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Arnold was born on July 30th, 1947 in the rural town of Thal, Austria, to the local police chief. At age 15 he took a keen interest in physical fitness and bodybuilding, and became so dedicated that he broke into the local gym on weekends, when it was usually closed, so that he could train. "It would make me sick to miss a workout. I knew I couldn't look at myself in the mirror the next morning if I didn't do it."
After completing his military service he won another bodybuilding contest in Graz, at Steirer Hof Hotel and at the tender age of 19 he was voted best built man of Europe, which made him famous. Schwarzenegger made his first plane trip in 1966, placing second in the NABBA Mr. Universe competition in London. Disappointed in his "poor" showing, Arnie flew back to Munich, training for four to six hours daily, attending business school AND working in a health club. The training paid off and, in 1967, Arnold again competed in the Mr. Universe competition, this time taking first place, becoming the youngest ever Mr. Universe at the age of 20. "The Mr. Universe title was my ticket to America – the land of opportunity, where I could become a star and get rich." Arnold, who dreamed of moving to the U.S. since the age of 10, saw bodybuilding as the avenue through which to do so. He realized his dream by moving to the United States in September 1968 at the age of 21, with just $100 in his pocket and speaking almost no English. Although he is known by
most people as a body builder and action movie star, the Austrian Oak
has had a highly successful business career. Following his move to
the United States, Schwarzenegger became a "prolific goal
setter" and would write his objectives at the start of the year on
index cards. In 1968, Schwarzenegger and fellow bodybuilder Franco Columbu started a bricklaying business, in part to pay for their memberships at the local Gold's Gym. The business flourished thanks to the pair's marketing savvy and 24/7 work ethic. Schwarzenegger and Columbu used profits from their bricklaying venture to start a mail order business, selling bodybuilding and fitness-related equipment and instructional tapes. Eventually Arnie rolled profits from the mail order business and his bodybuilding competition winnings into his first real estate investment venture: an apartment building he purchased for a mere $10,000! He would later go on to invest in a number of real estate holding companies. Although most people don't know this, by the age of 30, Schwarzenegger was a millionaire, well before his career in Hollywood. His financial independence came from his success as a budding entrepreneur with a series of successful business ventures and investments. In 1970, at age 23, he captured his first Mr. Olympia title in New York, and would go on to win the title a total of seven times. Over roughly the next decade, Schwarzenegger dominated the sport of competitive bodybuilding winning five Mr. Universe titles and seven Mr. Olympia titles and, with it, he made himself a major sports icon. He almost single-handedly generated a new international audience for bodybuilding, and gym memberships worldwide swelled by the tens of thousands Up until the early 1970s, bodybuilding had been viewed as a rather oddball sport, or even a mis-understood "freak show" by the general public. Before that time, gyms were dirty, filthy places where only the most dedicated (some would say "most ) would go to train; women in gyms were rarity, if not non-existent. Unlike today's luxurious, brightly-lit and carpeted "cathedrals of physical fitness," the gyms of those days were often in dingy, damp basements or warehouses. This all changed dramatically in 1977 with the release of the mesmerizing Pumping Iron covering the 1975 Mr Olympia contest in South Africa; it has since gone on to become one of the key sports documentaries of the 20th century. There is no doubt that Arnie did more to popularize, not just the sport of bodybuilding, but the entire physical fitness and sports-training industry, than any other individual; he made "being in good shape" a world-wide mainstream pastime. However,
Schwarzenegger's horizons were bigger than just the landscape of
business and bodybuilding. Despite his thick foreign accent, he
always had aspirations of being an American movie star, and he "It was very
difficult for me in the beginning," says Arnie. "I
was told by agents and casting people that my body was 'too weird', that
I had a funny accent, and that my name was too long. You name it, and
they told me I had to change it. Basically, everywhere I turned, I was
told that I had no chance." What Arnold really needed was a super hero / warrior style role in a lavish production that utilized his chiseled physique, and gave him room to show off his growing acting talents and quirky humor. "Conan the Barbarian" (1982) was just that role. "Conan" was a smash hit worldwide and an inferior, although still enjoyable sequel titled "Conan the Destroyer" (1984) quickly followed. If "Conan" was the kick start to Arnold's movie career, then his next role was to put the pedal to the floor and accelerate his star status into overdrive. Made on a relatively modest budget, the high voltage action / science fiction thriller "The Terminator" (1984) was incredibly successful worldwide, and began one of the most profitable film franchises in history. The dead pan phrase "I'll be back" quickly became part of popular culture across the globe. (Ironically he was not allowed to dub his own voice for German versions of "The Terminator" because Germans considered his Austrian accent "not considered tough!") During the 1980s, audiences had an appetite for action films, with both Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone becoming international stars. Although known primarily as an action hero, I personally feel that Schwarzenegger's roles reflecting his sense of humor (Last Action Hero, Twins, Kindergarten Cop, Junior, Jingle All the Way, etc) separates him from more serious action hero films. (But he has made a mistake or two during his film career: he turned down the role of John McLain in "Die Hard" - a blockbuster film that became a huge international franchise in it's own right. The role eventually went to a virtually unknown bartender from the Bronx by the name of Bruce Willis!) Not content to "stand still" as a successful businessman and movie icon, he entered the political ring..... Schwarzenegger has been a registered Republican for many years. As an actor, his political views were always well known as they contrasted with those of many other prominent Hollywood stars, who are generally considered to be a liberal and Democratic-leaning community. In October of 2003 Schwarzenegger, running as a Republican, was elected Governor of California in a special recall election of then governor Gray Davis. The "Governator," as Schwarzenegger came to be called, held the office until 2011.
Thanks for listening, fellow Big Dogs! I trust you got some
valuable pointers from a |
Schwarzenegger served in
the Austrian Army in 1965 to fulfill the one year of service required at
the time of all 18-year-old Austrian males. During his army
service, he won the Junior Mr. Europe contest. "Participating
in that competition meant so much to me that I didn't carefully think
through 'certain consequences.'" Those "certain
consequences" were spending a week in the military stockade for
going AWOL during basic training so he could take part in the
competition!
debuted on screen
in 1969 as "Arnold Strong" in
the painfully terrible and ultra-cheap fantasy adventure movie "Hercules
in New York" Because of his accent, all of Schwarzenegger's lines
were dubbed.; the movie was so bad that the rights to the
movie were auctioned on eBay for just $550,000. 
