Things You Didn’t Know About Chuck Norris
He served in the U.S. military
His real name is Carlos
He was the karate world champion
After returning to the United States following his honorable discharge from the military, Chuck Norris opened a karate school and started participating in national competitions. People might forget now, but he started as a bona fide karate master: by the end of the 1960s, he had risen to become the middleweight professional karate champion of the world. His success caught the attention of stars like Bruce Lee and Steve McQueen, who encouraged him to go into acting.
Things You Didn’t Know About Chuck Norris
BY SCOTT HARRIS-KING/UPDATED: JAN. 11, 2021 9:51 AM EST
The internet is a great place to find out all the facts about your favorite celebrities—unless, of course, that celebrity is Chuck Norris. For Norris fans, the internet is a minefield of lies, jokes, memes, and outright nonsense. So how do you sort the real from the fake? Well, you read our rundown of very real Norris facts you didn’t know. You’re welcome, internet!
He served in the U.S. military
Chuck Norris is famous for playing badass military men in films like Missing in Action, but that isn’t all Hollywood movie magic. In fact, Norris did actually serve in the military, joining the Air Force at the age of 18. His four-year stint proved to be life-changing; while serving at the Osan Air Base in South Korea, Norris took his first martial arts lessons, in Tang Soo Do. The rest, like so many of Chuck’s big-screen bad guys, is history.
His real name is Carlos
Norris has played a lot of roles over the course of his career, but one role you may not be familiar with is Carlos Norris. Yep, that’s Chuck’s real name! In his autobiography Against All Odds: My Story, Norris revealed that he got the nickname of “Chuck” while serving in the Air Force in South Korea, but he was born with the name Carlos, in honor of his dad’s minister. It doesn’t quite have the same ring, does it?
He was the karate world champion
After returning to the United States following his honorable discharge from the military, Chuck Norris opened a karate school and started participating in national competitions. People might forget now, but he started as a bona fide karate master: by the end of the 1960s, he had risen to become the middleweight professional karate champion of the world. His success caught the attention of stars like Bruce Lee and Steve McQueen, who encouraged him to go into acting.
His brother died in Vietnam
He had his own comic book
He was a semi-professional speedboat racer
He’s in the Karate Hall of Fame
He campaigned for president
