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Chuck Norris lives by one rule! NO ASIAN CHICKS
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'''Carlos Ray Norris Jr.''', known as '''Chuck Norris''', (born ], ]), is an ] ]ist, action star, and ] actor.

==Biography==
===Beginnings===

A native of ], Norris has two younger brothers, Wieland and Aaron Norris, the latter of which is a Hollywood producer. Norris's great uncle is the American novelist ]. Norris was born to an ] ] Indian father and ] mother (hence gingerness).{{ref|parents}} When Norris was ten, his parents divorced{{ref|ten}} and he later relocated to ] and then ], ] with his mother and brothers.{{ref|Torrance}} Norris describes his childhood as downbeat. He was unathletic, shy, and scholastically mediocre. Kids would taunt his mixed ethnicity — wistfully he wanted to beat up his tormenters.

Norris finished high school and soon married his girlfriend, Diane Holechek. In 1958 Norris joined the ] as a ] and was sent to Osan Air Base ]. It was in South Korea that Norris acquired the nickname ''Chuck'' and began his training in ], an interest that would segue into ] in ] and ], both Korean martial arts, Shinto-Ryu ], and a brown belt in ]; and the founding of the ] ("Universal Way") form and the education association (]). When he returned to the states he continued to act as an MP at ] California. Norris was discharged in August of 1962 without seeing combat. He worked for the ] corporation and opened a chain of karate schools, which the son of ], Chad McQueen attended.{{ref|McQueen}}

===Rise to fame===
]
In ], Norris became Middleweight Karate champion (non-contact), a title he held for seven consecutive years.{{ref|middleweight}} In ], 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 1969 that Norris made his acting debut, in the ] movie '']''.

In ], his younger brother Weiland was killed in Vietnam. Norris later dedicated his '']'' films to his brother's memory.

At a martial arts demonstration in ], Norris met the soon-to-be famous ]. In ], he acted as Bruce Lee's nemesis in the movie '']'', and in ], McQueen encouraged him to begin acting classes at the MGM Studio.

Norris' first starring role was ]'s '']'', and subsequent films such as '']'' (1980), '']'' (1981), and '']'' proved his increasing box office bankability. In ], Norris starred in '']'', the first of a series of POW rescue fantasies produced by Israeli cousins ] and ] and released under their ] banner. Also in that year, he was offered the part of the sensei of the villain dojo in the movie ], but declined the part. He reportedly did not want to take part in depicting martial artists in an unfavorable light. .

Over the next four years, Norris became Cannon's most prominent star, appearing in eight films, including '']'', '']'', and '']'', in which he co-starred with Academy Award winner ]

===Walker, Texas Ranger===

]'']]

By the close of the ], Cannon Films had faded from prominence, and Norris' star appeal seemed to go with it. He reprised his Delta Force role for ], who had acquired the Cannon library after the latter's ] bankruptcy. Norris went on to make several more largely ignored films before making a transition to ]. In ], he began shooting the series '']'', which lasted eight years on ] and continued in heavy syndication on other channels.

On October 16th, 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.

==Family==

In ], his son Mike was born; a second son, Eric, followed in ]. After 30 years of marriage, Norris and Holechek divorced in ]. He married again in ], this time to former model Gena O'Kelley, and she delivered twins in ]: Dakota Alan Norris, a boy, and Danilee Kelly Norris, a girl.

==Recent years==
Norris has spoken out with his wife in favor of teaching ] elective classes in public schools. He has also authored the fictional "Justice Riders." In 2005 Norris founded the ].

Norris is a stauch Conservative Republican and one of the biggest supporters of George W. Bush. He also is a card-carrying member of the NRA.

Despite his political views, Norris is close friends with Rosie O'Donnell and Whoppi Goldberg.

Norris is an avid golfer and participates in many celebrity golf events.

Norris has trained many celebrities in the martial arts. Bob Barker is one of these celebrities, and Norris appeared as a guest on a special primetime "The Price is Right" celebrating Bob's birthday. He helped his contestant win the pricing game.

Norris was originally in mind as the role of Red Foreman on the FOX sitcom "That 70's Show", but he was still filming Walker, Texas Ranger at the time, so Kurtwood Smith was cast instead.

== Popular culture ==

Norris regained popularity as a ] during the mid-2000's, especially on the Internet. Among the more high-profile parodies and references are these instances:
* '']'''s parent company, NBC, acquired Universal in early ], giving O'Brien permission to show footage of ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' without paying royalties. O'Brien and his writers subsequently created a new segment in which O'Brien shows short, out of context clips for comedic purposes. The "Walker, Texas Ranger Lever" quickly became one of the most popular segments on Late Night, with Norris himself showing up to parody his show and using his martial arts on O'Brien. This segment has been credited as jump-starting the Norris craze and leading to enough interest to produce a ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' TV movie.
* Norris is the object of an ] known as '']'' documenting and proclaiming fictional, often ] feats and characteristics, which began to circulate in late ]. Norris has written his own response to the parody on his website, stating that he doesn't feel offended by them, and finds some of them funny. .
* Norris was parodied in a '']'' short film entitled "The Young Chuck Norris", aired ], ]. ]
* Chuck Norris sponsors the infomercial, ], which usually airs in the late night or early morning hours.
* During the March 10, 2006 show of ]'s ], numerous references were made to Norris on his birthday, including all of the cut-out heads on the set, which are usually of current sports stars, being replaced with Chuck Norris heads. Also, several humerous comments in reference to Chuck Norris were made by co-host, ], in a similar tone to that featured on the '']'' website.



== Filmography ==
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*'']'' (])
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*'']'' (])
*'']'' (]) (documentary)
*'']'' (]) (documentary)
*'']'' (1977)
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*'']'' (])
*'']'' (])
*'']'' (1982)
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*'']'' (])

==References==
*''Against All Odds: My Story'', an autobiography
*''The Justice Riders'', ] novels

== Notes ==

#{{note|parents}} "At Dinner with: Chuck Norris", '']'', May 12, 1993
#{{note|ten}} "Chuck Norris — Strong, Silent, Popular", '']'', September 1, 1985
#{{note|Torrance}} "At Dinner with: Chuck Norris", '']'', May 12, 1993
#{{note|McQueen}} '']''
#{{note|middleweight}} "Chuck Norris — Strong, Silent, Popular", '']'', September 1, 1985

== External links ==
*
*{{imdb name|id=0001569|name=Chuck Norris}}
*
* as he appears on '']'' (video)
*

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Revision as of 01:09, 15 March 2006

Chuck Norris lives by one rule! NO ASIAN CHICKS