There are few actors more iconic than Chuck Norris, at least when it comes to stunts, martial arts and anthology films.
Over the years, the 82-year-old man from Oklahoma has starred in around 40 films, and it wasn’t until the start of his career that he broke through.
Chuck had two long marriages, the second of which is still ongoing. Also, he is the loving father of five children.
Recently, however, he shared some rather disturbing news regarding his wife’s health.
Let’s take a closer look at the career and life of Chuck Norris.
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Chuck Norris was born on March 10, 1940 in Ryan, Oklahoma. The eldest of three boys, when describing himself as a young child, he says he was “the shy kid who never excelled at anything in school. »
Chuck Norris – early life
But in fact, Norris’ childhood was quite tumultuous. His father was a heavy drinker, and when Chuck was just 10 years old, he suddenly disappeared, leaving his mother, Wilma, all alone. She raised Chuck and his two siblings alone, but when Chuck Norris turned 15, the family moved 16 times. They end up settling in California.
Wilma was a devout Christian and made sure Chuck and his brothers — Wieland and Arron — went to church wherever they lived. As a result, Norris developed a close relationship with God.
Chuck went to high school in North Torrance, but at age 14 he began to take on more responsibilities at home. In addition to studying, he helps his mother take care of her brothers while she works.
“God has a plan for you,” Wilma told Chuck daily.
“She loves Jesus with all her heart and soul and made sure we understood him [en grandissant] “, he reportedly said according to the Baptist Press. “She influenced me spiritually and instilled in me a sense of responsibility that carried over to my adult life later, she always told me ‘God has plans for you’, and I didn’t know what she meant. I think I know now.”
It was in 1958 that Chuck married his high school sweetheart, Dianne Holechek. But we’ll get to that in a moment.
At the same time, he had begun to take an interest in the army. He ended up enlisting in the US Airforce the same year he married Holechek.
How Chuck Norris got his name
Chuck Norris was initially stationed at Osan Air Base, South Korea, and it was there that he began studying martial arts.
Fate willed that it was through his time in the military that he got his now legendary name.
During boot camp at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, a Hispanic man who lived in the barracks with Chuck asked him if he knew what Carlos meant in English.
“I said, ‘yes, it’s Charles’,” Chuck Norris explained on his website. “Then he said, ‘Charles’ nickname is Chuck. That’s what I’m going to call you. Well, all the guys started calling me Chuck and it stuck. »
According to the US Army’s website, Chuck quickly “realized he couldn’t stop a rambunctious drunk without drawing his gun.” So he decided to study martial arts. His instructor was Grand Master Mun – Tae Kwon Do instructor – at Osan Gym.
Chuck started working as a karate instructor
When he left the service in 1961, Chuck began working as a karate instructor. At that time, he was a black belt in karate and a brown belt in judo.
Chuck then became something of a franchisee of karate studios. He opened more than 30 karate studios in the 1960s in the United States and taught many celebrities, including Priscilla Presley and Steve McQueen.
In addition, he participated in many tournaments, winning the world middleweight karate title for the first time in 1968. Norris would defend this title five times and would soon be considered one of the greatest fighters in the world. history of martial arts.
“I was competing against guys who had years and years of experience.”
In 1974, Chuck retired from competition. By then his chain of karate schools had fallen into disrepair.
“I thought maybe 500 schools was better than having six, well it turned out that it wasn’t. In short, two years later, I lost everything. It took me five years to get out of this hole and pay off all the creditors. During this time, I was trying to decide what I was going to do with my life,” says Chuck.
As we mentioned, Chuck was Steve McQueen’s tutor. It turns out the actor actually told Norris to try his hand at acting. The problem is that Chuck has no money and acting classes are expensive.
“I ended up finding a drama school that I was able to attend thanks to my military health insurance card,” Norris says. “So I went back to school to learn acting. Then I tried to get work (as an actor), but I was competing against guys who had years and years of experience. »
Chuck ended up writing my own screenplay
“I said to myself ‘it’s not going to work’. So I ended up writing my own script and eventually, you know, with determination and faith, I sold the idea and made it happen. It was in 1977. It was really the beginning of my career. »
Before that, however, Chuck would take on what is now considered a cult role. In 1972, he appeared in Return of the Dragon, one of the film’s highlights being a fight scene between him and action star Bruce Lee, in the famous Colosseum in Rome, Italy.
