Born Carlos Ray Norris on March 10, 1940, the man the world would come to know as Chuck Norris was, and will always be, a legend.

My life’s path was in no small measure influenced by watching Chuck on screen.  He was larger than life.  A true global icon.  He portrayed characters I wanted to emulate.  As soon as I was old enough, my dad took me to opening weekend showings of Chuck’s films. Those experiences have stayed with me.  The powerful Alan Silvestri-composed main theme to The Delta Force became part of the soundtrack of my youth. Those who grew up in that magical era can hear it now.  Chuck, as Army Major Scott McCoy, on his rocket-and-machinegun-fitted dirt bike made us all believe that one man, capable and competent, could save the day.

Due to a troubled upbringing with an alcoholic father, a young Carlos identified with father figures of cinema, notably stars of Westerns like John Wayne.  Little did he know back then that one day millions of kids around the world would look up to him as a mentor and father figure as he battled for justice on the silver screen just as he had once looked up at The Duke from his seat in the theater.

After high school in 1958, Carlos joined the Air Force and was stationed in South Korea.  As often happens in the military, he acquired a nickname that would later become known the world over – Chuck.  In Korea he discovered the martial arts and dedicated himself to the discipline that would change the trajectory of his life.  By the time he left the Air Force in 1962, he had earned his first black belt.

Following his military service, he opened a chain of karate studios in Southern California and continued his training, becoming a six-time World Professional Middleweight Karate champion.  Then, as his karate business fell on hard times, one of his students encouraged him to try his hand at acting in Hollywood.  That student was none other than Steve McQueen.  Fellow martial artist Bruce Lee opened doors to his first roles, and it was the Roman Colosseum fight scene with his friend Bruce in 1972’s The Way of the Dragon that gave him his first real break.  He would come into his own with 1978’s Good Guys Wear Black followed by 1979’s A Force of One, films I would find in our local video rental store a few years later.  I could not get enough of his early movies – they played in a constant rotation on the TV in our home: The Octagon, An Eye for an Eye, Silent Rage, and Forced Vengeance.  Then came 1983 and a film I rank with the greatest action films of the 80s, Lone Wolf McQuade, a movie that also starred David Carradine, Barbara Carrera, a pet wolf, and a Dodge Ramcharger that I still hope will one day find its way into my garage.  In 1984 he gave us James Braddock in the first of three epic Missing in Action films, a role he later acknowledged was a tribute to his brother Weiland who was killed in action in Vietnam in 1970.  Then came Code of Silence, Invasion U.S.A., The Delta Force, Firewalker and Hero and the Terror.  Novelizations (novels based on screenplays) of Invasion U.S.A. and The Delta Force are on my shelves within arm’s reach as I write this.

By the mid-80s, Chuck was an international superstar with movies that scored big at the box office, making him a household name across the globe. What self-respecting 80s kid leafing through the pages of Black Belt Magazine didn’t want a pair of Chuck Norris Action Jeans? He had reached the pinnacle of stardom – a superstar – but somehow he even transcended that label; regardless of where he went, people knew and loved him because he was real. He was one of us.  You could sense it from his movies, in interviews and in person.  Through the characteristics he embodied in his roles, he taught a generation to be tough, strong, to stand tall, be confident, and fight for what you believed in. Gen Xers remember.

In 1990 Chuck turned his stardom into philanthropy founding Kickstart Kids, a martial arts program in Texas for at-risk youth that infused character-building and values into roundhouse kicks and spinning backfists.

During the 90s he continued to make films but found further success on television with a new generation of fans through his hit show Walker, Texas Ranger which ran from 1993 to 2001. This was decades before major movie stars made the move from features to television fashionable. One could say that Chuck beat them to the punch.

Over the years he graced the covers of every martial arts magazine in existence starting with Black Belt Magazine in 1967. He never forgot his roots, training consistently throughout his life, popularizing the martial arts, and helping bring Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the United States through his support and friendship with the Machado Brothers before most had even heard of it.  Chuck always remained a student, humble and kind, an example for us all.

After the movies of the 80s and television of the 90s – what many would see as the “height of fame” – the brightness of most stars would have naturally dimmed. Chuck was different; his stature – the myth, the legend – only grew. Before social media began its cultural infiltration, Chuck Norris became an internet sensation with Chuck Norris Facts.  They hit at a time when troops in Iraq and Afghanistan needed a laugh and Chuck was there to deliver virtually and personally through a USO Tour to Iraq in 2006. Fact: the boogeyman checks under his bed for Chuck Norris. Truth.

From humble beginnings to military service and karate championships, induction into the Black Belt Hall of Fame, starring roles in film and television across decades, his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, off-road truck racing class championships and a World Offshore Powerboat Championship, scene stealing cameos in Dodgeball and The Expendables 2, New York Times bestselling books, and earning his place as an honorary U.S. Marine and honorary Texas Ranger, Chuck lived a life of purpose that truly packed a punch, one that will reverberate through the ages.

Those who advise us not to meet our heroes never met Chuck Norris.  I was introduced to him while still in uniform and to have had his support when I stepped into the world of publishing when, without hesitation, he blurbed my debut novel meant the world. Chuck didn’t just portray heroes on screen, he was a hero in real life, and a hero he will remain.

My thoughts and prayers are with his wife Gena, and his children and grandchildren.  While we lost a beloved cultural icon, they are grieving the loss of a cherished husband, father, and grandfather.

I am heartbroken that this legend is no longer with us, but I am also comforted in knowing he achieved a rare type of immortality through his work, work that we can all return to over and over, bringing him back into our homes to spend time with the man who inspired so many.