force and Martial arts breakthrough
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.[14] 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. To promote it, Norris did demonstrations and fights in all kinds of events.[15]
Norris started to participate in martial arts competitions. He was defeated in his first two tournaments, dropping decisions to Joe Lewis and Allen Steen. He lost three matches at the International Karate Championships to Tony Tulleners. By 1967 Norris had improved enough that he scored victories over the likes of Vic Moore. On June 3rd, at the 1967 tournament of karate, Norris defeated seven opponents, exchanged his final blows with Skipper Mullins, and won the tournament.[16] On June 24th, Norris was declared champion at the S. Henry Cho's All-American Karate Championship at the Madison Square Garden, taking the title from Julio LaSalle and defeating Joe Lewis.[17][18][19] During this time, Norris also worked for the Northrop Corporation and opened a chain of karate schools, including a storefront school in his then-hometown of Torrance, CA on Hawthorne Boulevard. Norris's official website lists celebrity clients at the schools; among them Steve McQueen, Chad McQueen, Bob Barker, Priscilla Presley, Donny Osmond and Marie Osmond.[20]
In early 1968, Norris suffered the tenth and last loss of his career, losing an upset decision to Louis Delgado. On November 24, 1968, he avenged his defeat to Delgado and by doing so won the Professional Middleweight Karate champion title, which he held for six consecutive years.[11] On April 1, it was reported that, in a round robin tournament, Norris successfully defended his All-American Karate Championship title at the Karate tournament of champions of North America Sunday against both Hawk D. Frazier and Carlos Farrell, winners of the black belt lightweight and heavyweight titles, respectively.[21] Again that year, Norris won for the second time the All-American Karate Championship. It was the last time Norris participated and retired undefeated.[22][23] While competing, Norris met Bruce Lee, who at the time was known for the TV series The Green Hornet. They developed a friendship, as well as a training and working relationship.
In 1969, during the first weekend of August, 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.[24] Norris retained his title.[25] 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.
1970-1978: Early roles and breakthrough
In 1972, he acted as Bruce Lee's nemesis in the widely acclaimed martial arts movie Way of the Dragon (titled Return of the Dragon in its U.S. distribution). The film grossed HK$5,307,350.50 at the Hong Kong box office, beating previous records set by Lee's own films, The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, making it the highest-grossing film of 1972 in Hong Kong. The film is credited with launching him toward stardom.
On the 26th of September 1973, Jonathan Kaplan's The Student Teachers premiered where Norris had a small role.[26]
In 1974, actor Steve McQueen, who was his martial art student and friend at the time, saw his potential and encouraged him to begin acting classes at MGM. That same year, he played the supporting role of the main antagonist in Lo Wei's Yellow Faced Tiger.[27] Norris plays a powerful drug king in San Francisco, where he dominates the criminal world including the police department. He is eventually challenged by a young police officer who stands up to corruption.[28] The film was released theatrically in the US in 1981 as Slaughter in San Francisco. It was noticed that it was an older low-budget film announcing Norris as the lead. The film played as a double-bill to other action and genre film. It was described, a low budget martial arts actioner taking advantage of Norris' fame.[29][30][31][32][33][34]
In 1975, he wrote his first book Winning Tournament Karate on the practical study of competition training for any rank. It covers all phases of executing speedy attacks, conditioning, fighting form drills, and one-step sparring techniques.[35]
Norris' first starring role was 1977's Breaker! Breaker!, an action trucking film. After turning down offers to do many martial art films, Norris decided that he wanted to do films that had story and where the action would take place when it is emotionally right. The low budget film turned out to be very successful.[36]
In 1978, Norris starred in the thriller, Good Guys Wear Black, that he considers to be his first significant lead role. No studio wanted to release it, so Norris and his producers four-walled it, renting the theaters and taking whatever money came in.[37] The film did very well; shot on a $1 million budget, it made over $18 million at the box office.[38]
1979 to 1983: Action film star
In 1979, Norris starred in A Force of One, where he played Matt Logan, a world karate champion who assists the police in their investigation.[39] The film was developed while touring for Good Guys Wear Black. Again no studio wanted to pick it up, but it out-grossed the previous film by making $20 million at the box office.[37][40]
In 1980, he released The Octagon, where his character must stop a group of terrorists trained in the ninja style.[41] Unlike his previous films this time the studios were interested. American Cinema Releasing distributed it and it made almost $19 million at the box office.[37][42]
In 1981, he starred in Steve Carver's An Eye for an Eye, co-starring Christopher Lee, Richard Roundtree, Matt Clark, and Mako Iwamatsu.
