Round house kick king, Chuck Norris is 75 years old

Happy Birthday to Chuck Norris! The screenwriter, actor, producer and strolling dealer of death is 75 years young today

For my movie going dollar as a kid down at our local multiplex there was no other action hero I wanted to see more than Chuck Norris. Ah-nald and Sly were cool, but Chuck always seemed more down to Earth. That and his roundhouse kick could unhinge your jaw in the blink of an eye, no joke.

Unlike his action hero counterparts, Chuck Norris was legit. During his time with the Air Force in Korea, Chuck discovered more than just a unique style of asian barbecue. He also discovered a love for martial arts, and the fact that he was bone-breaking, blood-spilling, ass-kicking machine.

Things weren’t always easy for Chuck growing up, but once he found his way he was virtually unstoppable. After his time in the military Chuck taught and competed in hundreds of tournaments. He held the Professional Middleweight Karate champion title for six years straight from 1968-1974.

Some of Chuck’s famous Karate students were Steve McQueen, Donny Osmond and Bob Barker (all, no doubt, equally deadly when they roamed the seedy underbelly of Tinseltown.) It was McQueen that urged Norris to take acting classes. After a small roll where he faced down Bruce Lee in Return of the Dragon, Norris began carving his way through Hollywood one hard-hitting, crime-fighting, day-saving picture at a time.

Chuck fought anything in his movies; people, armies, cults. It didn’t matter. In my favorite film of his, Lone Wolf McQuade, Chuck drove a souped up truck, had a wolf for a dog, hated vitamins, loved to drink beer and made out with his hot maid in the mud. Not a bad gig for any wide-eyed twelve year-old in the audience.

Norris went to do Walker Texas Ranger and most recently Expendables 4, but it is his string of pulse-pounding action flicks in the eighties that made me and millions of other people fans.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Norris.

Thanks for all the kicks you gave us.

H/T Huffington Post

More from FanSided

Home/Entertainment