Everyone loves Arnold Schwarzenegger, and it’s not hard to see why. This man, born in Austria in 1947, is one of the most influential figures in the modern world. Actor, athlete, politician, influencer… he’s done it all.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has been part of our lives for as long as we can remember. First as a bodybuilder, winning numerous awards and becoming the most iconic athlete of the prestigious Mr. Olympia competition.
Then as an actor, starring in our favorite movies: Terminator, Predator, Conan, and more. And if that weren’t enough for anyone, he then ventured into the world of politics.
But he didn’t settle for just any position. Arnold became the Governor of California, one of the most important states in the United States, which is quite an achievement for someone not born in the U.S.
The craziest and most curious things about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s career
He won a Golden Globe for one of his first roles
Schwarzenegger landed a handful of supporting roles throughout the 1970s as his acting career gained momentum.
One of those roles was Joe Santo, a bodybuilder training for the Mr. Universe contest, in the film Stay Hungry. In this movie, he shared the screen with the talented Jeff Bridges.
Schwarzenegger was clearly the natural choice for the role, as he was essentially a real-life Joe Santo, but he fully immersed himself in the character nonetheless.
He lost a significant amount of weight for the film, which ended up causing some setbacks in his bodybuilding career, but he won a Golden Globe for his performance.
He is the youngest Mr. Universe champion in history
As you well know, Arnold was a bodybuilder before becoming an actor, although there was a period where he balanced both careers.
But let’s focus on his athletic side, where he won the annual Mr. Universe competition at the age of 20, becoming the youngest person to achieve this feat.
He didn’t rest on his laurels after breaking all the records, as Schwarzenegger continued competing and won the Mr. Universe title four more times before retiring from bodybuilding at the age of 33 in 1980.
The richest bricklayer in California
Before becoming a legendary bodybuilder and a globally renowned actor, Schwarzenegger was already a successful businessman.
He embarked on his journey to wealth in the most unexpected place imaginable: by opening a masonry business in California. I suppose if you’re going to hire someone to lay bricks, it’s better if it’s Arnold.
Schwarzenegger founded the company in 1968, when he was just 21 years old and had recently moved to the United States. His partner was Franco Columbo, a bodybuilder whom Schwarzenegger eventually dethroned in the Mr. Olympia competition.
The business saw significant success, partly due to Schwarzenegger’s well-known commercial skills and the increased demand for construction materials following the 1971 San Fernando earthquake.
He had a legendary career as a bodybuilder
Schwarzenegger’s pursuit of becoming a renowned actor and his dream of moving to the United States led him to believe that becoming a champion bodybuilder was the best way to achieve his goals as a young Austrian boy. It’s hard to argue with his results.
In addition to his monumental Mr. Universe win at the age of 20, Schwarzenegger also completely dominated the Mr. Olympia competition.
He won the Mr. Olympia title 7 times, securing his first victory at the age of 23, making him the youngest champion in history.
Currently, no one in the competition has been able to surpass the Austrian Oak, and there is even an internationally renowned competition named the Arnold Classic. Arnold is undoubtedly the most iconic figure in bodybuilding today.
Not just any politician, he was Governor of California
After three decades of acting in Hollywood, Schwarzenegger decided to try his luck leading the state that had become his home.
He served as the 38th Governor of California, following the recall of Governor Gray Davis in a special election in 2003.
Not just any politician, he was Governor of California
Schwarzenegger won the election by a wide margin of 1.3 million votes. He also won his re-election by a nearly identical margin.
To this day, Schwarzenegger is the second foreign-born Governor of California, serving in the position from 2003 to 2011.
He had a difficult life at home
Schwarzenegger’s desire to become a self-made man and leave Austria, his home country, may be related to the fact that things were very tense at home.
He had a terrible relationship with his father, an Austrian police chief who had sided with Germany in World War II and regularly abused Arnold.
Part of his father’s authoritarian character stemmed from the fact that he didn’t believe Arnold was his biological son, favoring Meinhard, Arnold’s older brother.
When Schwarzenegger left Austria for the United States, he didn’t look back. Although he maintained a close relationship with his mother, he did not attend his father’s or his brother Meinhard’s funerals.
Originally a soccer player
Although always athletic, Schwarzenegger wasn’t immediately drawn to weightlifting. Like the rest of us, Arnold got his start in sports by playing soccer, mainly to impress his authoritarian father. According to him, he was fit but quite skinny.
When Arnold was around 14 or 15 years old, his football coach took him and his team to a local gym to do some weightlifting. From that moment on, Schwarzenegger was hooked. He left football behind and began dedicating himself to bodybuilding professionally.
His first film is a cinema classic
Schwarzenegger’s first foray into the world of cinema was the leading role in the legendary B-movie Hercules in New York (1969).
