Chuck Norris has died at the age of 86.Image: AFP
Actor and king of martial arts Chuck Norris has died. He embodied the American dream and the empowering values of the American right. A portrait.
March 20, 2026, 6:21 p.mMarch 20, 2026, 6:51 p.m
Paula RAMON and Raphaëlle PICARD / afp
Legend of martial arts: Chuck Norris – action film icon and involuntary internet myth – has died at the age of 86. The “invincible” star of the “Walker, Texas Ranger” era died after an emergency medical intervention in Hawaii. His family mourns the loss of a “beloved fighter for American values.”
Thousands of memes
At the end of 2005, American Internet users invented thousands of memes about the former karate world champion, who had become a hero of US households after the series Walker, Texas Ranger (1993-2001), making fun of his character’s superhuman abilities.
“When Chuck Norris looks at the sun, it winks.”
“Chuck Norris has already counted to infinity twice.”
Chuck Norris on November 27, 1985 in Paris.Image: AFP
After initially laughing about it, the actor finally sued the publisher in 2007 who had compiled these Chuck Norris facts into a book. “Some of the ‘facts’ are racist, obscene or depict Chuck Norris engaging in illegal activities,” the lawsuit says. And if there’s one thing Chuck Norris despises, it’s illegality. Because the actor with the great hairstyle, who could break his opponents’ necks with his hand or foot, always embodied honest heroes.
Whether in films about violence (The Silent One; OK Code of Silence), terrorism (Invasion USA, Delta Force) or the Vietnam War (Missing in Action 1, 2 and 3) – this silent fighter always steadfastly defended American values. “I just wanted to embody a positive image,” the star confided to the New York Times in 1993.
«I wanted people to love me just like they do in real life. I didn’t want pure violence. I don’t attack anyone in my films. I don’t cause problems – I solve them.”
Chuck Norris
Chuck Norris at a press conference in Texas in 2016.Image: AFP
With his roles, he developed into a superhero who kills the bad guys with kicks and punches in the name of a triumphant America. It’s simple – and it works.
Embodiment of the ‘American Dream’
Chuck Norris was also the embodiment of the ‘American Dream’: born into poverty in Oklahoma on March 10, 1940, his father was an alcoholic Indian, his mother an Irish single mother who raised her three sons alone.
“I was a bad student, shy, unathletic and uncomfortable in my own skin: I dreamed of beating up those who called me a half-breed.”
Chuck Norris
Chuck Norris addresses a crowd to campaign for George W. Bush on October 30, 2000.Image: AFP
After high school, Chuck Norris goes to Korea with the army and learns judo and karate. When he returns, he will be a black belt. In 1968 he became world champion in middle-heavyweight karate – a title he held until 1974. In Los Angeles, where he lives with his wife and two children (he only found out about an illegitimate daughter years later), he opened several karate schools and met actor Steve McQueen. “Steve said I should try it in the film: ‘You have that intense look when you fight – that could be popular and make you a lot of money!'”
After a tentative debut in 1968 in Matt Helm – Mission in Karachi, Bruce Lee gave him his first significant role in the cult film Deathclaw Strikes Again (1972). Their fatal fight in the Colosseum in Rome remains unforgotten – a moment that is still remembered with emotional emotion today.
Support for Netanyahu
In real life, Chuck Norris has been married since 1998 to a former model who is 23 years his junior. He represents clear Republican values: In 2012, Norris, an evangelical Christian, called for Mitt Romney to be elected and warned that there would be “a thousand years of darkness” if Barack Obama was re-elected.
“We cannot stand idly by as our country moves towards socialism.”
Chuck Norris
In 2013, shirtless and punching a leather-gloved fist in a video, he supported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a rather unusual way.
“You may think that I am a tough man in my films, but in a difficult environment like the Middle East, Israel has a strong man: Bibi Netanyahu.”
Chuck Norris
After a lookalike of Chuck Norris was spotted during the storming of the Capitol in 2021, the now over 80-year-old, who survived two heart attacks in 2017, was forced to deny his presence in Washington. He assured:
«Violence has no place in society. I stand and will always stand on the side of law and order.”