The following year he had the lead in the action horror film Silent Rage (1982) it was his first film released by a major studio Columbia Pictures.[43] In the film Norris is a sheriff who must stop a psychopath who goes on a rampage after being granted near-indestructibility in a medical experiment.
Shortly afterward MGM gave him a three-movie deal, and that same year they released Forced Vengeance (1982). Norris was unhappy with the direction they wanted to take with him, hence the contract was canceled.[37]
In 1983, Norris made Lone Wolf McQuade with Orion Pictures. He played J.J. McQuade, a reckless Texas Ranger who'd rather work alone, but who gets a new partner because his captain would like to have him supervised. The partners investigate an arms dealer played by David Carradine. The film was a worldwide hit and had a positive reception from movie critics, often being compared to Sergio Leone's stylish spaghetti westerns. The film became the inspiration for Norris's future hit TV show Walker, Texas Ranger. Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5 star rating, calling the character of J.J. McQuade worthy of a film series and predicting the character would be a future classic.[44][45][46]
The same year, he also published his second book about general exercising called Toughen Up! the Chuck Norris Fitness System.[47]
Also in 1983, Xonox produced the video game Chuck Norris Superkicks for the Commodore 64, Commodore VIC-20, Atari 2600, and Colecovision. The game combines two types of gameplay: moving through a map, and fighting against enemies. The player takes control of Chuck Norris who has to liberate a hostage. It was later sold as Kung Fu Superkicks when the license for the use of the name Chuck Norris expired.
1984 to 1988: Mainstream success
In 1984, Norris starred in Missing in Action, the first of a series of POW rescue fantasies themed around the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue that were produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus and released under their Cannon Films banner, with which he had signed a multiple movie deal.[48] He plays Colonel James Braddock, a US military officer who spent seven years in a North Vietnamese POW camp, which he escaped 10 years ago. After the war, Braddock accompanies a government investigation team that travels to Ho Chi Minh City to investigate reports of US soldiers still held prisoner. Norris later dedicated these films to his younger brother Wieland, who was a private in the 101st Airborne Division, and had been killed in June 1970 in Vietnam while on patrol in the defense of Firebase Ripcord.[49] The film was a huge success and Norris became Cannon's most prominent star of the 1980s.
In 1985, Cannon Films released Missing in Action 2: The Beginning and Invasion U.S.A. which were extremely successful. Missing in Action 2: The Beginning is a prequel to the first installment, where Colonel James Braddock is held in a North Vietnamese POW camp run by sadistic Colonel, who forces the POWs to grow opium for a French drug runner, and tries to get Braddock to admit to and sign a long list of war crimes. During his team's time in captivity, they are relentlessly subjected to various forms of torture. This leads them to attempt escape, and Braddock plots to free his fellow prisoners and destroy the prison camp.
Invasion U.S.A. takes place during the Cold War area. Rostov, a Soviet operative leads a band of Latin American communist guerrillas to invade Florida. The invasion force spreads out into the South and causes havoc by shooting bazookas into suburban homes, inciting race riots by impersonating the police and attacking ethnic events, and planting bombs in churches and on school buses. With terror spreading everywhere, martial law is declared. Norris plays a former CIA agent who has had previous encounters with Rostov, and can take him on.
That same year Orion Pictures released Code of Silence which received positive reviews and was also a box office success.[50][51][52][53] Code of Silence is a crime drama, and features Norris as a streetwise plainclothes officer who takes down a crime czar responsible for officers being wounded in a botched drug raid. It's considered by fans and critics as Chuck Norris's best film to date.
