Throughout Wikipedia, the pronunciations of English words are conveyed by means of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA); for a basic introduction to IPA, see Wikipedia:IPA/Introduction. In particular, the following tables list the relevant transcription for various English diaphonemes; for a more complete key, see Wikipedia:IPA, which includes sounds that do not occur in English. (If the IPA symbols are not displayed properly by your browser, then see the links at the bottom of this page.)

If you feel it is necessary to add a pronunciation respelling using another convention, then please use the conventions of Wikipedia's pronunciation respelling key.

• To compare the following IPA symbols with non-IPA American dictionary conventions that may be more familiar, see pronunciation respelling for English, which lists the pronunciation guides of fourteen English dictionaries published in the United States.

• To compare the following IPA symbols with other IPA conventions that may be more familiar, see Help:IPA conventions for English, which lists the conventions of eight English dictionaries published in Britain, Australia, and the United States.

Understanding the key

This key accommodates standard General American, Received Pronunciation, Canadian English, South African English, Australian English, and New Zealand English pronunciations. Therefore, not all of the distinctions shown here are relevant to a particular dialect: If, for example, you pronounce cot /ˈkɒt/ and caught /ˈkɔːt/ the same, then you may simply ignore the difference between the symbols /ɒ/ and /ɔː/, just as you ignore the distinction between the written vowels o and au when pronouncing them. In many dialects, /r/ occurs only before a vowel; if you speak such a dialect, simply ignore /r/ in the pronunciation guides where you would not pronounce it, as in cart /ˈkɑrt/. In other dialects, /j/ (a y sound) cannot occur after /t/, /d/, /n/, etc., all within the same syllable; if you speak such a dialect, then ignore the /j/ in transcriptions such as new /njuː/. For example, New York is transcribed /njuː ˈjɔrk/. For most people from England, and for some New Yorkers, the /r/ in /ˈjɔrk/ is not pronounced and may be ignored; for most people from the United States, including some New Yorkers, the /j/ in /njuː/ is not pronounced and may be ignored. On the other hand, there are some distinctions which you might make but which this key does not encode, as they are seldom reflected in the dictionaries used as sources for Wikipedia articles: The difference between the vowels of fir, fur and fern in Scottish and Irish English. The vowels of bad and had in many parts of Australia and the Eastern United States. The vowels of spider and spied her in some parts of Scotland and North America. Other words may have different vowels depending on the speaker. Bath, for example, originally had the /æ/ vowel (as in cat), but for many speakers, it now has the /ɑː/ vowel (as in father). Such words are transcribed twice, once for each pronunciation: /ˈbæθ, ˈbɑːθ/. The IPA stress mark (ˈ) comes before the syllable that has the stress, in contrast to stress marking in pronunciation keys of some dictionaries published in the United States. Contents 1 Key 2 See also 3 Notes 4 External links Key[link] (Words in SMALL CAPITALS are the standard lexical sets. Words in the lexical sets BATH and CLOTH are given two transcriptions, respectively one with /ɑː/ and one with /æ/, and with /ɒ/ and /ɔː/). Consonants IPA Examples b buy, cab d dye, cad, do ð thy, breathe, father dʒ giant, badge, jam f phi, caff, fan ɡ (ɡ)[1] guy, bag h high, ahead j[2] yes, yacht k sky, crack l lie, sly, gal m my, smile, cam n nigh, snide, can ŋ sang, sink, singer ŋɡ finger, anger θ thigh, math p pie, spy, cap r rye, try, very[3] s sigh, mass ʃ shy, cash, emotion t tie, sty, cat, atom tʃ China, catch v vie, have w wye, swine hw why[4] z zoo, has ʒ equation, pleasure, vision, beige[5] Marginal consonants x ugh, loch, Chanukah[6] ʔ uh-oh /ˈʌʔoʊ/ Vowels IPA Full vowels ... followed by R[7][8] ɑː PALM, father, bra ɑr START, bard, barn, snarl, star (also /ɑːr./) ɒ LOT, pod, John[9] ɒr moral, forage æ TRAP, pad, shall, ban ær barrow, marry[10] aɪ PRICE, ride, file, fine, pie[11] aɪər Ireland, sapphire (/aɪr./)[8] aʊ MOUTH, loud, foul, down, how aʊər hour (/aʊr./)[8] ɛ DRESS, bed, fell, men[12] ɛr error, merry[12] eɪ FACE, made, fail, vein, pay ɛər SQUARE, scared, scarce, cairn, Mary (/eɪr./)[13][8] ɪ KIT, lid, fill, bin ɪr mirror, Sirius iː FLEECE, seed, feel, mean, sea ɪər NEAR, beard, fierce, serious (/iːr./) ɔː THOUGHT, Maud, dawn, fall, straw[14] ɔr NORTH, born, war, Laura (/ɔːr./) ɔɪ CHOICE, void, foil, coin, boy ɔɪər loir, coir (/ɔɪr./)[8] oʊ GOAT, code, foal, bone, go[15] ɔər FORCE, boar, more, oral (/oʊr./)[16] ʊ FOOT, good, full, woman ʊr courier uː GOOSE, food, fool, soon, chew, do ʊər boor, moor, tourist (/uːr./)[17] juː cued, cute, mule, tune, queue, you[18] jʊər CURE ʌ STRUT, mud, dull, gun[19] ʌr borough, hurry ɜr NURSE, word, girl, fern, furry (/ɝː/)[20] Reduced vowels ə Rosa’s, a mission, comma ər LETTER, perform (also /ɚ/)[20] ɨ roses, emission[21] (either ɪ or ə) ən button ɵ omission[22] (either oʊ or ə) əm rhythm ʉ beautiful, curriculum ([jʉ])[23] (either ʊ or ə) əl bottle i HAPPY, serious[24] (either ɪ or iː) ᵊ, ⁱ (vowel is frequently dropped: nasturtium)   Stress Syllabification IPA Examples IPA Examples ˈ intonation /ˌɪntɵˈneɪʃən/,[25] battleship /ˈbætəlʃɪp/[26] . hire /ˈhaɪər/, higher /ˈhaɪ.