Photo by Cannon/Getty Images
Audio By Carbonatix
Veteran martial arts champion-turned-actor and ubiquitous popular culture icon Chuck Norris died Thursday at the age of 86 after reportedly being hospitalized in Hawaii. A cause of death has not been released.
His name was synonymous with the singular “tough guy” role he embodied on the syndicated Walker, Texas Ranger. Norris rose to international stardom after his dojo friend, Bruce Lee, invited him to play the villain in the 1972 martial arts film The Way of the Dragon. Norris solidified his status as a Lone Star and Hollywood icon in his most famous role as Texas Ranger Cordell Walker. True to its name, the show was filmed in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
In his retirement, Norris lived on a 1,000-acre ranch in Navasota, a small town between Austin and Houston. Norris was proud to claim Texas as home and remained politically active throughout his decades as a resident, donating more than $70,000 to the Republican Party and its candidates, including Governor Greg Abbott, Senator John Cornyn and former Gov. Rick Perry.
Norris, a U.S. Air Force veteran and black belt in multiple martial arts, made a name for himself training Hollywood stars for combat scenes. The Way of the Dragon, which showed his gruff, no-nonsense personality, proved him to be a perfect fit for the next generation of action entertainment.
Norris’ early roles often felt like the “B-movie” version of recent hits; Missing in Action was essentially his Rambo; Firewalker was a more extreme version of Raiders of the Lost Ark; and Code of Silence was directly lifted from an unused script for a Dirty Harry sequel. Cordell Walker wasn’t Norris’s first rodeo as a Texas Ranger. His first action lead role was playing Texas Ranger J.J. McQuade in 1983’s Lone Wolf McQuade.
Prototype of the Lone Wolf
Lone Wolf McQuade became the prototype for Norris’ success. Between sharp one-liners, skilled martial arts sequences and neo-Western sensibilities, Norris made “guilty pleasure” films that were so well-crafted (and self-aware) that even mainstream critics could get on board. Lone Wolf McQuade was so obviously the standout of Norris’s many film roles that it served as the primary inspiration for his legendary television run in Walker, Texas Ranger.
Produced by the Cannon Group, one of the most famed B-movie distributors, Walker, Texas Ranger, embraced everything Norris did best. The show was well aware of Norris’ burgeoning legacy as a cult icon. The show was a contemporary series, paced and structured like a classic Western in the vein of Gunsmoke or Bonanza. Walker wasn’t just a skilled law enforcement officer who dispensed his own form of justice, but also a moralistic leader who engaged in community service. His obsession with cowboy heroes was so extreme that he made frequent references to The Lone Ranger. In an era when television was embracing anti-heroes, Walker was an unambiguous good guy.
Walker, Texas Ranger was shot in Dallas for most of its nine seasons, often filming at a studio in Las Colinas, with additional shooting in Denton, Fort Worth and Mesquite. Although it wrapped up in 2001, the story of Walker, Texas Ranger continued with a 2005 television film that included Norris and a 2021 reboot on Paramount+ starring Jared Padalecki. Though only about 200 episodes were produced, the show was broadcast in more than 100 countries worldwide and on every Western channel, sparking a newfound appreciation for Norris’ singular acting style.
Norris never fell out of love with acting, but his legacy shifted in 2005 when satirical “Chuck Norris Facts” about his exaggerated abilities went viral. It was one of the first viral meme trends and even led to greater self-awareness on Norris’ part; he rattled off a few “Chuck Norris Facts” when he appeared in a cameo role in 2012’s The Expendables 2.
Having been inducted as an honorary Texas Ranger and a Texas legend at the Lone Star Film & Television Awards, Oklahoma-born Norris was one of the most famous “converted Texans” of all-time. This would suggest that Norris took to heart the advice that Walker himself would often quote: “That’s what life is all about, people, making the smart choices.”
