\n Chuck Norris, veteran, martial arts world champion, action hero and early 2000s Internet meme inspiration, whose rugged demeanor was immortalized on hit show \u201cWalker, Texas Ranger,\u201d has died. He was 86.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt is with heavy hearts that our family shares the sudden passing of our beloved Chuck Norris yesterday morning,\u201d read a message credited to the Norris family posted to Instagram<\/a> and Facebook Friday morning. \u201cWhile we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Norris had an unidentified medical emergency in Hawaii on Thursday, according to news reports. The family thanked fans for their prayers during his hospitalization.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cHe lived his life with faith, purpose, and an unwavering commitment to the people he loved,\u201d the post read. \u201cThrough his work, discipline, and kindness, he inspired millions around the world and left a lasting impact on so many lives.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n celebrity.land has reached out to representatives for the actor for comment.\n <\/p>\n \n The ultimate tough guy, Norris\u2019 first memorable acting role was as Bruce Lee\u2019s formidable opponent in the 1972 film \u201cThe Way of the Dragon,\u201d before he landed his first leading role five years later as a truck driver searching for his missing brother in \u201cBreaker! Breaker!\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Throughout the 1970s and \u201980s, Norris made a name for himself as a rugged action hero in movies like \u201cMissing in Action\u201d and \u201cDelta Force,\u201d marking his place in pop culture with an always-stoic countenance and lines like, \u201cMy kind of trouble doesn\u2019t take vacations\u201d (from 1983\u2019s \u201cLone Wolf McQuade\u201d).\n <\/p>\n \n With his film career cooling off in the \u201990s, Norris made the switch to television. He won new fans with his long-running series \u201cWalker, Texas Ranger,\u201d which ran from 1993 to 2001.\n <\/p>\n \n In the show, Norris played Cordell Walker, a veteran Texas Ranger who fights crime in Dallas and throughout the Lone Star State. Norris was nominated for a TV Guide Award as favorite actor in a drama in 1999.\n <\/p>\n \n Carlos Ray \u201cChuck\u201d Norris was born in Ryan, Oklahoma, to Irish American and Cherokee Native American parents. Following his parents\u2019 divorce, Norris, his mother and two younger brothers relocated to Prairie Village, Kansas, and then to Torrance, California, according to his Walk of Fame<\/a> profile.\n <\/p>\n \n Norris became acquainted with the world of martial arts while stationed in Korea with the US Airforce in the late 1950s, according to the military<\/a>. \u201cI started training over there, and then I came back and got out of the service and started teaching. And to get students in my school, I became a karate fighter,\u201d Norris once told Mike Douglas on celebrity.land\u2019s \u201cPeople Now.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n He even founded his own style of karate, the Chuck Norris System\u2122<\/a>, originally based on his Tang Soo Do training while serving in Korea.\n <\/p>\n \n Among Norris\u2019 many students were Priscilla Presley, the Osmonds, Steve McQueen and Bob Barker, who famously recounted<\/a> incurring cracked ribs after being kicked in the side by Norris during training.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI retired as the world karate champion, and I was looking for something to get involved in, a new goal for myself. And I thought about acting,\u201d Norris told celebrity.land in 1982. \u201cI talked to Steve McQueen about it, and he encouraged me to pursue it. He said, if I would apply myself like I did the martial arts, that I would maybe have a chance at it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Norris went on to appear in several films highlighting his martial arts background, as well as TV\u2019s\u202f\u201cWalker, Texas Ranger\u201d\u202ffor eight seasons.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe type of films I want to do is \u2014 a good story, with good acting, with good direction, and with martial arts scenes inserted when it\u2019s emotionally right,\u201d Norris once told David Letterman<\/a>. \u201cThe difference between violence and action is the philosophy of when you use it. And if a person tries to avoid a violent confrontation \u2014 but he\u2019s finally pushed into the corner where there\u2019s no way out \u2014 well, then we want to have the ability to cope with it. And that\u2019s basically the character I project on the screen, is the guy that tries to avoid it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n In a nod to Norris\u2019 television character, the \u201cWalker, Texas Ranger\u201d action hero and executive producer was named an honorary member of the Texas Rangers, the elite Texas law enforcement force, by Texas Governor Rick Perry in 2010, according to celebrity.land affiliate WFAA<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Norris\u2019 tough-guy persona also inspired an early social media trend often referred to as \u201cChuck Norris facts,\u201d an ever-growing list of hyperbolic \u201cfactoids\u201d about Norris, highlighting his rugged reputation, according to People<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cA kid from Brown University started sending these Chuck Norris facts around via e-mail,\u201d Norris told Time in 2008<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m reading them and going, hey, these are pretty doggone funny. My favorite was, \u2018They wanted to put Chuck Norris on Mt. Rushmore, but the granite wasn\u2019t tough enough for his beard.\u2019 I figured they\u2019d just last a couple weeks; it amazes me this has gone on for so long.\u201d\n <\/p>\n![\"Chuck](\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/gettyimages-1188558949.jpg?c=original&q=w_860,c_fill\")
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