ər/ moai /ˈmoʊ.aɪ/, Windhoek /ˈvɪnt.hʊk/ Vancouveria /væn.kuːˈvɪəriə/ Mikey /ˈmaɪki/, Myki /ˈmaɪ.kiː/[27] ˌ See also[link] For differences among national dialects of English, see the IPA chart for English dialects, which compares the vowels of Received Pronunciation, General American, Australian English, New Zealand English, and Scottish English, among others. For use of the IPA in other languages, see Wikipedia:IPA for a quick overview, or the more detailed main International Phonetic Alphabet article. If your browser does not display IPA symbols, you probably need to install a font that includes the IPA. Good free IPA fonts include Gentium (prettier) and Charis SIL (more complete); download links can be found on those pages. For a guide to adding pronunciations to Wikipedia articles, see the documentation for the IPA template. Wikipedia:Pronunciation respelling key Notes[link] ^ If the two characters ⟨ɡ⟩ and ⟨⟩ do not match and if the first looks like a ⟨γ⟩, then you have an issue with your default font. See Rendering issues. ^ The IPA value of the letter ⟨j⟩ is counter-intuitive to many English speakers. However, it does occur with this sound in a few English words, such as hallelujah and Jägermeister. ^ Although the IPA symbol [r] represents a trill, /r/ is widely used instead of /ɹ/ in broad transcriptions of English. ^ /hw/ is not distinguished from /w/ in dialects with the wine–whine merger, such as RP and most varieties of GenAm. ^ A number of English words, such as genre and garage, are pronounced with either /ʒ/ or /dʒ/. ^ In most dialects, /x/ is replaced by /k/ in most words, including loch. In ugh, however, it is often replaced by /ɡ/ (a spelling pronunciation), and in Chanukah by /h/ ^ In non-rhotic accents like RP, /r/ is not pronounced unless followed by a vowel. In some Wikipedia articles, /ɪər/ etc. may not be distinguished from /ɪr/ etc. When they are distinguished, the long vowels are sometimes transcribed /iːr/ etc. by analogy with vowels not followed by /r/. These should be fixed to correspond with the chart here. ^ a b c d e Note that many speakers distinguish monosyllabic triphthongs with R and disyllabic realizations: hour /ˈaʊər/ from plougher /ˈplaʊ.ər/, hire /ˈhaɪər/ from higher /ˈhaɪ.ər/, loir /ˈlɔɪər/ from employer /ɨmˈplɔɪ.ər/, mare /ˈmɛər/ from player /ˈpleɪ.ər/. ^ /ɒ/ is not distinguished from /ɑː/ in dialects with the father–bother merger such as GenAm. ^ Pronounced the same as /ɛr/ in accents with the Mary–marry–merry merger. ^ Many speakers, for example in most of Canada and much of the United States, have a different vowel in price and ride. Generally, an [aɪ] is used at the ends of words and before voiced sounds, as in ride, file, fine, pie, while an [ʌɪ] is used before voiceless sounds, as in price and write. Because /t/ and /d/ are often conflated in the middle of words in these dialects, derivatives of these words, such as rider and writer, may be distinguished only by their vowel: [ˈɹʷaɪɾəɹ], [ˈɹʷʌɪɾəɹ]. However, even though the value of /aɪ/ is not predictable in some words, such as spider [ˈspʌɪɾəɹ],[citation needed] dictionaries do not generally record it, so it has not been allocated a separate transcription here. ^ a b Transcribed as /e/ by many dictionaries.[1] ^ Pronounced the same as /ɛr/ in accents with the Mary–marry–merry merger. Often transcribed as /eə/ by British dictionaries and as /er/ by American ones. The OED uses /ɛː/ for BrE and /ɛ(ə)r/ for AmE.[2] ^ /ɔː/ is not distinguished from /ɒ/ (except before /r/) in dialects with the cot–caught merger such as some varieties of GenAm. ^ Commonly transcribed /əʊ/ or /oː/. ^ /ɔər/ is not distinguished from /ɔr/ in dialects with the horse–hoarse merger, which include most dialects of modern English. ^ /ʊər/ is not distinguished from /ɔr/ in dialects with the pour–poor merger, including many younger speakers. ^ In dialects with yod dropping, /juː/ is pronounced the same as /uː/ after coronal consonants (/t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /θ/, and /l/) in the same syllable, so that dew /djuː/ is pronounced the same as do /duː/. In dialects with yod coalescence, /tj/, /dj/, /sj/ and /zj/ are pronounced /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /ʃ/ and /ʒ/, so that the first syllable in Tuesday is pronounced the same as choose. ^ This phoneme is not used in the northern half of England, some bordering parts of Wales, and some broad eastern Ireland accents. These words would take the ʊ vowel: there is no foot–strut split. ^ a b In some articles /ɜr/ is transcribed as /ɝː/, and /ər/ as /ɚ/, when not followed by a vowel. ^ Pronounced [ə] in Australian and many US dialects, and [ɪ] in Received Pronunciation. Many speakers freely alternate between a reduced [ɪ̈] and a reduced [ə]. Many phoneticians (vd. Olive & Greenwood 1993:322) and the OED use the pseudo-IPA symbol ɪ [3], and Merriam–Webster uses ə̇. ^ Pronounced [ə] in many dialects, and [ɵw] or [əw] before another vowel, as in cooperate. Sometimes pronounced as a full /oʊ/, especially in careful speech. (Bolinger 1989) Usually transcribed as /ə(ʊ)/ (or similar ways of showing variation between /əʊ/ and /ə/) in British dictionaries. ^ Pronounced [ʊ] in many dialects, [ə] in others. Many speakers freely alternate between a reduced [ʊ̈] and a reduced [ə]. The OED uses the pseudo-IPA symbol ʊ [4]. ^ Pronounced /iː/ in dialects with the happy tensing, /ɪ/ in other dialects. British convention used to transcribe it with /ɪ/, but the OED and other influential dictionaries recently converted to /i/. ^ It is arguable that there is no phonemic distinction in English between primary and secondary stress (vd. Ladefoged 1993), but it is conventional to notate them as here. ^ Full vowels following a stressed syllable, such as the ship in battleship, are marked with secondary stress in some dictionaries (Merriam-Webster), but not in others (the OED). Such syllables are not actually stressed. ^ Syllables are indicated sparingly, where necessary to avoid confusion, for example to break up sequences of vowels (moai) or consonant clusters which an English speaker might misread as a digraph (Vancouveria, Windhoek). External links[link] Getting JAWS 6.1 to recognize "exotic" Unicode symbols—For help on getting the screen reader JAWS to read IPA symbols IPA TTS (text-to-speech) bookmarklet

