Chuck Norris is an actor, martial artist, film producer and screenwriter known most famously for his role in “Walker, Texas Ranger” and roughly 20 action movies. He’s achieved a lot in his long life, from starring in an internationally acclaimed series to developing his own martial art style.
But while he’s been on top of Hollywood before, Chuck has had his fair share of struggles. And two of the women in his life who’ve helped him through have been his wife, Gena O’Russell and his mother, Wilma Norris. In November 2020, Chuck and his wife celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary, and he shared a touching Instagram post. In it, he called himself “the luckiest man in the world when Gena and (he) got married” before he added:
“Happy Anniversary my beautiful wife! There are no words to describe my love and appreciation for you. Thank you for sharing your life with me. I praise God for every day we are together.”
The 82-year-old actor is also lucky to have the support of his incredible mother, who turned 101 in May 2022. Not only has Wilma lived a long and eventful life, but she also raised Chuck and his two brothers after her husband left early on. The family also endured other family struggles, but together they made it through.
Chuck has spoken about his mother’s influence before and even revealed in 2020 that when he was becoming lost in Hollywood, she prayed for him to find a wife and make it through and both those things eventuated. Let’s take a look.
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Chuck hasn’t shied away from talking about his family’s tough life before. In fact, he once revealed that Wilma began to experience struggles as early as 8 years old. Back then, she was diagnosed with a rare disease that saw her confined to a children’s hospital for two years, without her family by her side.
Since her family lived in severe poverty, once she recovered at the age of 10, she had to go out and earn money for her family during the Great Depression. Instead of going to school like other kids her age, she took on random jobs, including picking cotton in rural Wilson, Oklahoma, where her family lived. In an interview with WorldNetDaily in 2020, Chuck explained:
“When done picking one field, they’d often move to another town to pick another field. There was nothing easy about life in the Dust Bowl, especially during the decade of the Great Depression.”
By the age of 16, Wilma had met and married Chuck’s father before having Chuck at the age of 18. She gave birth to two more sons, but then Ray Dee, Chuck’s dad, abandoned the family, leaving her to raise her sons on her own.
However, a struggle that nearly cost Chuck and Wilma their lives is also one that bonded them forever — his birth. In an article that Chuck wrote that coincided with his 80th birthday in 2020, he revealed that he was born after seven days of labor, coming out “bluish-purple from prolonged oxygen deprivation.” He explained that both he and his mother “almost didn’t make it.”
Chuck Norris, Gena Norris (2009), (Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic/Getty Images)In the article that Chuck wrote, he said:
“For the first five days of my life, the doctors and others weren’t sure I was going to live. Mom still has a letter from my grandmother to my aunt, dated that same week, which says, “Wilma’s baby probably isn’t going to live.” But we surprised them all!”
And surprise the world they did. Speaking with the Christian Post, Chuck stated:
“Mom has been an example of perseverance and faith her whole life. She’s also endured the deaths of her two husbands, a stepson, two grandchildren, and my younger brother Wieland in the Vietnam War. She’s had cancer repeatedly and has gone through roughly 30 different surgeries for a host of issues — and yet she’s still here to tell about it.”
What’s more, Chuck credits his mom’s prayer for helping him overcome struggles in his own life. He added:
“My mother has prayed for me all my life, through thick and thin. 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.”
Chuck and Wilma’s bond is clearly a very special one, and they’ve both always helped each other through thick and thin. The actor is incredibly lucky to have not only his beloved centenarian mom still by his side but also the love and support of the other most important woman in his life, his wife.
In May 2022, Wilma celebrated her 101st birthday — what an achievement! To honor the occasion and pay homage to one of the most important women in his life, Chuck shared a photo of her on his Facebook account with the caption:
“Happy Birthday Mom! 101 years YOUNG! WOW! There are no words to describe how much I love and appreciate you. Thank you for everything you have done for us over the many years God has blessed us together.”
Wilma has lived an incredible life, and she still hasn’t slowed down. She released a memoir about her life in 2011 titled “Acts of Kindness, My Story,” which detailed her upbringing and how she raised her sons. In 2012, while promoting the book, she sat down for an interview with Mike Huckabee and spoke about family and faith and the “secrets” she used as a mother to raise her sons into standup men. She told Huckabee:
“I kept them in church Sunday school, I taught Sunday school and we had our prayers all the time. Spiritual life was very important to me. Still is.”
Huckabee asked Wilma what advice she would give to any young mother about raising children, and these were her words of wisdom:
“I would say: give them lots of love, but you know, teach them, take them to church and Sunday school.”
Wilma then turned sentimental. “But see, God didn’t give us our children, he only loaned them to us for a while. And I will see mine, you know, soon. I don’t know how soon,” she said as she laughed. Huckabee laughed and pointed out that Wilma was “stronger than most of us.” With her 101st birthday well behind her and her sights on her 102nd in May 2023, there’s no denying Wilma is one incredible lady.
Did you know about the tough life Chuck Norris’ mom Wilma Norris has had? Or the fact that she prayed for him to make it through his own personal struggles? If this inspired you, pass it on to those you know so they can read about it too.
