Chuck Norris

Born March 10, 1940, to parents of Irish-Cherokee heritage, Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris spent a decade of his life on welfare before taking up martial arts and becoming the Professional World Middleweight Karate Champion, retiring undefeated in 1974.

One of his celebrity karate students, Steve McQueen, encouraged him to enter the movies alongside Bruce Lee in Return of the Dragon (1973), and a string of popular action films followed, including Good Guys Wear Black (1978); Lone Wolf McQuade (1983); the Vietnam-era film Missing in Action (1984), which was dedicated to his late brother, Weiland; and The Delta Force (1986).

Later in his career, Norris took up as a lawman in the long-running, Emmy-nominated television series "Walker, Texas Ranger" (1993-2001), a gig that lasted nine seasons and led to other big-screen action roles in Bells of Innocence (2003) and The Cutter (2005).

The Expendables 2

2012 R

In this high-octane thriller, Mr. Church brings the Expendables back together for an easy job -- but things go wrong, and one of the mercenaries is brutally murdered. Now the band of hired guns goes on a mission of revenge in hostile territory.