Astrud Gilberto (born March 30, 1940) is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She is well known for her performance of the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema".

Biography[link]

Astrud Gilberto was born as Astrud Weinert, the daughter of a Brazilian mother and a German father, in the state of Bahia, Brazil. She was raised in Rio de Janeiro. She married João Gilberto in 1959 and emigrated to the United States in 1963, continuing to reside in the US from that time. Astrud and João divorced in the mid-1960s and she began a relationship with her musical partner, Stan Getz.^[1]

She sang on the influential album Getz/Gilberto featuring João Gilberto, Stan Getz, and Antonio Carlos Jobim. She had never performed professionally, and sang on the recordings at the suggestion of her (then) husband, João Gilberto.

Gilberto's recording of "The Girl from Ipanema" established her as a jazz and pop singer. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.^[2] In 1964, Gilberto appeared in the films Get Yourself a College Girl and The Hanged Man. Her first solo album was The Astrud Gilberto Album (1964). Upon moving to the United States, she went on tour with Getz.^[1] Beginning as a singer of bossa nova and American jazz standards, Gilberto started to record her own compositions in the 1970s. Her repertoire includes "The Shadow of Your Smile", "It Might as Well Be Spring", "Love Story", "Fly Me to the Moon", "Day by Day", "Here's That Rainy Day", and "Look to the Rainbow". She has recorded songs in Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, and Japanese.

