Carlos Ray Norris, born March 10, 1940, in Ryan, Oklahoma, found himself working to help support his mother and brothers through high school.
You might know him by the prominent TV series Walker, Texas Ranger. Carlos (Chuck) Ray Norris, Jr., was hard working and the eldest of three boys. His father, Carlos Ray Norris, Sr., a mechanic, was an alcoholic and abandoned his family early.
His mother, Wilma Norris, was the anchor of the family. They were poor and on welfare for a time, but had love to bind them. Chuck is noted throughout interviews to give high praise to his mother and her deep devotion and Christian faith.
At the age of 12, Chuck’s family moved to Torrance, California, where his mother finally gained employment at an aircraft factory. Through out his youth he had to defend himself from being called a “half-breed”. His father was Cherokee and his mother was Irish.
He managed to survive high school and married (1958) his sweetheart, Diane Holechek, and joined the Air Force security, which eventually led to his position as Airman First Class. Chuck was stationed in Korea, where he was exposed to the martial art Tang Soo Do that altered his life totally. While in Korea he gained the nickname – Chuck.
Hollywood never became Chuck’s goal in life; he is a well-trained martial artist who has a black belt in Tang Soo Do and Tae Kwan Do, both Korean fighting styles. Undefeated (now retired, 1974) 8th degree Black Belt Grand Master recognized (1997) in the Tae Kwon Do system.
Norris is now a highly respected actor, writer and producer for movies and TV. He began with a chain of karate schools (34 total). He has instructed such actors as Pricilla Presley (for the Naked Gun series) and Steve McQueen, who encouraged him to try acting.
In 1969 he made his first appearance in the movie The Wrecking Crew as a simple man at the bar. With several movies with small parts, he finally appeared with the all time movie great, Bruce Lee, in Enter the Dragon (1973).
Major roles began after that with him playing the hero, the first being, Good Guys Wear Black (1978), where he plays a ex-US Army commando hunting for the killer of his war comrades.
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