10 Mar 1940 - 19 Mar 2026 (86 years)

Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris was an American martial artist, actor, screenwriter, and author. He held black belts in karate, taekwondo, Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and judo. After serving in the United States Air Force, he won numerous martial arts championships and later founded his own discipline, Chun Kuk Do. Norris began working in the American film industry as a martial arts instructor for celebrities before making his screen debut with a minor role in The Wrecking Crew (1968). Friend and fellow martial artist Bruce Lee invited him to play one of the main villains in The Way of the Dragon (1972). While Norris continued acting, friend and student Steve McQueen suggested he 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 he soon became a popular action film star.

Norris went on to headline a series of commercially successful independent action and martial arts films, including A Force of One (1979), The Octagon (1980), and An Eye for an Eye (1981), which elevated him to international fame. He later starred in studio productions such as Silent Rage (1982), Forced Vengeance (1982), and Lone Wolf McQuade (1983). His success led Cannon Films to sign him to a multi‑picture deal beginning with Missing in Action (1984), which launched a trilogy and cemented his status as the company's leading star throughout the 1980s. His work during this period included Invasion U.S.A (1985), The Delta Force (1986), and Firewalker (1986). Outside of Cannon, he also starred in Code of Silence (1985), which was regarded as one of his strongest films. In the 1990s, Norris played the title role in the long‑running CBS series Walker, Texas Ranger (1993–2001). He continued to appear in action films until 2006, and his final major film role was in The Expendables 2 (2012).

Beyond acting, Norris became a bestselling author of books on martial arts, exercise, philosophy, conservative politics, Christian western fiction, self‑help, and biography, and wrote a regular column for WorldNetDaily. He appeared in numerous commercials, including as a longtime spokesperson for the Total Gym. In 2005, Norris became the subject of the "Chuck Norris facts", an internet meme that humorously exaggerated his toughness and abilities. He endorsed various products that incorporated it, and the phenomenon inspired multiple books, two video games, and several talk‑show appearances.

Norris married Dianne Kay Holechek (1941–2025) in December 1958 in Torrance, California. He was 18 and she was 17, and the two had been classmates at North High School in Torrance. After 30 years of marriage, they separated in 1988 and finalized their divorce in 1989. They had two sons, Mike (born 1962) and Eric (born 1965).

Norris married Gena O'Kelley, a model 23 years his junior, on November 28, 1998. The couple had fraternal twins born in 2001. Norris also had a daughter, Dina, from an extramarital relationship. While stationed in California during his service in the United States Air Force, he began seeing a woman named Johanna without disclosing that he was married to Holechek. Norris and Dina met for the first time in 1990, and he publicly acknowledged her in 2004 in his memoir Against All Odds: My Story.