In 1982, Gilberto's son Marcelo joined her group, touring with her for more than a decade as bassist. In addition, he collaborated as co-producer of the albums Live in New York (1996) and Temperance (1997). Her son Gregory Lasorsa played guitar on the Temperance album on the song "Beautiful You", which features singer Michael Franks.

Gilberto received the Latin Jazz USA Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1992, and was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2002. In 1996, she contributed to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Rio produced by the Red Hot Organization, performing the song "Desafinado" (Portuguese for "slightly out of tune", or "off key") along with George Michael. Although she did not officially retire, Gilberto announced in 2002 that she was taking "indefinite time off" from public performances.

Her original recording of "Fly Me to the Moon" was edited as a duet using a recording of the same song by Frank Sinatra for the soundtrack of Down with Love (2003). Her recording "Who Can I Turn To?" was sampled by The Black Eyed Peas in the song "Like That" from the album Monkey Business. Her vocals on "Berimbau" were sampled by Cut Chemist in his song "The Garden". Her recording of "Once I Loved" was featured in the 2007 film Juno.

The "Astrud" track on Basia Trzetrzelewska's 1987 album, Time and Tide, is a tribute to Gilberto.

Gilberto is an ardent advocate of animal rights.^[3]

Discography[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Bossa Nova: The Story of the Brazilian Music That Seduced the World, Castro, Ruy. 2000. (Published in English in 2003).

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• "Desperately Seeking Astrud Gilberto" by Joey Sweeney, Philadelphia Weekly, June 5, 2002.

Stan Getz
With his granddaughter Katie in 1987 at the Lincoln Center
Background information
Birth name	Stanley Gayetzky
Born	(1927-02-02)February 2, 1927 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Died	June 6, 1991(1991-06-06) (aged 64) Malibu, California, United States
Genres	Jazz Bossa nova West coast jazz Cool jazz
Occupations	Saxophonist
Instruments	Tenor saxophone, Baritone Saxophone
Years active	1943–1991
Labels	Verve Records
Associated acts	Kenny Barron, Bill Evans, J.J. Johnson, Bob Brookmeyer, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Byrd, Chet Baker, Gary Burton, Cal Tjader, Woody Herman, João Gilberto, Tom Jobim, Victor Lewis

Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young.^[1] Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott Yanow^[2] as "one of the all-time great tenor saxophonists". Getz went on to perform in bebop, cool jazz and third stream, but is perhaps best known for popularizing bossa nova, as in the worldwide hit single "The Girl from Ipanema" (1964).

Early life[link]

Getz was born on February 2, 1927, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were Ukrainian Jews who emigrated from the Kiev area in 1903. The family later moved to New York City for better employment opportunities. Getz worked hard in school, receiving straight As, and finished sixth grade close to the top of his class. Getz's major interest was in musical instruments, and he felt a need to play every instrument in sight. He played a number of them before his father bought him his first saxophone at the age of 13. Even though his father also got him a clarinet, Getz instantly fell in love with the saxophone and began practicing eight hours a day.

He attended James Monroe High School (New York) in the Bronx. In 1941, he was accepted into the All City High School Orchestra of New York City. This gave him a chance to receive private, free tutoring from the New York Philharmonic's Simon Kovar, a bassoon player. He also continued playing the saxophone. He eventually dropped out of school in order to pursue his musical career, but was later sent back to the classroom by the school system's truancy officers.^[1]

In 1943 at the age of 16,^[3] he was accepted into Jack Teagarden's band, and because of his youth he became Teagarden's ward. Getz also played along with Nat King Cole and Lionel Hampton. After playing for Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman, Getz was a soloist with Woody Herman from 1947 to 1949 in "The Second Herd", and he first gained wide attention as one of the band's saxophonists, who were known collectively as 'The Four Brothers', the others being Serge Chaloff, Zoot Sims and Herbie Steward.^[3] With Herman, he had a hit with "Early Autumn" and after Getz left "The Second Herd" he was able to launch his solo career. He would be the leader on almost all of his recording sessions after 1950.

