Chuck Norris, the former martial arts champion and ’80s action movie hero who fought bad guys in “Code of Silence,” “Missing in Action” and “The Delta Force” and upheld the law in the TV series “Walker, Texas Ranger,” died Thursday, his family said in a statement on his Instagram account Friday.
“While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and at peace,” the statement said.
Previously, Norris was hospitalized in Hawaii, TMZ reported, without sharing the exact cause of the medical emergency.
Citing sources with direct knowledge, the publication reported that a medical emergency had occurred on the island of Kauai in the past 24 hours, which landed Chuck in the hospital.
“We do not know the nature of the emergency, but we are told Chuck is in good spirits,” the outlet wrote.
As soon as reports of the actor’s hospitalization surfaced online, some people re-shared tabloid reports claiming that the actor had suffered two heart attacks in 2017.
Fans speculated whether his latest medical condition was due to a heart attack. In July 2017, it was reported that while in Las Vegas for a martial arts event, he collapsed in a hotel shower and was rushed to a hospital.
However, the reports were not distributed by reputable news organizations. Notably, Norris, 86, who has written about heart health in his columns promoting diet and prevention against heart disease as the leading cause of death, also made no mention of personal heart events.
It is yet to be confirmed whether his latest health condition was related to heart problems.
Carlos Ray Norris was born on March 10, 1940 in Ryan, Oklahoma, the eldest of three brothers. The family moved to California after his parents divorced.
He was extremely quiet and introverted, which he attributed to his father’s alcoholism and the family’s poverty.
