American film star Chuck Norris died on March 19, aged 86 [Yoni S Hamenahem_CC BY-SA 3.0]

SO farewell then, Chuck Norris, all-action American film star and martial arts champion of the 1980s, who has died in Hawaii aged 86.

Harrington never saw any of your films, but you have held a special place in my heart since 2011 when I became emotionally invested in the making of a fiction-style documentary, Chuck Norris vs Communism.

Largely created here in London, the film told the story of how Hollywood films, like the ones Chuck Norris was known for, were smuggled through the “Iron Curtain” into 1980s Romania.

Strictly prohibited under Nicolae Ceaușescu’s regime, these black market films spread like wildfire across the country, screened covertly in church crypts, school caretaker rooms and Communist bloc housing, often in the dead of night.

The films opened a window into the lifestyles of the West that had not been seen by a people, who were not even allowed to travel abroad, and relied entirely on one channel of state-sanctioned TV for their news and entertainment.

Millions of people ended up watching these films not simply for the storyline, but to see the size of the flats, the variety of cars, designer clothes, the food in the stores, that appeared readily available to all.

A scene from Chuck Norris vs Communism

The documentary argued that this picture of another life, however misleading, played a key role in fanning the flames of revolution that led to the overthrow and execution of the country’s president in 1989.

The story’s heroine is Irina Nistor, who dubbed all the black market movies into Romanian in a recording studio. She risked her life and liberty to help bring the films to the wider public, and she remains to this day a kind of national treasure in the country.

I stayed with Irina in Utah in 2015, when the doc was selected for that year’s Sundance Film Festival. It was one of just 12 international docs chosen for premiere at what is regarded as one the world’s most prestigious film festivals.

It was made by two sisters from Cluj, Romania, one who was living with me in South Hampstead.

Ilinca Călugăreanu and Mara Adina had no contacts in London or experience in the film world when they started out.

And I remember the highs and lows they went through as the project went from being an idea to something fully backed by a production company that had won an Oscar the year before.

Mara Adina, Irina Nistor and Ilinca Călugăreanu at Sundance

Suddenly, deep-pocketed investors were queuing up to get involved.

The breakthrough happened after the sisters decided to package up the project proposal in the shape of an old 1980s VHS video tape, that we left propped up outside the home of one illustrious producer, who was living in north London at the time.

It worked, a call came from someone admiring the endeavour.

Big meet­ings followed. And sud­denly I was out joining the team in Romania, watching as reenactment scenes were shot with massive cameras and endless staff busied about the sets.

Even renting an actual helicopter for one swooping scene, presumably in a time before drones could do what they can today.

The film was edited over many months of late nights.

I was named in the credits for my fine work on the film’s subtitles, all the more remarkable as I do not speak more than a few words of Romanian.

I’ll never forget a letter inviting us to the festival from its founder, the actor legend Robert Redford.

It was quite a ride: the snow-capped mountains around Salt Lake City, the late-night parties, the gigantic US cars, and the excitement that came with watching several other exceptional projects being premiered each day.

But it was a gloomily downcast trip home on the plane, which was filled almost entirely with Utah Mormons on a pilgrimage to Paris.

The film had not been well received, largely down to a savage review from some tired old hack at the Guardian, who I will never forgive. Perhaps one day Chuck Norris can catch up with him in the afterlife.

Chuck Norris vs Communism, with a respectable 7.5 rating on IMDB, can still be found on Netflix.