Career[link]

In the mid to late 1950s working from Scandinavia, Getz became popular playing cool jazz with Horace Silver, Johnny Smith, Oscar Peterson, and many others. His first two quintets were notable for their personnel, including Charlie Parker's rhythm section of drummer Roy Haynes, pianist Al Haig and bassist Tommy Potter. A 1953 line-up of the Dizzy Gillespie/Stan Getz Sextet featured Gillespie, Getz, Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and Max Roach.^[1]

Returning to the U.S. from Europe in 1961, Getz became a central figure in introducing bossa nova music to the American audience. Teaming with guitarist Charlie Byrd, who had just returned from a U.S. State Department tour of Brazil, Getz recorded Jazz Samba in 1962 and it became a hit. The title track was an adaptation of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "One Note Samba". Getz won the Grammy for Best Jazz Performance of 1963 for "Desafinado", from the same album. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.^[4] As a follow-up, Getz recorded the album, Jazz Samba Encore!, with one of the originators of bossa nova, Brazilian guitarist Luiz Bonfá. It also sold more than a million copies by 1964, giving Getz his second gold disc.^[4]

He then recorded the album Getz/Gilberto, in 1963,^[5] with Tom Jobim, João Gilberto and his wife, Astrud Gilberto. Their "The Girl from Ipanema" won a Grammy Award. The piece became one of the most well-known latin jazz tracks. Getz/Gilberto won two Grammys (Best Album and Best Single). A live album, Getz/Gilberto Vol. 2, followed, as did Getz Au Go Go, a live recording at the Cafe Au Go Go. Getz's affair with Astrud Gilberto brought an end to his musical partnership with her and her husband, and he began to move away from bossa nova and back to cool jazz. While still working with the Gilbertos, he recorded the jazz album Nobody Else But Me, with a new quartet including vibraphonist Gary Burton, but Verve Records, wishing to continue building the Getz brand with bossa nova, refused to release it. It eventually came out 30 years later, after Getz had died.

In 1972, Getz recorded in the fusion idiom with Chick Corea, Tony Williams and Stanley Clarke, and in this period experimented with an Echoplex on his saxophone. He had a cameo in the film The Exterminator (1980).

In the mid-1980s Getz worked regularly in the San Francisco Bay area and taught at Stanford University as an artist-in-residence at the Stanford Jazz Workshop until 1988.^[6] In 1986, he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame. During 1988, Getz worked with Huey Lewis and the News on their Small World album. He played the extended solo on the title track, which became a minor hit single.

His tenor saxophone of choice was the Selmer Mark VI.

Personal life[link]

Getz married Beverly Byrne, a vocalist with the Gene Krupa band, on November 7, 1946; they had three children together.

Getz became involved with drugs and alcohol while a teenager. In 1954, he was arrested for attempting to rob a pharmacy to get a morphine fix. As he was being processed in the prison ward of Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, Beverly gave birth to their third child one floor below. Getz tried to escape his narcotics addiction by moving to Copenhagen. He married Swedish aristocrat Monica Silfverskiöld on November 3, 1956, and had two children with her: Pamela and Nicolas. Getz divorced Monica in 1987.

Zoot Sims, who had known Getz since their time with Herman, once described him as 'a nice bunch of guys', as a consequence of the wide behavioural range of which Getz was capable. Getz died of liver cancer in June 6, 1991. His body was cremated and the ashes scattered at sea, off the coast of Malibu, California.

In 1998, the 'Stan Getz Media Center and Library' at Berklee College of Music was dedicated through a donation from the Herb Alpert Foundation.

Discography[link]

Awards[link]

• Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance, Soloist or Small Group (Instrumental) "Desafinado," Stan Getz. 1962
• Grammy Award for Record of the Year, "The Girl From Ipanema," 1964
• Grammy Award for Album of the Year, Getz/Gilberto, Stan Getz and João Gilberto (Verve)1964
• Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Small Group or Soloist With Small Group, Getz/Gilberto, Stan Getz 1964
• Grammy Award for Best Jazz Solo Performance, "I Remember You" Stan Getz 1991

Bibliography[link]

• The Stan Getz discography, Astrup, Arne. 1978
• Stan Getz, Palmer, Richard. 1988.
• Stan Getz: an appreciation of his recorded work, Kirkpatrick, Ron. 1992.
• Stan Getz: nobody else but me, Gelly, Dave. 2002.
• Stan Getz: an annotated bibliography and filmography, Churchill, Nicholas. 2005.
• Jazz saxophone: an in-depth look at the styles of the tenor masters, Taylor, Dennis, 2004.
• Maggin, Donald L. (1996). Stan Getz. A Life in Jazz. New York: William Morrow. ISBN 0-688-15555-3. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Official Stan Getz homepage
• 1986 Interview
• Getz discography

‎

Chuck Norris
Norris signing a T-shirt for a Marine on a stop on his tour of Al Anbar Governorate (Iraq) and Kuwait
Born	Carlos Ray Norris (1940-03-10) March 10, 1940 (age 72)[1] Ryan, Oklahoma, United States
Occupation	Actor, martial artist
Years active	1968–present
Spouse	Dianne Holechek (1958–88) Gena O'Kelley (1998–present)
Website
www.chucknorris.com

Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940)^[1] is an American martial artist and actor. After serving in the United States Air Force, he began his rise to fame as a martial artist and has since founded his own school, Chun Kuk Do. As a result of his "tough guy" image, an Internet phenomenon began in 2005 known as Chuck Norris facts, ascribing various implausible or even impossible feats to Norris.

