Martial artist and actor Chuck Norris dies at 86
By Phil Mills | Mar 20, 2026
American martial artist and actor Chuck Norris has died at the age of 86. His family confirmed in a public statement that he passed away on 19 March 2026.
Born Carlos Ray Norris in Ryan, Oklahoma, on 10 March 1940, Norris first made his name in karate, becoming a six-time undefeated World Professional Middleweight Karate champion before moving into film and television. His martial arts credentials gave him unusual authority as a screen fighter, and his early film career was marked by his appearance opposite Bruce Lee in ‘The Way of the Dragon’ (1972), where the two faced off in one of the genre’s most enduring fight scenes.
Over the following two decades, Norris became one of the defining faces of American action cinema, starring in films such as ‘A Force of One’ (1979), ‘The Octagon’ (1980), ‘Lone Wolf McQuade’ (1983), ‘Missing in Action’ (1984), ‘Code of Silence’ (1985) and ‘The Delta Force’ (1986). His performances were often marked by a calm, no-nonsense presence that reflected his real-life fighting background.
In the 1990s, he reached an even wider audience through ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ (1993–2001), which ran for eight seasons and cemented his place in mainstream American television. In later years, Norris also took on an unexpected second life as an internet folk hero through the “Chuck Norris facts” phenomenon, a wave of memes that turned his long-established tough-guy image into a form of pop-cultural shorthand.
Though his screen work belonged to a particular era of action cinema, Norris remained a recognisable figure across generations. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
