Chuck Norris has died at the age of 86. His family confirmed the news in a statement posted to his official Instagram account, saying he passed surrounded by family and at peace. The nature of the medical emergency, which occurred in Kauai, Hawaii, was not disclosed. Earlier in the week, he had been training with friends, and by multiple accounts was in good spirits right up until the end.
Born Carlos Ray Norris on March 10, 1940, in Ryan, Oklahoma, he grew up in modest circumstances, describing his childhood as difficult and marked by an absent, alcoholic father. He joined the United States Air Force in 1958, was stationed in South Korea, and it was there that he began training in Tang Soo Do. That decision changed everything. By the late 1960s, he had won the Professional Middleweight Karate championship, held it for six consecutive years, and earned Black Belt magazine’s Fighter of the Year award.
His path to Hollywood came through Bruce Lee. The two developed a friendship and working relationship, and Lee cast Norris as the villain in 1972’s Way of the Dragon. The film grossed an estimated $130 million worldwide and launched Norris toward mainstream stardom. Friend and student Steve McQueen pushed him to take acting seriously, and Norris made good on that advice. Good Guys Wear Black (1978), shot on $1 million, made over $18 million at the box office and established him as the first successful homegrown American martial arts film star.
Through the late 1970s and 1980s, Norris built one of the most consistent box office careers in action cinema. He became the leading star of Cannon Films, headlining Missing in Action (1984), Invasion U.S.A. (1985), The Delta Force (1986), and Code of Silence (1985), widely regarded as one of his strongest performances. By 1990, his films had collectively grossed over $500 million worldwide.
In 1993, he took on the role that would define him for a generation of television viewers. Walker, Texas Ranger ran for eight seasons on CBS, ranked among the Top 30 programs from 1995 to 1999, and continued in syndication long after its run ended. He reprised the role in a 2005 television film and remained closely associated with the character for the rest of his life. His final major film appearance came in The Expendables 2 (2012).
In 2005, Norris found an entirely new audience when the Chuck Norris Facts internet meme exploded in popularity. The satirical “facts,” exaggerating his physical toughness and larger-than-life persona, resulted in six books, two video games, and widespread cultural reach he embraced with good humor. He was photographed reading the facts on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and repeatedly leaned into the phenomenon rather than distancing himself from it.
Beyond film and television, Norris was a prolific author, a New York Times bestselling writer of books on martial arts, philosophy, Christian western fiction, and autobiography. In 1990, he founded Kickstart Kids, an organization using martial arts training to build discipline and self-esteem in at-risk youth, a cause he supported actively for the rest of his life. He was named an honorary United States Marine in 2007 and an honorary Texas Ranger in 2010.
His family’s statement captured the man behind the legend plainly: “To the world, he was a martial artist, actor, and a symbol of strength. To us, he was a devoted husband, a loving father and grandfather, an incredible brother, and the heart of our family.” Chuck Norris is survived by his wife Gena O’Kelley, his children Mike, Eric, Dakota, Danilee, and Dina, and 13 grandchildren.