Just over a week ago, he celebrated his 86th birthday on social media. But this Friday, March 20, after being transported to a hospital in Hawaii in the morning, his family announced Chuck Norris’ passing in the afternoon.
The man, a karate champion and actor, was, beyond the size of his biceps, a trailblazer and the father of tough-guy actors. From Stallone to Van Damme, and of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger, he showed a generation that with a lot of muscles and determination, a career in Hollywood is possible.
Parody and self-deprecation
But beyond his roles on TV and in forgettable movies, the man demonstrated a self-deprecation as strong as himself. By participating in a completely parodic video game, Nonstop Chuck Norris, he openly mocked his tough-guy image.
He also enjoyed, with a lot of kindness and humor, the famous “Chuck Norris facts” like “Chuck Norris uses the Death Star as a nightlight” or “if you pray to the Lord, it’s because Chuck Norris is too expensive” that made him known to a generation that was not born when the TV series Walker Texas Ranger was created in 1993.
But the man, who was a kind of statue of American virility, without machismo, was also, inevitably, a car fan. Between his 1989 Ford Mustang and his Ram pickup, he enjoyed trips in the world of automotive advertising. In particular, for two brands.
In 2018, he appeared in a commercial for the Toyota Tacoma pickup in which, at the beginning, he punches a stack of bricks for no reason, just to relax, before discovering the vehicle. And even learning to surf on the Hawaiian waves.
A year later, he filmed a spot for a vehicle that doesn’t suit him at all: the Fiat Ducato. However, in his hands, the vehicle is transformed. The utility van starts drifting, allowing the legendary cowboy to get rid of the bad guys chasing him.
Ecological Walker Texas Ranger
More recently, he embraced the current trend in a Norwegian ad where Chuck Norris converts sunlight into electricity, transforms wind into electricity while riding a whale. But he eventually admits defeat when he discovers, seated on a moose, a company to which he passes the torch, as it captures carbon.
No electric car brand will unfortunately have had the chance to benefit from the iconic cowboy’s nonsense, who has just proven one of the most famous jokes about him wrong. “Chuck Norris touched death, and it hasn’t recovered.” On March 20, unfortunately, it proved him wrong.