On the 14 of February 1986, premiered Menahem Golan's The Delta Force. In it Norris co-starred with Lee Marvin, they are leaders of an elite squad of Special Forces troops based on the real life U.S. Army Delta Force unit, who face a group of Lebanese terrorists who have hijacked a Boeing 707. The Delta Force was a box office success. In October, first aired Ruby-Spears' cartoon Karate Kommandos. The animated show lasted a season of 6 episodes. In it Norris voices a cartoon version of himself who leads a team United States government operatives known as the Karate Kommandos. Together, they fight against a super villain named The Claw and his organization. Marvel published a comic based on that. On November 21 saw the release of the Norris paired with Louis Gossett, Jr. lead of J. Lee Thompson's Firewalker. The film is an action adventure film that also co-stars Will Sampson and Melody Anderson.[54] Norris and Gossett play Max Donigan and Leo Porter, two soldiers of fortune, whose adventures rarely result in any notable gain. They are befriended by an inscrutable woman of mystery Patricia (Anderson). Patricia's map leads them on a quest for treasure in Central America. The name of the movie comes from the powerful guardian of the treasure.
In 1987, he published the book The Secret of Inner Strength: My Story It is an explanation of his personal philosophy of positive force and the psychology of self-improvement and is interspersed with anecdotes about international karate competitions, training with Bruce Lee, and Norris's acting career. It became a New York Times Best Seller.[55]
In January 1988, Norris returned as Colonel James Braddock in Braddock: Missing in Action III which marks his brother Aaron Norris's directorial debut. Aaron Norris had previously been stunt and/or fight coordinator in the vast majority of his filmography up until that year. Aaron would direct most of his films from that point on. The story is about Braddock who learns that his Vietnamese wife, who was declared dead, may be alive with their 12-year-old son. Braddock returns to Vietnam to retrieve them, but faces the sadistic General Quoc (Aki Aleong). On August 28, Norris starred in Hero and the Terror.[56] It co-starred Brynn Thayer, Steve James, Jack O'Halloran, Jeffrey Kramer, Ron O'Neal, Murphy Dunne, and Billy Drago. The film stars Norris as Danny O'Brien as a cop trying to stop a serial killer, Simon Moon (O'Halloran) known as "The Terror".[57]
1990s: Subsequent success
By 1990, MGM acquired the Cannon Films library, and Norris made the sequel Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection where his character leads his Delta team into the fictional South American country of San Carlos to rescue hostages and stop the flow of cocaine into the United States.
In 1991, he starred in The Hitman, where he plays a cop who's been brutally shot by his crooked partner. He's in a coma for several years and when he wakes up he assumes a new identity and infiltrates a drug-smuggling operation run by the local Mafia.
In 1992, he did Sidekicks, his most successful film of that area. It is about a loner boy, who lives with his widowed father. He has vivid daydreams about being Chuck Norris' sidekick, battling against Norris's movie enemies, who are often personified by his everyday bullies.
In 1993, he began shooting the action series Walker, Texas Ranger. The show is centered on Sergeant Cordell Walker (Norris), a Dallas–Fort Worth–based member of the Texas Rangers, a state-level bureau of investigation and is about his adventures fighting criminals with his partner James Trivette. It lasted eight seasons on CBS and continued in syndication on other channels, notably the Hallmark Channel.[58] The show was very successful in the ratings throughout its run, ranking among the Top 30 programs from 1995 until 1999, and ranking in the Top 20 in both the 1995–1996 and 1998–1999 seasons.
During his tenure on Walker, Texas Ranger, Norris was seen in other projects. This started as early as August 25 1993, when Norris appeared in the television special Wind in the Wire starring Randy Travis in the main role. Burt Reynolds, and Lou Diamond Phillips were among the other guests.[59][60]
In 1994, he starred in Hellbound. A supernatural thriller film starring co-starring Calvin Levels and Christopher Neame. It was the final film made by Cannon Films. Frank Shatter (Norris) and Calvin Jackson (Levels) are two Chicago Police detectives sent to investigate the brutal murder of a rabbi. As the investigation begins, Shatter and Jackson are summoned to Israel for questioning. Upon arrival, they realize that they are, in fact, pursuing a supernatural being – Satan's emissary, Prosatanos (Neame)– who tried to wrest control of the world from God during the crusades.
