Chuck Norris, an international icon as a martial-arts champion, an action-star actor and the subject of a crazy internet meme, has passed away at the age of 86. And his ties to all things Dallas – including the Cowboys – are memorable ones. His 1990’s TV role in “Walker, Texas Ranger” resulted in Dallas becoming one of the Oklahoma native’s adopted hometowns.
He was a regular on the social scene here during that time, often spotted on McKinney Avenue, puffing on a favorite cigar,. And in 2022, he and the Cowboys were smart enough to create a PR-friendly partnership.
A Donruss playing card that year featured the renowned tough guy as a “Fan of the Game,” complete with the Cowboys star logo prominently displayed. Norris died Thursday in Hawaii in what his family described as a “sudden passing.”
“While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace,” the family said in a statement posted on social media.
Before he would become a star in movies and on TV, Norris – who was born Carlos Ray Norris and always insisted he was shy and non-athletic growing up – exited the Air Force to become successful in competitive martial arts. Norris was a six-time undefeated World Professional Middleweight Karate champion. He opened a martial arts studio with students that included stars as like Priscilla Presley, Donnie and Marie Osmond and Steve McQueen. And it was McQueen, along with another Hollywood pal, Bruce Lee, who encouraged him to get into acting.
He starred in the 1972 movie “Return of the Dragon” and then went on to act in more than 20 movies, such as “Missing in Action,” “The Delta Force” and “Lone Wolf McQuade.” In 1993, he took that McQuade character and spun it into his most famous role, as a DFW-area-based crime-fighter in TV’s “Walker, Texas Ranger.”
The show ran for nine seasons, a run capped by Gov. Rick Perry awarding him the title of honorary Texas Ranger. His cameo in the 2004 movie comedy “Dodgeball” seems knotted to his resurgence in popularity via a “Chuck Norris Facts” social-media meme touting his super-humanness. A typical joke: “Chuck Norris had a staring contest with the sun – and won.”
In 2012, Norris acted in “The Expendables 2” and he recently filmed “Zombie Plane” with another Dallas performer, Vanilla Norris, who also wrote books on fitness, politics, philosophy and more, is survived by five of his children and his wife Gena Norris.
