by Stephen Vagg
The recent death of Chuck Norris has prompted much reminiscing on social media of the action hero’s filmography, and glossing over his political opinions.
Being an Australian magazine, we thought we would focus on five links that Chuck had with our country.
Appearing in the Australian film Zombie Plane (2027 hopefully)
Norris has a small role in this much delayed Aussie action zombie comedy, the production of which has spawned plenty of industry discussion up in Queensland. We haven’t seen the film yet – based on the teaser below it could be fantastic, or awful, or both, we really have no idea. It’s taking a big swing, though, which is to its credit – and the movie already has a place in history featuring Chuck Norris’s final film appearance.
Acting opposite Alex O’Loughlin in Hawaii Five-0 (2020)
Norris guest starred in the episode “A ʻohe ia e loaʻa aku, he ulua kapapa no ka moana” of the popular crime drama starring Australia’s own Alex O’Loughlin. It was a big ep too – part one of the two-part finale for the whole show. This was Norris’ last television performance before his death – so technically, Australia ended both his film and television careers. Norris, appropriately, appears in the scene next to a block of wood.
Acting opposite Rod Taylor in Walker Texas Ranger (1998)
Paramatta High School old boy Rod Taylor popped up in a few episodes of Chuck’s hugely popular television series, playing the alcoholic father of show regular Alex Cahill (Sheree J. Wilson). Rod was cast on the recommendation of writer Nick Corea, who had worked with the veteran Aussie actor on the short lived TV series The Outlaws. The series was inspired by Chuck’s 1983 epic Lone Wolf McQuade, one of two genuinely terrific movies he made, the other being Code of Silence (1985).
That Aussie journo character in Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985)
Chuck Norris was considered a joke for much of his career, not without reason, but for a few years there, he genuinely spoke to the culture – in particular, the late ‘70s and early ‘80s via on screen depiction of Vietnam veterans. During the 1970s, the typical Vietnam vet we saw in movies was psychotic, crippled and/or suicidal (Coming Home, The Deer Hunter, The Visitors, Taxi Driver, etc); Norris (who lost a brother in the conflict in real life) played Vietnam vets that were brave, well-adjusted and heroic in films such as Good Guys Wear Black (1978) and the Missing in Action trilogy (1984-88). This did mean something to a lot of veterans, and is often forgotten in tales of Norris’s career. Mission in Action 2 isn’t as well-known as Missing in Action (1984), but for us, is the much better movie, concerning Chuck and his fellow POWs stuck in a prison camp for years after the war is officially over. The script is solid, with decent characters, including an Australian journalist Emerson (played by English actor Christoper Cary) who stumbles upon the camp – Emerson was possibly inspired by real life swashbuckling Aussie journalists from this period such as John Everingham, whose rescue of his Laotian girlfriend was dramatised in the Michael Landon film Comeback.
Fighting Richard Norton in The Octagon (1980)
The Octagon is one of Norris’ most beloved movies – its fans included cocaine baron Pablo Escobar, who had a VHS copy of this and The Godfather, discovered when the army raided his compound (when you think about it, what else would Pablo be watching – Alan Rudolph movies?). It’s a hugely fun film and part of the entertainment includes an early acting appearance from Australia’s own Richard Norton as one of Norris’ antagonists. Norton had previously appeared as a bodyguard in Abba: The Movie (1977) but The Octagon launched his movie career, which also included roles in the Norris film Forced Vengeance (1982) and series Walker Texas Ranger. Norton died in 2025, incidentally, someone who still hasn’t quite received his due in Australia.
RIP Chuck. You were a joke but also you weren’t and your films and TV shows brought a lot of pleasure to millions.