In the film, Hercules grows bored of life on Mount Olympus and travels to New York to engage in various misadventures, including fighting a bear in Central Park and chasing a car full of mobsters on an actual chariot.
Schwarzenegger had just recently learned English, and his accent was so pronounced that the producers feared no one would be able to understand him. As a result, his voice was dubbed by another actor for the film’s initial release. However, nowadays you can find the movie with Arnold’s original voice.
He was influenced by other athletes-turned-performers
Schwarzenegger is a smart guy, but he didn’t come up with the plan to turn his bodybuilding career into a Hollywood career on his own. He claims to have been heavily influenced by athletes turned actors who had followed a similar path, such as Johnny Weissmuller, famous for portraying Tarzan in a series of films in the 1940s and 1950s.
Schwarzenegger attributes his initial inspiration to come to the United States as a muscular superhuman and become an action adventure star to his early inspiration from Steve Reeves, another Mr. Universe champion who went on to have a successful career as an actor.
Became a competitive bodybuilder at the age of 17
Schwarzenegger was so obsessed with exercising and sculpting a bodybuilder’s physique that he made sure to lift weights every single day. Unfortunately, his local gym didn’t open on weekends, but that didn’t stop him.
Arnold would sneak into the gym when it was closed so that he could do his crucial workouts on Saturdays and Sundays. He trained like this for several years as a young teenager before turning professional, officially starting his competitive bodybuilding career at the age of 17.
He is a strong advocate for the environment
Schwarzenegger is a self-proclaimed environmentalist, which may come as a surprise to some, considering his penchant for explosions and gratuitous destruction on screen.
During his tenure as the Governor of California, he signed the country’s first greenhouse gas emissions limit, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.
Schwarzenegger is known for his love of driving giant off-road vehicles, but he has taken steps to make his vehicles more environmentally friendly. He has converted his two Humvees to no longer run on fossil fuels: one operates on hydrogen and the other on biofuels.
Served in the Austrian army
Like all Austrian men, Schwarzenegger was required to dedicate a year of his life to military service upon turning 18. At least, we assume that it is a requirement for all male citizens. It’s possible that they looked into the future, saw Arnold in Commando, and decided to invent the rule just for him.
Unfortunately, that year of military service interfered with Schwarzenegger’s budding bodybuilding career. He left without permission to compete in a bodybuilding contest, and as a consequence, he was incarcerated in a military prison for a week.
Lived with the family of his bodybuilding coach
Schwarzenegger found little love and support in his own home, but he found a kind of surrogate family when he moved to London with his bodybuilding coach’s family.
His coach, Charles Bennett, had been a judge in Schwarzenegger’s first Mr. Universe competition, and although Arnold didn’t win, Bennett saw potential in him and offered to be his trainer.
Schwarzenegger’s family had always been poor, so he didn’t have the money to afford accommodation and meals while training. Bennett brought 19-year-old Schwarzenegger to his London home to live with his family while they prepared for Arnold’s second Mr. Universe contest.
In addition to getting properly strong for the competition, Schwarzenegger began learning English, a language he had spoken very little up until that point.
Moved to the United States with nothing
Schwarzenegger grew up very poor in post-war Austria. In fact, he still remembers when his family bought their first refrigerator because it was a momentous occasion.
However, he was determined to pursue his dream of becoming a successful actor in the United States.
Schwarzenegger moved to the US when he was only 21 years old. He barely spoke English and had very little money, but he began training at Gold’s Gym in Venice, California, to prepare for the Mr. Olympia contest.
During his training, he became friends with some professional wrestlers, including superstar Billy Graham.
He was told that his name was too long and confusing
Schwarzenegger had almost everything against him when he started his acting career. He was told that his body was too muscular, his accent was too pronounced, and his name was too confusing to succeed.
In his early roles, including “Hercules in New York,” Schwarzenegger was credited as “Arnold Strong.”
However, Arnold quickly abandoned that cheesy pseudonym and insisted on using his real name, which turned out to be a wise decision. Not only did the audience have no trouble pronouncing “Schwarzenegger,” but it has become synonymous with action and is one of the most recognized names worldwide.
His first major success was a documentary
Schwarzenegger’s first major success was the documentary “Pumping Iron,” which documented the training of several bodybuilders for the 1975 Mr. Olympia competition.
The documentary stands out for offering an insider’s view of the world of competitive bodybuilding and featuring the participation of Lou Ferrigno, the future star of “The Incredible Hulk.”
Despite claiming to be a “documentary,” the film dramatizes various elements to create a rivalry between Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno. In fact, the film portrays Schwarzenegger as a kind of villain, which technically marks the first time in his career that he plays a bad guy.
His first major success was a documentary
Schwarzenegger’s first major success was the documentary “Pumping Iron,” which documented the training of several bodybuilders for the 1975 Mr. Olympia competition.