Norris appeared in a number of action films, such as Way of the Dragon in which he starred alongside Bruce Lee, and was The Cannon Group's leading star in the 1980s.^[2][3] He next played the starring role in the television series Walker, Texas Ranger from 1993 to 2001.

Norris is a devout Christian and politically conservative. He has written several books on Christianity and donated to a number of Republican candidates and causes. In 2007 and 2008, he campaigned for former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who was running for the Republican nomination for President in 2008. In the 2012 election he endorsed former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. ^[4] Norris also writes a column for the conservative website WorldNetDaily.^[5]

Early life[link]

Norris was born in Ryan, Oklahoma. He is the son of Wilma (née Scarberry) and Ray Norris, who was a mechanic, bus driver, and truck driver.^[6] Norris has said that he has Irish and Cherokee Native American ancestry.^[2][7] Norris was named after Carlos Berry, his father's minister.^[8] He has two younger brothers, Wieland (deceased) and Aaron (a Hollywood producer). When Norris was sixteen, his parents divorced,^[9] and he later relocated to Prairie Village, Kansas, and then to Torrance, California, with his mother and brothers.^[2]

Norris receiving the Veteran of the Year award by the U.S. Air Force in 2001

Norris has described his childhood as downbeat. He was nonathletic, shy, and scholastically mediocre.^[10] Other children taunted him about his mixed ethnicity, and Norris daydreamed about beating up his tormentors. Norris mentioned in his autobiography that his father had a very serious problem with drinking and "wasn't there" a lot for him growing up. Norris admitted that he loved his father but did not like him. However, he professed that he only felt pity for the man because "that was just how he was, and he missed so much."^{[citation needed]}

He joined the United States Air Force as an Air Policeman (AP) in 1958 and was sent to Osan Air Base, South Korea. It was there that Norris acquired the nickname Chuck and began his training in Tang Soo Do (tangsudo), an interest that led to black belts in that art and the founding of the Chun Kuk Do ("Universal Way") form.^[11] He created the education associations United Fighting Arts Federation and "KickStart" (formerly "Kick Drugs Out of America"), a middle school and high school–based program intended to give at-risk children a focus point in life through the martial arts. When he returned to the United States, he continued to act as an AP at March Air Force Base, California. Norris was discharged in August 1962. He worked for the Northrop Corporation and opened a chain of karate schools including a storefront school in his then-hometown of Torrance on Hawthorne Boulevard. Norris' official website lists celebrity clients at the schools; among them Steve McQueen, Chad McQueen, Bob Barker, Priscilla Presley, Donny Osmond and Marie Osmond.^[12]

Martial arts career[link]

Norris in 1976

Norris was defeated in his first two tournaments, dropping decisions to Joe Lewis and Allen Steen and three matches at the International Karate Championships to Tony Tulleners. By 1967 Norris had improved enough that he scored victories over the likes of Lewis, Skipper Mullins, Arnold Urquidez, Victor Moore, Ron Marchini, and Steve Sanders. In early 1968, Norris suffered the tenth and last loss of his career, losing an upset decision to Louis Delgado. On November 24, 1968, he avenged his defeat to Delgado and by doing so won the Professional Middleweight Karate champion title, which he held for six consecutive years.^[9] In 1969, he won Karate's triple crown for the most tournament wins of the year, and the Fighter of the Year award by Black Belt Magazine. Chuck Norris retired with a karate record of 183–10–2^{[citation needed]}.

It is occasionally cited that Norris made history in 1997 when he was the first Westerner in the documented history of Tae Kwon Do to be given the rank of 8th Degree Black Belt Grand Master.^[13] However, Norris appears to have been misled about this as there were at least two other U.S. Black Belts (Charles 'Chuck' Sereff and Edward Sell^[14][15]) awarded TKD 8th Dan several years prior. On July 1, 2000, Norris was presented the Golden Lifetime Achievement Award by the World Karate Union Hall of Fame. In 1999, Norris was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum's Hall of Fame [49]

Acting career[link]

Rise to fame[link]

In 1969, Norris made his acting debut in the Dean Martin film The Wrecking Crew.

In June 1970, his younger brother Wieland, a private in the 101st Airborne Division, was killed in Vietnam while on patrol in the defense of Firebase Ripcord.^[16] Norris later dedicated his Missing in Action films to his brother's memory. At a martial arts demonstration in Long Beach, Norris met the soon-to-be famous martial artist Bruce Lee. In 1972 he acted as Lee's nemesis in the movie Way of the Dragon (titled Return of the Dragon in its U.S. distribution), which is widely credited with launching him toward stardom.[49] In Asia, Norris is still known primarily for this role. In 1974, McQueen encouraged him to begin acting classes at MGM.

