The late Chuck Norris, a six-time world karate champion who parlayed his martial arts talents into television and big screen stardom, passed away at the age of 86 in Hawaii mid-March. And while reruns of his impressive body of work will live on forever, so too will words he once penned in 2021 celebrating the 100th birthday of his mother.
In a resurfaced article posted to World Net Daily almost five years to the day, Norris credited his mom with sticking by his side despite the many highs and lows that come with making a career in Tinseltown and helping him commit his life to Jesus Christ. At one point, as perhaps nearly everyone encounters in Hollywood, Norris recalled ‘nearly losing’ his soul in the godless black hole of the entertainment industry.
“My mother has prayed for me all my life, through thick and thin,” he wrote in the 2021 piece. “When I was born, I almost died from complications. When nearly losing my soul to Hollywood a few decades ago, she was back home praying for my success and salvation. She even prayed for me to find a woman to change my life, and it worked.”
Few may remember, but Norris’s career stretched several decades before his career-defining role in ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ aired in 1993, running for multiple seasons and ending in 2021. Back in 1972, the established martial artist who had already earned black belts in multiple fighting disciplines starred opposite Bruce Lee in the iconic ‘Enter the Dragon.’
Carving out a special niche in Hollywood, it was a full twenty years of martial arts and action films before Walker even that gave the talented star plenty of time to slide into what he called in his autobiography of sorts the ‘hook of the Hollywood lifestyle.’
“I’ve always maintained my faith throughout my martial arts, movie, and television careers, but there was also a time when I lost my way. As resilient as I thought I was, I swallowed the hook of the Hollywood lifestyle,” he wrote in the ‘Official Chuck Norris Fact [Joke] Book.’
“Mom continued to pray for me throughout those years, and I’m convinced that’s how and why God brought Gena into my life. She is a beacon of God’s light and love, just as my mom is. Gena brought me back to my childhood faith, in which compromise was unbecoming, transparency was a virtue, humility was required, and belief was daily practiced,” the late actor continued in the article.
Norris also made sure to include the extremely difficult childhood his mom faced, a powerful reminder of how good he had it once he succeeded in the entertainment industry. He wrote that his mom was raised in ‘abject poverty’ during the Great Depression, and ‘given away as a ward of the state when she was only 8 years old.’ She returned to her family a few years later and as a young kid would pick cotton as a means to survive.
In addition to his mother’s continued support and presence, particularly as it related to helping him recognize his eternal struggles and direct him back to a more purposeful life, he likewise said another pivotal moment in his eventual salvation came after the passing of his good friend Lee Atwater.
Upon his deathbed, Atwater is said to have told him to put his trust in the Lord. Atwater passed in 1991. Norris recalls still be ‘wrapped up’ in his Hollywood ways, and while his friend’s comments and eventual death hit him hard, he said he wasn’t quite ready to make the leap.
When visiting his dying friend, Norris said Atwater told him to “trust in the Lord.” Norris noted that while the moment brought him to tears, he “was still so wrapped up in” Hollywood “and trying to be more successful in my acting,” that he allowed the words to “slide out of the side of my head there.”