American actor Chuck Norris is the proud father of five children, including Dina DiCiolli, whom he didn’t hear from for 26 years. Learn more about his story.

Chuck Norris is a famous martial arts expert. He participated in several tournaments and emerged victorious in most of them. He also won the World Middleweight Karate Championship and defended the title five times.

Norris opened more than 30 karate academies and taught classes to a number of celebrities, including Steve McQueen and Priscilla Presley. In addition to teaching celebrities, Chuck was also a movie star.

Chuck Norris as Cordell Walker in “Walker, Texas Ranger” circa 1995. [Left]; Portrait of Chuck Norris’ daughter, Dina DiCiolli. [Right] | Photo: Getty Images

A former U.S. Air Force officer, Norris starred in several successful films, including “Way of the Dragon,” in which he starred alongside Bruce Lee.

Other films he starred in included “Missing in Action,” “Code of Silence” and “The Delta Force.” He was also the main star of the series “Walker, Texas Ranger.”

HIS LOVE LIFE

Norris was married twice in his life, the first time in December 1958 to his high school classmate Dianne Kay Holechek.

When they married, Norris was 18 and Holechek was 17. During their marriage, the couple had two sons: Mike, born in 1962, and Eric, born in 1964.

After 30 years together, Norris and Holechek divorced in 1989. The former couple had separated in 1988 during the filming of “The Delta Force 2.”

Nine years later, Chuck married for the second time. On November 28, 1998, he married Gena O’Kelley, a former model, 23 years his junior.

Norris and O’Kelley have been happily married for 23 years and the actor never turns down an opportunity to show her how much he loves her.

In November 2021, he celebrated his 23rd wedding anniversary with an emotional post on his Instagram page. The celebrity shared a beautiful photo of himself and his beautiful wife lovingly hugging each other.

Chuck Norris and Gena O’Kelley during Michael Bolton’s tribute with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. | Photo: Getty Images

“My love, my life, my best friend, my world. Happy 23rd anniversary to my beautiful wife who God blessed me with when we met 25 years ago. I love you with all my heart,” he wrote alongside the image.

In April 2018, Norris shared a photo of himself and O’Kelley hugging each other: “Gena is more than my wife. She is also my best friend and business partner. We are blessed to live, love and work together,” he said .

Chuck is so dedicated and protective of his marriage and relationship with O’Kelley that he gave up his career to care for her after she fell ill in 2017.

O’Kelley suffered from neck pain and kidney problems, which she and Norris believed were caused by an injection she received before an MRI in 2013.

The actor’s wife said that a few hours after receiving the first injection, she felt as if her entire body was on fire.

At first, the burning sensation was isolated, but it spread throughout her body. She had to rest for five months and received 24-hour medical attention. Norris was always by her side throughout the ordeal.

Speaking about his wife’s ordeal, Chuck said he had given up his film career to focus on her.

The couple revealed that they spent around $2 million on the treatment, which angered them. O’Kelley later had to undergo stem cell therapy.

The celebrity and his wife have filed a lawsuit against the companies responsible for his reaction to gadolinium, the metal used in the contrast agent in the injection he received.

THE SONS OF CHUCK

Norris and O’Kelley are the parents of twins Danielle Kelley and Dakota Alan, whom they welcomed on August 30, 2001. The children were born a month early but arrived without complications.

The actor also had two children with his first wife Holechek, so he was supposed to be a father of four. However, it later emerged that he has five children. Norris made a shocking revelation in his book “Against All Odds: My Story.”

He confessed that he had cheated on Holechek while he was married and that he had a daughter with another woman named Johanna. However, he did not learn of the child’s existence until later. The fruit of that affair was Dina DiCiolli, who was born in 1963.

Chuck admitted in the book that he still felt ashamed of lying to Johanna, as he never told her he was married. At the time, he was living in California while serving in the U.S. Air Force. It was then that he had a brief affair with her.

Norris was unaware that Johanna had become pregnant and given birth to his daughter. He found out in 1991 when Dina wrote to him saying that she was his biological daughter.

Dina found out that Chuck was her father when she was 16. She overheard her mother talking about him with a friend. Later, Johanna confirmed to Dina that the famous man was indeed her father.

He explained that he was married, had children, and did not want to disrupt her life. However, Dina stood her ground and contacted Norris. He agreed to meet with them.

Chuck said he didn’t need DNA testing to confirm that Dina was his daughter. When he saw her, he walked over to her and put his arms around her as tears welled up in his eyes. In the book, he wrote that at that moment he felt like he had known her all his life.