Chuck Norris wrote this

Chuck Norris cracks open chickens with his bare hands, uses his beard to hide a third fist, and chews tin foil. Not only that, Chuck Norris has 72 chromosomes, and they're all poisonous.

News to you?

Well, these are just a few of the untrue facts featured on the website www.chucknorrisfacts.com , which over the past year has become an Internet phenomenon, a favorite for forwarding. Norris, who inspired this site of campy lies, is a phenomenon himself, a now-66-year-old martial arts guru known for B- level action flicks (remember 1985's ``Invasion USA "?) and the long-running series ``Walker, Texas Ranger ." He has kept a fan base -- of men in their 20s and 30s who grew up on movies like `` The Delta Force " -- by being the butt of jokes on ``Late Night With Conan O'Brien" and by making a cameo appearance in the Ben Stiller slapstick flick ``Dodgeball."

Chuck Norris the man, not to be confused with Chuck Norris the myth, knows a good sense of humor goes a long way.

Norris was in Boston this week to promote his latest project, a live fighting tournament called World Combat League , which premieres at the Mohegan Sun tonight at 8.

In his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton Boston , we talked to Norris about these so-called Chuck Norris facts. Are they true? Does Chuck Norris really know the last digit of pi? Did Chuck Norris really ban rainbows from the state of North Dakota? Can Chuck Norris actually lick his own eyebrows? Does he wish that he could ?

Norris cleared up at least a few of these mysteries for us -- in writing. We gave him a list from www.chucknorrisfacts.com, and he decided what's what. Because (and this we know to be true) Chuck Norris is a good sport.

MEREDITH GOLDSTEIN