The documentary stands out for offering an insider’s view of the world of competitive bodybuilding and featuring the participation of Lou Ferrigno, the future star of “The Incredible Hulk.”
Despite claiming to be a “documentary,” the film dramatizes various elements to create a rivalry between Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno. In fact, the film portrays Schwarzenegger as a kind of villain, which technically marks the first time in his career that he plays a bad guy.
He made several guest spots on television
Like many other actors, Schwarzenegger spent the early years of his career making guest appearances on television in the 1970s.
In addition to appearing on shows like “The Streets of San Francisco” and “The San Pedro Beach Bums,” he had a cameo as a handsome masseur in the TV movie “Happy Anniversary and Goodbye,” starring Lucille Ball and Art Carney.
Arnold landed a leading role in the 1980 TV movie “The Jayne Mansfield Story,” where he portrayed Mansfield’s husband, Mickey Hargitay.
His two most famous roles were only two years apart
The audience of the 1980s had a strong appetite for action movies, and after fifteen years of bodybuilding and honing his acting skills, Arnold was ready to give his best.
In 1982, “Conan the Barbarian” was released, a film in which the actor showcased his skills and wielded a sword against his enemies in the role of the ruthless titular barbarian.
“Conan the Barbarian” was a success and led to a sequel, “Conan the Destroyer,” in 1984. However, 1984 was arguably the most significant year in Schwarzenegger’s career as it witnessed the release of his most iconic film, “The Terminator,” which turned him into a superstar.
He wasn’t the first choice for Terminator
It may sound surprising, but Schwarzenegger wasn’t James Cameron’s first choice to play the role of the Terminator. Initially, Cameron wanted someone with a normal and average appearance, someone who could blend into the crowd. He had his eye on Lance Henriksen (who would later portray the android Bishop in Cameron’s film “Aliens”).
Initially, the studio wanted Arnold to play the hero, Kyle Reese, but Cameron didn’t want to cast him. He believed that Schwarzenegger was too big and would overshadow any actor given the role of the Terminator.
James Cameron changed his mind after meeting Arnold and realizing that he would be a great unstoppable killing machine.
His home in Austria was removed by a mayor
When you’re as famous as Arnold Schwarzenegger, people retire the number of your childhood home, just like the Chicago Bulls retired Michael Jordan’s jersey. The Austrian star received what we assume was a surprise birthday gift from his home country when he turned 60.
The mayor of Thal, the city where Schwarzenegger was born, sent Arnold the plaque with the address of his childhood home for his 60th birthday, along with the message “This belongs to you. No one else will be assigned this number.” After all, Arnold was born in that house.
His films have grossed more than $4 billion
Schwarzenegger was one of the biggest stars in the world in the 80s and 90s, with action hits like Predator, Commando, The Running Man, Total Recall, and Eraser. In total, his movies have grossed over $4 billion worldwide. That’s a lot of box office tickets.
The highest-grossing film of Schwarzenegger’s career was Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the sequel to the movie that made him a mega-star.
Terminator 2 grossed $500 million at the box office and was the highest-grossing film of 1991, and it continues to be considered one of the greatest action movies of all time.
He has played the Terminator 6 times
Considering the popularity of the time-traveling killer cyborg in Terminator and the impact it had on his acting career, it’s no surprise that Schwarzenegger has been delighted to appear in several sequels and spin-offs of Terminator.
Schwarzenegger has portrayed some version of the T-800 in five films: The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Genisys, and Terminator Dark Fate.
He even appeared as the Terminator in the music video for Guns N’ Roses’ “You Could Be Mine,” which was part of the soundtrack for Terminator 2. In the video, the Terminator is sent back in time to kill Axl Rose.
Practice meditation
Despite being a major movie star, both physically and in terms of stature, Schwarzenegger used to experience anxiety. Fortunately, the actor found a way to manage it through transcendental meditation. This form of meditation involves sitting quietly and repeating a sound, called a mantra, for 15-20 minutes, twice a day.
According to Schwarzenegger, anxiety used to be a dominating force in his life. He says that meditation helps him sort things out and approach them in a logical and healthy way, rather than trying to tackle everything at once in a chaotic storm.
He auditioned to play the Incredible Hulk (and lost)
When Schwarzenegger was still starting out in Hollywood, he auditioned for the role of Marvel Comics’ The Incredible Hulk in the television series that would eventually be portrayed by Bill Bixby as David Banner, the mild-mannered alter ego of the Hulk.
However, in this competition, Schwarzenegger was unable to defeat his rival Lou Ferrigno. Ferrigno won the role over Schwarzenegger and portrayed the Hulk for five seasons and in five television movies. It remains Ferrigno’s most well-known portrayal.