The story behind this legendary scene is quite special.
“It was amazing because when I got to Rome my fight weight was 168 (lbs) and at the time Bruce was around 145,” Chuck said.
Chuck Norris – film career and net worth
The producers of the film looked at us together and said to me: “You know, you don’t look very different in height, you must be taller than Bruce, can we make you taller?” I said, “What do you mean?” He said, “Can you gain weight?” “. I said, “Well, I don’t know. You know, at that point, I’m intimidated because I’ve never done this before, I got scared and I said, ‘How many pounds do you want me to gain? He said, “Can you put on 10 pounds?” “. I said, “I will try”.
Norris continues: “So I started eating burgers and drinking malt. But I was training every day and burning off the lost pounds. I literally had to stop training and just eat. And then of course you know it wasn’t muscle, it was more fat than muscle (laughs). So I went up to 180 for this fight scene. That’s why you didn’t see me doing jump kicks, I couldn’t get off the ground.
Chuck has acted in about forty films
Chuck may not have won any Oscars during his time in the spotlight, but his acting career is nothing short of remarkable. In total, he acted in about forty films, including the film Missing in Action (1984), Code of Silence (1985) and The Delta Force (1986).
As the 1990s approached, Chuck’s acting career began to falter. He no longer landed important roles, and therefore decided to create new projects on the side. The result ? Well, today he has a net worth of around $70 million.
Norris has always been a big supporter of several charities, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In 1990, with the help of President George HW Bush, he started his own charity, Kickstart.
The organization provides martial arts training to middle school students in the United States. The objective of this training is not to teach children to fight. Rather, it’s designed to boost their self-esteem, so they don’t feel like they have to fight in the first place.
Chuck Norris – family, wife, children
“Kickstart, I think, is one of God’s plans for me and for Gina as well,” Norris said. “We work with children who are already on the wrong track, who already have two faults against them, children from disadvantaged neighborhoods who have no starting point. And our Kickstart program, which is about building strong and moral character in our youth through martial arts, is one way we are giving back. »
As we mentioned before, Chuck married his high school girlfriend, Dianne Holechek, in 1958. The two remained together until 1988, and share children, Mike and Eric.
Then, in 1997, Chuck had a date at a restaurant in Dallas. However, it was another woman who caught his eye. That woman was Gena O’Kelley, and the two started dating soon after. Chuck and Gina married in 1998 and remain deeply in love to this day. For their 20th anniversary, Chuck posted a moving tribute to his wife, whom he calls his best friend, on Facebook.
“22 years ago, I met the love of my life. And we are now celebrating 20 years of marriage together,” Norris wrote.
“Gena…Thank you for not only being the best wife a man could ask for, but also the best mom and the best friend.” I love you Gena and look forward to celebrating many more years together.“
Instagram/chucknorris
Gena and Chuck Norris have welcomed two children together, Danielle and Dakota. However, about ten years ago, their life changed.
He gave up his film career to take care of his sick wife
Since then, Gena’s health has deteriorated. According to reports, in 2013, she received an injection. According to Gena herself, something felt wrong almost instantly.
“A few hours after the first injection, my whole body felt like it was on fire – like acid had gone through it. The burn was isolated at first, but it kept getting bigger…
I was in bed on a drip for five months and had to have 24 hour nursing care. Chuck slept next to me on the couch and never left me. I prayed to live in order to raise my children,” she explains.
Since then, Gena has suffered from nerve pain and kidney problems. They believe she was poisoned by a chemical that was repeatedly injected into her during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.
Public lawsuits against 11 companies
Gena and Chuck have filed public lawsuits against 11 healthcare companies seeking justice.
Since then, Gena has needed care, and her husband has always been there. In fact, he gave up everything else to take care of his wife full time. According to the couple, they spent around $2 million on the treatments alone.
“I gave up my movie career to focus on Gena, my whole life right now is keeping her alive,” Chuck said. “I think this question is so important. »
“It’s infuriating and heartbreaking,” added Gena. “It’s a vicious, ugly secret that has been kept hidden – something that Chuck and I are determined to change.”
We wish Chuck Norris and Gena the best for the future. We hope she recovers quickly.
Chuck Norris seems like a fantastic husband and father. So please share this article on Facebook with your friends and family to honor him.
