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Chuck Norris Facts & Worksheets

Chuck Norris is an American actor, screenwriter, film producer, and martial artist. He is known for starring in films such as The Delta Force and The Hitman.

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Chuck Norris is an American actor, screenwriter, film producer, and martial artist. He is known for starring in films such as The Delta Force and The Hitman.

See the fact file below for more information on the Chuck Norris or alternatively, you can download our 28-page Chuck Norris worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE

  • Chuck, born as Carlos Ray Norris, is the first child of Ray Dee Norris and Wilma Scarberry Norris. He was born on March 10, 1940, in Ryan, Oklahoma.
  • Chuck’s father was a bus and truck driver, mechanic, and a World War II Army soldier.
  • He had two younger brothers, Wieland and Aaron.
  • Chuck’s parents divorced when he was still a child. He relocated to Prairie Village in Kansas before moving in with his mother and brothers in Torrance, California.
  • Norris was shy, nonathletic, and scholastically mediocre as a child.
  • Ray Norris was an alcoholic, spending months at a time on drinking binges. He intermittently worked as an automobile mechanic.
  • Chuck’s father’s behavior and his family’s financial problems embarrassed him, which resulted in him developing draining introversion that occurred throughout his childhood.

CAREER

  • In 1958, Chuck Norris became an Air Policeman in the United States Air Force.
  • During the boot camp at Lackland Air Force base, one of his Hispanic companions started calling him Chuck, as his name Carlos, which means Charles in English, is often nicknamed Chuck.
  • He was sent to Osan Air Base in South Korea, where he started his training in Tang Soo Do.
  • He gained black belts due to his interest in Tang Soo Do. He also found a form of his own called Chun Kuk Do, based on the training he received in Korea.
  • He continued to serve at March Air Force Base, California, as an AP when he returned to the US.
  • Norris applied as a police officer in Torrance, California after being discharged from the Air Force.
  • While waiting, Chuck opened a martial arts studio, promoting it through demonstrations and fights at various events.
  • He eventually opened more than 30 karate studios.
  • Chuck Norris also started competing in martial arts.
  • He won his first tournament on June 3, 1967. He was also declared champion at S. Henry Cho’s All-American Karate Championship on June 24 of the same year.
  • While competing, he was also working at Northrop Corporation.
  • On November 24, 1968, he won the Professional Middleweight Karate champion title. He held this title for 6 consecutive years.
  • Chuck Norris met Bruce Lee while competing. They became good friends and developed a working and training relationship.
  • In 1969, Chuck was recognized by Black Belt magazine as their Fighter of the Year. He was also given Karate’s triple crown for having the most tournament wins of the year.
  • In the same year, Chuck also appeared in his first-ever film, The Wrecking Crew.
  • In 1972, he starred in the Way of the Dragon as Bruce Lee’s nemesis.
  • Chuck Norris wrote a book covering conditioning, phases of executing speedy attacks, one-step sparring techniques, and fighting form drills.
  • In 1977, Norris got his first lead role in the action trucking film Breaker! Breaker!.
  • Chuck Norris considers his part in the thriller movie Good Guys Wear Black as his first significant lead role.
  • Good Guys made over $18 million despite being filmed in different rented theaters due to studios not wanting to release it.
  • The movie launched Chuck as the first homegrown American martial star to be successful.
  • Good Guys Wear Black had distinctly American characters, setting, politics, and themes which Chuck continued to incorporate into his subsequent films.
  • In 1979, Chuck Norris starred in A Force of One, which did not get any support from a studio. It later out-grossed Good Guys Wear Black.
  • His next film, The Octagon, finally got studios interested and was made with American Cinema Releasing.
  • Norris’ first film released by a well-known studio was the action horror film Silent Rage.
  • He then made a three-movie deal with MGM and released Forced Vengeance in the same year of earning their contract.
  • However, Norris cut the contract short due to his unhappiness with the direction MGM wanted to take with him.
  • In 1983, he starred in Lone Wolf Mcquade made with Orion Pictures.
  • The film was praised by critics and became a worldwide hit.
  • Norris published another book in 1983 which discussed general exercising.
  • He also got a video game in the same year. Xonox produced the game named Chuck Norris Superkicks, where the player controls Norris to free a hostage.
  • In Missing in Action released in 1984, Norris was a former prisoner of war. He returned to Vietnam to liberate other captive soldiers.
  • The film was the first in the movie series centered around the Vietnam Prisoners of War/MIA issue. It was released under Cannon Films.
  • Chuck later dedicated the films in the series to his brother Wieland, who was killed in June 1970 while on patrol in the Firebase Ripcord defense in Vietnam.
  • Norris became the most prominent star of Cannon in the 1980s.
  • The prequel to the movie, Missing in Action 2: The Beginning, was released in 1985.
  • In October 1986, Ruby-Spears aired the cartoon Karate Kommandos where Chuck voiced himself. The show had 6 episodes, and Marvel later made a comic based on the cartoon.
  • In January 1988, Chuck’s brother Aaron made his debut as a director with his film Braddock: Missing in Action III.
  • Most of Chuck’s films after Braddock were directed by Aaron.
  • By 1990, Norris’ films had a total gross of over 500 million dollars worldwide.
  • His most successful film of the 1990s was Sidekicks, where he played a loner boy who had vivid daydreams of being Chuck Norris’ sidekick.
  • In 1993, his action series Walker, Texas Ranger, started filming. It had eight seasons aired on CBS and continued on other channels, including Hallmark Channel.
  • From 1995 until 1999, the show ranked among the Top 30 programs.
  • The 1995-1996 and 1998-1999 seasons of the show were both in the Top 20 programs.
  • The TV series ended in 2001, and since then, Chuck has only taken up a few roles.
  • Norris has also appeared in several commercials and advertisements.
  • In 2012, he was part of The Expendables, starring alongside Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and many other action movie staple actors.

