Renowned American actor and martial artist Chuck Norris — who often bucked Hollywood trends by speaking about his strong Christian faith and staunch pro-life views — died Thursday, March 19, at age 86 after suffering from a medical emergency while vacationing in Hawaii.
Norris’ family confirmed his death Friday in a post on Instagram and said he was “surrounded by his family and was at peace.” His family thanked fans for the “prayers and support you sent his way” during his brief hospitalization before his death.
“He lived his life with faith, purpose, and an unwavering commitment to the people he loved,” they said. “Through his work, discipline, and kindness, he inspired millions around the world and left a lasting impact on so many lives.”
Norris, a U.S. Air Force veteran, began training in martial arts while stationed in South Korea in the late 1950s and competed in several martial arts tournaments in the 1960s. Norris met the actor and martial artist Bruce Lee in the mid-1960s, and they became friends and trained together.
Lee offered Norris his first movie role — the very successful 1972 film “The Way of the Dragon” — which includes a seven-minute fight scene showcasing their respective martial arts talents. From there, Norris went on to star in numerous films and the long-running television series “Walker, Texas Ranger.”
Norris lived his life as a Protestant Christian, regularly attending services at Prestonwood Baptist Church, which is a Southern Baptist congregation. He was open about his faith, often speaking about it in interviews and embedding it into his professional work.
In a 2004 interview with Trinity Broadcasting Network, Norris credited his mother with raising him as a Christian, saying: “I had a mother who kept me very close to the Lord in my younger days.”
“You know, unfortunately, in periods of my life, I did drift from the Lord, but the Lord never drifted from me,” he said. “He stayed with me the whole time … and I just praise God for that.”
Norris acknowledged the temptations that come with stardom. In a 2009 interview with Hollywood TV, he noted that a lot of actors “try to be happy, but you can see that they’re not.” He warned that many actors seek to “fill that void” with drugs and alcohol, but they are “not going to cure that void that they have in them until they really find their faith.”
“The actors I meet that have their faith, you can see the brightness in their eyes,” he said. “And the ones that don’t have it, you can see that darkness in their eyes. And so I just say, you know, try it. Try your faith. Just try it out and see if it works for you. I know it will. It worked for me.”
Norris starred in one explicitly Christian film called “Bells of Innocence.” He also co-authored Christian Western books. Although he mostly acted in nonreligious shows and films, he would often bring Christian themes into the storyline.
The show “Walker, Texas Ranger,” for example, included several scenes with prayer and a few scenes that showed divine intervention in the form of miracles in recoveries. Some episodes had faith-based plots, including “The Neighborhood” in Season 5, which showed a miraculous health recovery.
During his life, Norris also spoke in defense of the unborn. In a 2008 op-ed for WorldNetDaily, Norris criticized conservatives who seek to sidestep the issue of abortion, saying it “is not about a woman’s ‘right to choose’” but rather “it is about a more fundamental ‘right to life,’ which is one of three specifically identified unalienable rights in the Declaration [of Independence].”
Throughout his career, Norris starred in more than 38 movies and a long-running television show, and maintained that success while emphasizing the importance of faith in Christ and the power of prayer.
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