Martial arts champion who became a star of 1980s action movies and played the wholesome hero of Walker, Texas Ranger on TV
Action cinema of the 1980s was a podium where Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone fought over gold and silver position. Bronze belonged indisputably to Chuck Norris, who has died aged 86.
The premature death of Bruce Lee in 1973 had left a vacancy for a martial arts movie superstar that was eventually filled to some extent by Norris, Lee’s friend and colleague. He had made an early screen appearance battling Lee in high-kicking combat sequences, which the pair choreographed together, in The Way of the Dragon (1972). Both men were trained fighters, so there was no call for stunt doubles or the obfuscating frenzy of quick cuts; their face-offs were filmed in medium and wide shots to preserve the sense of integrity.
A six-time world middleweight karate champion who retired undefeated in 1974, Norris ran his own chain of karate schools. One of his celebrity pupils, the actor Steve McQueen, encouraged him to pursue a screen career.
Norris developed a sizable following in the 80s as the star of gung-ho hits including Lone Wolf McQuade (1983), Missing in Action (1984) and Invasion USA (1985). Violent and explosive they may have been, but the star insisted on the philosophy behind them. “I don’t initiate violence, I retaliate,” he said. “In my films, I’m forced into a situation that I must cope with.”