AWARDS, HONORS, AND DISTINCTION

  • Norris’ rank unit in the military was 15th Air Force, Airman First Class, 22d Bombardment Group, and 452d Troop Carrier Wing.
  • Chuck has multiple black belts in different martial arts styles.
  • He won the Action Star of the Year award at the 1982 ShoWest Convention.
  • In 1989, the Hollywood Walk of Fame awarded Chuck a Star.
  • At the 1992 ShoWest Convention, he was recognized as the International Box Office Star of the Year.
  • For three succeeding years from 1997 to 1999, he won the BMI TV Music Award.
  • The Martial Arts History Museum inducted Chuck Norris into their Hall of Fame in 1999.
  • In the same year, he bagged the Inspirational Acting in Television Award during the Grace Prize Award event.
  • The World Karate Union Hall of Fame presented Chuck the Golden Lifetime Achievement Award on July 1, 2000.
  • The American Veteran Awards also gave him the Veteran of the Year Award in 2001.
  • On March 28, 2007, Norris was made an honorary United States Marine by Commandant Gen. James T. Conway.
  • Then Texas Governor Rick Perry awarded Chuck and Aaron the title honorary Texas Ranger in December 2010.

PERSONAL LIFE

  • Chuck Norris is also a known supporter of various charities.
  • In 1992, he started Kickstart, a charitable organization that provides martial arts training to middle-school students.
  • In December 1958, Chuck married Dianne Kay Holechek, a former classmate. They had their first child in 1962, naming him Mike.
  • In 1963, he had a daughter born of an extramarital affair. The next year, Dianne and Chuck had their second son Eric.
  • In 1988, Norris and Holechek separated and got divorced in 1989.
  • On November 28, 1998, Norris married Gena O’Kelley. She was a former model and was 23 years younger than Chuck. She also had two children from her previous marriage.
  • On August 30, 2001, Chuck and Gena had twins.
  • Chuck met his illegitimate daughter after she wrote to him in 1990, informing him of their blood relation.
  • As of 2017, Norris had 13 grandchildren.

Chuck Norris Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Chuck Norris across 28 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Chuck Norris worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Chuck Norris who is an American actor, screenwriter, film producer, and martial artist. He is known for starring in films such as The Delta Force and The Hitman.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Karate Slash
  • Movie of the Year
  • Belting Rank
  • In the Movies
  • Chuck Branding
  • Chuckful
  • Art Style
  • Prisoner’s Tale
  • On a Mission
  • To the Young Chuck

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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