Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris was an American martial artist, actor and author. He died on March 19th 2026, aged 86.
Norris grew up poor in a family that moved constantly, from the Oklahoma backwoods to Texas to California. His father was an alcoholic. At school he was desperately shy—he could pass a whole day without talking—and had no aptitude for sport.
Norris discovered martial arts while serving in the air force, when he wandered into a judo hall in South Korea. He trained in several disciplines but specialised in Korean tang soo do. In 1967 he won the world middleweight karate championship, holding the title for five years. He was the first Westerner to earn an eighth-degree black belt in taekwondo, and also held black belts in jiu-jitsu and judo.
After returning to America he set up martial-arts academies, made training videos and developed his own system, "chun kuk do", blending the styles he had mastered. He also founded Kickstart Kids, a programme that used martial arts to steer underprivileged children away from drugs.
Norris's Hollywood career began with bit parts arranged by Bruce Lee, then the reigning kick-boxing sensation. Their fight in "The Way of the Dragon" (1972) is considered their greatest bout on screen; it was the only film in which Norris's character was killed. He went on to make 32 films, including the "Delta Force" and "Missing in Action" series. His CBS television series "Walker: Texas Ranger", about a nature-loving lone-wolf lawman, drew a billion viewers a week worldwide at its peak, by his own estimate.
Despite taking elocution and acting lessons, Norris was candid about his limited range. He stood five foot ten and weighed 165 lb. A critic once said he had the emotional range of an avocado. There was almost no love-interest in any of his films.
Norris became the subject of a long trail of internet memes celebrating him as invincible—claiming, for instance, that he made onions cry, that Superman as a child wore Chuck Norris pyjamas, and that he was the only person who could slam a revolving door. A fan-book hailed him as "the world's greatest human".
Norris backed Donald Trump in 2016, favoured a southern-border wall, took sponsorship from a gun firm and opposed gay marriage. In 2008 he published "Black Belt Patriotism", a bestselling book calling for a renewal of the ideals of the Founding Fathers.
Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side? And hain't that a big enough majority in any town?