Norris lived on a ranch near Navasota and was a friend to Houston business icon Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale. We spoke to McIngvale about him Friday.

HOUSTON — Legendary actor and martial arts champion Chuck Norris died at the age of 86 after being hospitalized in Hawaii. His death was announced Friday by his family. 

The iconic entertainer had big Houston connections.   

One connection was his friendship with Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale. And boy does Mack have stories. 

“Chuck was here in Houston in a restaurant and you know he would always sign autographs, very gracious, and I really admire that,” McIngvale said. “So he went to the bathroom and he’s, you know, sitting on the toilet and this woman crawls underneath the stall and says, ‘Would you sign an autograph?’ And he signed it.”

It’s just one of the many stories McIngvale has about Norris. 

They shot commercials together. 

“My favorite story had to be when I was doing a commercial with him and I hit him two or three times and said that’s enough,” McIngvale said. 

“Yeah, you know, we’re just playing, but he got a little testy,” McIngvale said. 

They even shot a movie together back in 1992. It was called “Sidekicks.” It was shot all over Houston. McIngvale helped pay for it.  

“Chuck was great,” he said. “We couldn’t get the movie distributed, so we had to distribute it ourselves and him and several of his people and my wife went on a 20 city barnstorming tour, getting the movie in theaters, and it got, got us all of our money back, and I learned a lot about the movie business and Chuck, I learned I should stay in the damn furniture business. 

McIngvale was also there as support when Norris founded Kickstart Kids right here in Houston. The nonprofit teaches martial arts and character development.

“You know, Chuck was a great guy and whatever he needed to do to help people, he was always there for them,” McIngvale said. “So he left quite the legacy and that’s all that matters in life.”

In the end, McIngvale said Chuck Norris made Texas a better place and that he’ll remember him for being an honest, down-to-earth guy, who leaves behind a great legacy.    

Norris lived in Navasota where he had a ranch and was a beloved neighbor there.  He was certainly the city’s most famous resident. 

He had a ranch there — the Lone Wolf Ranch. On Friday, people stopped to drop off flowers as a tribute to the actor.  

Navasota’s longtime mayor said the actor left a lasting impact on the city. It was at the local junior high there where Kickstart Kids began. 

Mayor Bert Miller said whenever he was seen in public, Chuck Norris made time for everyone.

“There would be Chuck Norris sightings around town that, whether it was Walmart or a convenience store or something like that,” Miller said. “He would be there getting whatever he was getting and people would run into him. They’d see him and he would just, he would stop whatever he was doing, give them a hug, let him take a picture with him.” 

Just across the street from his Lone Wolf Ranch is the CForce Bottling Company. It’s another project Norris started after the mayor said he found an artesian well deep beneath the property. 

The mayor said the company has become an economic asset to the city. 

No funeral plans or memorial services have been announced as of yet 

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