Chuck Norris

He married Dianne Holechek in 1958 and had two sons with her. He also had a daughter named Dina with a different woman even while he was married. He and Dianne divorced in 1988.

His second marriage was to former model Gena O’Kelley in 1998. The couple had twin children in 2001. He also has several grandchildren.

He is well known for his philanthropy and contributes towards organizations like Funds for Kids, the United Way, Vijay Amritraj Foundation, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

He was the eldest son of Wilma and Ray Norris. His father who did odd jobs, such as, mechanic, bus and truck driver, was an alcoholic. His parents divorced when he was a teenager and his father dropped out of his life. He helped his mother raise his younger brothers.

He attended North Torrance High School. He was a shy and average student who did not think much of himself.

He began his career in the United States Air Force as an Air Policeman in 1958. He was sent to Osan Air Base in South Korea where he became interested in martial arts. He began training in Tang Soo Do and earned black belt in that art.

He continued working as an Air Policeman after returning to the United States at the March Air Force Base in California. He started working for the Northrop Corporation after being discharged in 1962.

He opened a chain of Karate schools numbering more than 30 schools spread over different cities during the 1960s. He was very popular as an instructor and had several celebrity students including Steve McQueen, Bob Barker, and Priscilla Presley.

He also participated in various martial arts tournaments. He lost his first two tournaments to Joe Lewis and Allen Steen. He also lost three matches at the International Karate Championships to Tony Tulleners. However, he was not someone to be disheartened easily.

By the late 1960s, he had worked on his technique and won the Professional Middleweight Karate champion title on 24 November, 1968; he would defend this title five more times till 1974. He won Karate’s Triple Crown for the most tournament wins of the year in 1969.

He founded the martial arts, Chun Kuk Do, which is a hybrid martial art style. It evolved from Tang Soo Do and borrows from elements of different fighting styles. The art form includes a code of honour and rules to live by.