Norris' first starring role was 1977's Breaker! Breaker!, and subsequent films such as Good Guys Wear Black (1978), The Octagon (1980), An Eye for an Eye (1981), and Lone Wolf McQuade proved his increasing box office bankability. In 1984, Norris starred in Missing in Action, the first of a series of prisoner of war rescue fantasies themed around the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue that were produced by Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus and released under their Cannon Films banner. Contrary to reports, Norris publicly said he was never offered the part of the Sensei of the Cobra Kai dojo in the film The Karate Kid.

Over the next four years, Norris became Cannon's most prominent star, appearing in eight films, including Code of Silence, The Delta Force, and Firewalker, in which he co-starred with Academy Award winner Louis Gossett, Jr.. Many of the aforementioned films were produced by Chuck Norris's brother Aaron, as were several episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger. In 1986, he was involved in the production of the Ruby Spears cartoon Karate Kommandos.

[edit] Walker, Texas Ranger

By the close of the 1980s, Cannon Films had faded from prominence, and Norris's star appeal seemed to go with it. He reprised his Delta Force role for MGM, which had acquired the Cannon library after the latter's Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Norris went on to make several more largely ignored films before making a transition to television.^[17] In 1993, he began shooting the series Walker, Texas Ranger, which lasted eight years on CBS and continued in heavy syndication on other channels, notably the Hallmark Channel.[49]

On October 17, 2005, CBS premiered the Sunday Night Movie of the Week, Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire. The production was a continuation of the series, and not scripted to be a reunion movie. Norris reprised his role as Cordell Walker for the movie. He has stated that future Walker, Texas Ranger Movie of the Week projects are expected; however, this was severely impaired by CBS's 2006–2007 season decision to no longer regularly schedule Movies of the Week on Sunday night.

Product endorsements[link]

Norris has appeared with Christie Brinkley in a long-running series of cable TV infomercials promoting Total Gym home fitness equipment.

In 2010, Norris appeared in adverts for communications company T-Mobile in the Czech Republic.^[18] In 2011, Norris appeared in adverts for the World of Warcraft video game.^[19]

Chun Kuk Do[link]

A placard outside Norris's karate studio

Norris created the martial art Chun Kuk Do, which is based primarily on Tang Soo Do and includes elements from every combat style he knows. Like many other martial arts, Chun Kuk Do includes a code of honor and rules to live by. These rules are from Chuck Norris's personal code. They are:

1. I will develop myself to the maximum of my potential in all ways.
2. I will forget the mistakes of the past and press on to greater achievements.
3. I will continually work at developing love, happiness and loyalty in my family.
4. I will look for the good in all people and make them feel worthwhile.
5. If I have nothing good to say about a person, I will say nothing.
6. I will always be as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am about my own.
7. I will maintain an attitude of open-mindedness.
8. I will maintain respect for those in authority and demonstrate this respect at all times.
9. I will always remain loyal to my God, my country, family and my friends.
10. I will remain highly goal-oriented throughout my life because that positive attitude helps my family, my country and myself.

Personal life[link]

Family[link]

Norris married Dianne Holechek in 1958. In 1963 their first child, Mike, was born. His daughter Dina was born in 1964 to a woman he was not married to.^[20] Then, he had a second son, Eric, with his wife in 1965. After 30 years of marriage, Norris and Holechek divorced in 1988.

In November 1998, he married former model Gena O'Kelley, born in 1963 and 23 years Norris' junior. O'Kelley had two children from a previous marriage. She delivered twins in 2001: Dakota Alan Norris, a boy, and Danilee Kelly Norris, a girl.^[21] The wedding was performed by Lawrence Kennedy, who is featured in Norris' autobiography. ^[22]

On September 22, 2004, Norris told Entertainment Tonight's Mary Hart that his daughter Dina was the result of an extramarital affair. He did not meet her until she was 26, although she learned that he was her father when she was 16. She sent a letter to his home informing him of their relationship. After meeting her, Norris said he knew she was his daughter upon seeing her.^[23]

Chuck Norris has six grandchildren, three from his son Mike^[24] and three from his son Eric^[25].

Christianity[link]

An outspoken Christian,^[26] Norris is the author of several Christian-themed books, such as The Justice Riders. He has also been in a few TV commercials promoting Bible study and prayer in public schools, in addition to efforts to reduce drug use. In his WorldNetDaily columns, he has expressed his belief in Biblical creationism,^[27] that those who are troubled should turn to Jesus, and is quoted as saying "true patriots" do not stay clear of discussing religion and politics.^[28]

Norris serves on the board of directors of the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, an organization promoting the use of the Bible in public schools, and also speaks on behalf of organizations advocating official prayers in public schools.

