Chuck Norris, Hollywood martial artist and actor, dead at 86

Martial arts phenom and Hollywood action star Chuck Norris — known for Walker, Texas Ranger, among other macho roles — died on Thursday at the age of 86, in what his family described as a "sudden passing."

"It is with heavy hearts that our family shares the sudden passing of our beloved Chuck Norris yesterday morning," said the family's message, posted Friday.

"While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace."

Before he would become a star in movies and on TV, Norris was wildly successful in competitive martial arts. He was a six-time undefeated World Professional Middleweight Karate champion. He also founded his own Korean-based American hard style of karate, known sometimes as chun kuk do, and the United Fighting Arts Federation, which has awarded more than 3,300 Chuck Norris System black belts worldwide.

Black Belt magazine ultimately credited Norris in its hall of fame with holding a 10th-degree black belt, the highest possible honour.

Born Carlos Ray Norris in Ryan, Okla., on March 10, 1940, he grew up poor. At age 12, he moved with his family to Torrance, Calif., and joined the U.S. air force after high school, in 1958.

It was during a deployment to Korea that he started training in martial arts, including judo and tang soo do.

"I went out for gymnastics and football at North Torrance High," he told The Associated Press in 1982. "I played some football, but I also spent a lot of time on the bench. I was never really athletic until I was in the service in Korea."

After he was honourably discharged in 1962, he worked as a file clerk for Northrop Aircraft and applied to be a police officer, but was put on a wait list. Meanwhile, he opened a martial arts studio, which expanded to a chain, with students including stars like Bob Barker, Priscilla Presley, Donny and Marie Osmond, and Steve McQueen, whom he later credited with encouraging him to get into acting.

Norris made his film debut as an uncredited bodyguard in the 1968 movie The Wrecking Crew, which included a fight with Dean Martin. He had crossed paths with Bruce Lee in martial arts circles. Their friendship — sometimes as sparring partners — led to an iconic faceoff in the 1972 movie Return of the Dragon, in which Lee fights and kills Norris's character in Rome's Colosseum.

He went on to act in more than 20 movies, such as Missing in Action, The Delta Force and Sidekicks.

"I wanted to project a certain image on the screen of a hero. I had seen a lot of anti-hero movies in which the lead was neither good nor bad. There was no one to root for," Norris said in 1982.

In 1993, he took on his most famed role, as a crime-fighting lawman in TV's Walker, Texas Ranger. The show ran for nine seasons, and in 2010, then-governor Rick Perry awarded him the title of honorary Texas Ranger. The Texas Senate later named him an honorary Texan.

Norris also made a surprise comedic appearance as a decisive judge in the final match of the 2004 movie Dodgeball.