At the 1994 edition of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF)'s Survivor Series event, Norris was the special outside enforcer for the casket match between The Undertaker and Yokozuna.[61] During the match, Norris delivered a roundhouse kick to an interfering Jeff Jarrett.[62]
Top Dog (1995), an action comedy, in which Norris' character, Jake Wilder, is partnered with Reno, a police dog, whose handler was killed. Jake and Reno investigate a plot by domestic terrorists to attack a conference on unity.
Forest Warrior (1996), an environmental family film about a land developer who wants to cut down all the trees in a forest where a group of local children play. A mythical spirit appears (Norris) to help them to vanquish the villains.[63]
In 1996, he published the book The Secret Power Within: Zen Solutions to Real Problems where he explains how the ancient system of Zen, the core philosophy behind the martial arts, can help achieve spiritual tranquility and self-confidence.[64]
Since 1997, Norris has appeared with Christie Brinkley in a long-running series of cable TV infomercials promoting Total Gym home fitness equipment.[65]
On November first, 1998, Norris starred, executive produced, and participated to writing the story of Michael Preece's award-winning television film Logan's War: Bound by Honor. It premiered on CBS, right after Walker, Texas Ranger newly scheduled episode.[66] Sharing the lead with Norris is actor Eddie Cibrian. It also co-stars Joe Spano, Jeff Kober, R. D. Call, Brendon Ryan Barrett, etc. The narrative follows Logan Fallon (Cibrian), who as a child witnesses the murder his father, a district attorney, and the rest of his family. Logan survives because of his sixth sense for danger. Knowing who killed them Logan vows revenge. He moves with uncle Jake (Norris) who raises him from that point teaching him self-defence and combat, until adulthood where he can fulfill his goal.[67] The television-film was ranked third among the thirteen most viewed shows of that week.[68]
In 1999, Norris produced and played Walker in a supporting role in the Walker, Texas Ranger spin-off Sons of Thunder. This year also playing the role of Walker, Norris acted a cross over episode of the Sammo Hung's TV show Martial Law. For another cross over, Hung also appeared as his character in Walker, Texas Ranger.
2000 to present day: Internet fame and current works
In 2000, Norris starred and was an executive producer for the television film The President's Man, where he reunited with director Michael Preece. It premiered on April 2 on CBS.[69] It is an action film co-starring starring Dylan Neal, Ralph Waite, Marla Adams, Stuart Whitman, and Soon-Tek Oh. The story is about, Joshua McCord (Norris), who's an aging president's man, the highest classified job in the USA. It consists to be a highly trained bodyguard of the President (Waite). After participating in a dangerous mission, McCord thinks of retiring and prepares to finds his replacement. McCord chooses Deke Slater (Neal), a former Army sergeant who is very talented but has a troubled record.[70][71][72]
In 2002, Norris returned for a sequel as Joshua McCord in Eric Norris' The President's Man: A Line in the Sand. It premiered on CBS on January 20.[73] The sequel co-starred Judson Mills, Robert Urich, Roxanne Hart, and others. The plot consists of McCord who is assigned by the President of the United States (Urich) to prevent a band of terrorists from setting off a nuclear device.[74]
In 2003, he co-starred in the supernatural Christian film Bells of Innocence, alongside Mike Norris (his son), David A. R. White, Carey Scott, and Marshall R. Teague. The film is about Jux Jonas (Mike Norris) a man who gives up his christian faith, after losing his family in a car accident. Reluctantly, he joins two friends (White and Scott) for a trip. While travelling, their small aircraft crashes, and the trio find themselves in a wasteland and find the secluded town of Ceres, a town where visitors are unwanted outsiders. They face the town elder (Teague) and confront him with the help of a local rancher (Chuck Norris).
That same year he was a guest on the TV Show Yes, Dear.
In 2004, he made a small appearance in the Rawson Marshall Thurber's comedy DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller. The plot follows a group of misfits entering a Las Vegas dodge ball tournament to save their cherished local gym from the onslaught of a corporate health fitness chain. Norris plays himself, in a small but pivotal role, as one judge during a dodgeball match.The film turned to be a success, it made a worldwide total of $167.7 millions, is described by critics as raunchy and low brow humor that delivers for many.[75][76][77][78]
That same year he 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.[79]
On October 17, 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; however, this was severely impaired by CBS's 2006–2007 season decision to no longer regularly schedule Movies of the Week on Sunday night.
