when was chuck norris born

Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris is an American martial artist, actor, film producer, and screenwriter.

Chuck Norris is familiar to fans worldwide as the star of action films such as The Hitman (1991), The Delta Force (1986) and Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection (1990). He also starred in Missing in Action (1984) and its sequels, Firewalker (1986) and Sidekicks (1992). He was an executive producer of Walker, Texas Ranger (1993) as well as the star.

Norris, who was encouraged by his buddy Steve McQueen to pursue acting, skillfully combines his martial-arts skills into his series and feature film productions, emphasizing action and technique above violence.

Childhood & Early Life

Chuck Norris was born on 10 March 1940, in Ryan, Oklahoma, USA, to Wilma and Ray Norris. His father, who took up jobs as mechanic and driver, was an alcoholic. His parents divorced when he was a teenager and his father walked out of his life. He then helped his mother raise his younger brothers.

He attended ‘North Torrance High School.’ He was a shy and average student who did not think much of himself.

His Career

According to The famous People website, here is the career profile for Chuck Noris.

• He began his career in the ‘United States Air Force’ as an air policeman in 1958.
• He was sent to ‘Osan Air Base’ in South Korea where he became interested in martial arts. He began training in Tang Soo Do and earned black belts.
• He continued working as an air policeman at the ‘March Air Force Base’ in California after returning to the United States. He started working for the ‘Northrop Corporation’ after being discharged in 1962.
• He opened a chain of Karate schools spread across different cities during the 1960s. He was very popular as an instructor and had several celebrity students, including Steve McQueen, Bob Barker, and Priscilla Presley.
• He also participated in various martial arts tournaments. He lost his first two tournaments to Joe Lewis and Allen Steen, respectively. He also lost three of his matches at the ‘International Karate Championships’ to Tony Tulleners. However, he refused to give up.
• By the late-1960s, he had worked on his technique and won the ‘Professional Middleweight Karate Champion’ title on 24 November 1968; he would defend this title five more times till 1974. He won ‘Karate’s Triple Crown’ after winning the most number of tournaments in the year 1969.
• He decided to try his hand at acting after being encouraged by his celebrity student Steve McQueen. He made his acting debut in 1969 in the movie ‘The Wrecking Crew.’ His role was however uncredited.
• He met the popular martial artist Bruce Lee during a martial arts demonstration in Long Beach. He appeared as ‘Colt’ in Bruce Lee’s directorial debut ‘Way of the Dragon’ in 1972. The movie was a super hit.
• At the behest of McQueen, he began attending acting classes at ‘MGM.’ He had his first starring role in the 1977 action film ‘Breaker! Breaker!’ in which he played a trucker whose friend gets killed by a policeman.
• He proved to be a bankable actor during the 1980s. He appeared in a series of action films, including ‘The Octagon’ (1980), ‘Lone Wolf McQuade’ (1983), ‘Code of Silence’ (1985), and ‘Hero and the Terror’ (1988).
  

Awards & Achievements

• He was named the ‘Fighter of the Year’ by ‘Black Belt Magazine’ in 1969.
• He was presented with the ‘Golden Lifetime Achievement Award’ in 2000 by the ‘World Karate Union Hall of Fame.’
• In 2007, he was made the honorary United States Marine at Washington D.C.
• He was bestowed with an honorary title of ‘Texas Ranger’ in 2010 by the texas Governor Rick Perry. Seven years later, he was honored with the title ‘Honorary Texan’ due to his long stay at his ranch in Navasota, Texas.