“Chuck Norris doesn’t do push-ups. He simply pushes the world down.” “Chuck Norris counted to infinity – twice.” “Chuck Norris once strangled someone – with a cordless phone” In the late 2000s and early 2010s, Chuck Norris, the 1980s action star, became a tongue-in-cheek model of toughness and masculinity in viral internet memes known as “Chuck Norris Facts.” Although these memes waned in popularity, they never fully fizzled out. One Facebook group has over 400,000 members, many of whom regularly contribute new jokes about the “Walker, Texas Ranger” star. But when news of Norris’ death broke on March 19, 2026, those memes returned, and memories resurfaced of their glory days. In fact, they almost overshadowed remembrances of the movie star’s life. What does it mean that many memories of Norris are more connected to a meme than his actual life and career? What gets left behind when a person becomes a digital object that we send over the internet? And what can memes tell us about how everyday people relate to celebrities – and to one another? In the case of Norris, the actor and martial artist’s death forced some people to reconcile the memes with the man. Macho man…