Chuck Norris Laid to Rest in Las Vegas Memorial Service

Quick Facts

• What: Memorial service and funeral for Chuck Norris

• When: July 18

• Where: Las Vegas

• Who spoke: Judson Mills, Norris's “Walker, Texas Ranger” co-star, described the service to TMZ

• Worth knowing: Reports put attendance at thousands, drawing family, friends, and industry figures to Las Vegas for the send-off

Norris spent eight seasons as Cordell Walker on “Walker, Texas Ranger,” which ran on CBS through the ‘90s and into 2001, and Judson Mills joined the cast partway through as Ranger Trivette. That’s why Mills is the one TMZ went to for details on the funeral instead of some random industry contact — he was on set with Norris for years, a different kind of relationship than a co-star who did one movie together.

Norris built a career out of being simultaneously a real black belt with actual martial arts credentials and a punchline, which is a harder trick than it sounds. The “Chuck Norris facts” internet meme of the mid-2000s — the roundhouse kick jokes, the “he doesn’t sleep, he waits” stuff — turned him into a different kind of celebrity than the “Walker, Texas Ranger” audience knew, a meme icon for a generation that had never watched a single episode. That’s a rare crossover: most action stars from that era don’t get a second act as an internet joke people genuinely love rather than mock.

That’s the context for why a Las Vegas memorial pulling in a crowd of thousands isn’t surprising. Norris had several fanbases that rarely overlapped with each other — the martial arts crowd, the CBS procedural crowd, the extremely online “Chuck Norris facts” crowd — and Las Vegas is exactly the kind of city where all three can show up to the same place without it being weird.

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What TMZ’s report doesn’t spell out in full is the specific venue, the guest list beyond Mills, or additional details from the service itself — the kind of specifics I’d normally want to nail down before running further with it. I’d rather tell you what’s actually confirmed than guess at the rest and get it wrong.

What is confirmed: the date, July 18, and that Mills went on record with TMZ about what the day was like.