Martial arts and personal fitness[link]

Norris has received a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Machado family.^[29]

In his February 15, 2010 WorldNetDaily column, Norris announced that, starting in the fall of 2010, he will begin a second weekly column for Creators Syndicate. This new column, "C-Force", will focus on personal fitness.^[30]

Chuck Norris facts[link]

Protest banner at the University of Bamberg hinting to Chuck Norris facts (German: "Only Chuck Norris manages to achieve a bachelor's degree in scheduled time")

In late 2005, Norris became the object of an ironic internet meme known as "Chuck Norris Facts", which document fictional, often absurdly heroic feats and characteristics about Norris. Norris has written his own response to the parody on his website, stating that he does not feel offended by them and finds some of them funny.^[31]

On November 29, 2007, Gotham Books, the adult division of Penguin USA, released a book entitled The Truth About Chuck Norris: 400 facts about the World's Greatest Human based on the Chuck Norris Facts.^[32] Norris filed suit in December against Penguin USA and author Ian Spector claiming "trademark infringement, unjust enrichment and privacy rights."^[33] Norris dropped the suit in May of the following year.^[34]

Activism[link]

Philanthropy[link]

In addition to being an action superstar, Chuck Norris is also a philanthropist. He is known for his contribution towards organizations such as Funds for Kids, Veteran's Administration National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans, the United Way, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation in the form of donations as well as fund-raising activities.^[35]

His time with the U.S. Veterans Administration as a spokesperson, was inspired by his experience serving the United States Air Force in Korea. His objective has been to popularize the issues such as Pensions and Health care, that concern hospitalized war veterans. Due to his significant contributions, and continued patriotism, he received the Veteran of the Year award in 2001 at the American Veteran Awards.^[35]

Norris also established the United Fighting Arts Federation and KickStart in 1990. As a significant part of his philanthropic contributions, the organization was formed to develop self-esteem and focus in at-risk children as a tactic to keep them away from drug-related pressure by training them in martial arts. Norris hopes that by shifting middle school and high school children's focus towards this positive and strengthening endeavour, these children will have the opportunity to build a better future for themselves.^[35][36]

In 2005, Norris founded the World Combat League (WCL), a full-contact, team-based martial arts competition, of which part of the proceeds are given to his KickStart program.^[35]

Additionally, Norris supports the Vijay Amritraj Foundation, which aims at bringing hope, help and healing to the defenceless and innocent victims of disease, tragedy and circumstance in India. Through his donations, he has helped the foundation support Paediatric HIV/AIDS homes in Delhi, a blind school in Karnataka, and a mission that cares for HIV/AIDS infected adults, as well as mentally ill patients in Cochin.^[37]

Political views[link]

Norris is a Republican, often championing the views of the party. Norris has donated more than $32,000 to Republican candidates and organizations since 1988.^[38] Norris supports gun rights and ownership and is against public schools condoning homosexuality.^[39]

In 2006, Norris began penning a column for the conservative news website WorldNetDaily, sharing his "musings about faith, family, freedom, country, loyalty – maybe even kickboxing."

On January 26, 2007, Norris filled in for Sean Hannity as a co-host on the Fox News Channel debate program Hannity & Colmes alongside Alan Colmes.^[40]

On October 22, 2007, Norris announced his endorsement of Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee for President.^[41] Norris said, "I believe the only one who has all of the characteristics to lead America forward into the future is ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee."^[42]

On May 10, 2008, Norris was the commencement speaker at Liberty University and addressing a graduating class of more than 4,000.^[43]

After the 2008 presidential election, Norris drafted a letter to President-elect Barack Obama, stating that he should "use and cite the Constitution ... protect American life ... learn from the mistakes of your Democratic predecessors ... [and] lead more from the center".^[44]

On November 18, 2008, Norris became one of the first members of show business to express support for the California Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage, and he chided activists for "interfering" with the democratic process and the double standard he perceived in criticizing the LDS Church without criticizing African Americans, who had voted for the measure by a wide margin.^[45]

During the 2012 presidential election, Norris first recommended Ron Paul, and then later formally endorsed Newt Gingrich as the Republican presidential candidate.^[46]

Honors[link]

On March 28, 2007, Commandant Gen. James T. Conway made Norris an honorary United States Marine during a dinner at the commandant’s residence in Washington, D.C.^[47]

On December 2, 2010, he (along with brother Aaron) was given the title honorary Texas Ranger by Texas Governor Rick Perry.^[48]

Filmography[link]

References[link]