Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most popular and impactful celebrities of the last 50 years. After leaving his native country of Austria for the United States od America, Arnold Schwarzenegger rose to fame as a body builder and used that platform to propel himself into becoming the biggest Hollywood action star of the 80s and 90s. Arnold Schwarzenegger then went on to become the Governor of California as well, an amazing achievement for an immigrant who couldn’t even speak English properly when he moved to America.
How old is Arnold Schwarzenegger?
Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Graz, Austria on July 30th, 1947. That makes him 72 years on the date of this article’s publication. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s life has truly been a story of the remarkable triumph of the human will and spirit against overwhelming odds.
How tall is Arnold Schwarzenegger?
Arnold Schwarzenegger is most famous for his spectacular physique and almost superhuman sized muscles. Naturally, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s height, along with the size of his biceps is some thing that most fans are curious about. Arnold Schwarzenegger is an impressive 6 feet 2 inches or 188 centimeters tall, living up to his ‘Austrian Oak’ nickname in height also.
Who is Arnold Schwarzenegger?
As mentioned earlier, Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Graz, Austria on July 30th, 1947. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s formative years were far from ideal as he grew up with an alcoholic father. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s father, Gustav Schwarzenegger was a full blown alcoholic who also happened to be a police chief. Even more scary was the fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s father was a former member of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party.
Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn’t born as the chiselled bronze beefcake that we have come to know. He was gangly and unathletic and his father preferred his elder brother whose physical gifts manifested themselves more from a younger age. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s father repeatedly beat him up and intimidated him. Arnold Schwarzenegger was also pitted against his elder brother in frequent fistfights by his father. Arnold Schwarzenegger dreamt of becoming a bodybuilder from a very young age but his father ridiculed him and his lofty dreams. In Arnold Schwarzenegger’s own words, “It was a very uptight feeling at home.” Arnold Schwarzenegger’s relationship with his father and elder brother was so bad that he refused to attend their funerals. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s father died in 1972 and his brother died in a car accident in 1971.
Why did Arnold Schwarzenegger start bodybuilding?
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who didn’t have any affection towards his father and elder brother, turned towards movies for an escape. Very soon, Arnold Schwarzenegger became a huge fan of Reg Park, a star of B-Grade Hercules movies and a bodybuilder. As he watched more and more movies, Arnold Schwarzenegger started becoming increasingly obsessed with the United States of America and he believed that a successful future awaited him there. However, Arnold Schwarzenegger soon found out that getting to America wasn’t easy. Arnold Schwarzenegger found his saviour in the International Federation of Bodybuilding’s Joe Weider. The International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFB) organized and sponsored popular events such as Mr. Olympia and Mr. Universe.
Joe Weider was extremely impressed by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s great sense of humour and bravado. Weider saw a lot of untapped potential in a young Arnold Schwarzenegger. Very soon, Arnold Schwarzenegger proved that Joe Weider’s talent evaluation and scouting skills were top notch and won an unprecedented six Mr. Olympia and five Mr. Universe titles.
After migrating to America in 1968, Arnold Schwarzenegger contributed heavily in the increasing popularity of bodybuilding. The highlight of that phase of his life came with the 1977 documentary Pumping Iron which featured Arnold Schwarzenegger’s work towards the defence of his Mr. Olympia crown.
How did Arnold Schwarzenegger get into movies?
After becoming the world’s most famous bodybuilder, Arnold Schwarzenegger started trying his hand at movies. After a few small parts here and there, Arnold Schwarzenegger received his major break with the 1976 movie, Stay Hungry. He even won a Golden Globe Award for Best Newcomer for his role in that movie.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s statuesque build and massive physical strength made him a natural fit for action films. Starting with 1982’s Conan the Barbarian, a sword and sorcery fantasy movie about a mythical warrior, Arnold Schwarzenegger went on to rule the 80s action movie genre. In 1984, Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in the sequel Conan the Destroyer and also starred as a murderous time travelling machine from the future in James Cameron’s seminal science-fiction-action flick The Terminator. That role would soon become synonymous with Arnold Schwarzenegger and he has reprised it in sequels such as 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day and 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
Other famous Arnold Schwarzenegger movies from his peak years include 1985’s Commando, 1987’s Predator and The Running Man, 1990’s Total Recall and 1994’s True Lies. Aside from those legendary action movies, Arnold Schwarzenegger also did some incredibly funny comedy movies like 1988’s Twins and 1990’s Kindergarten Cop. Throughout his stellar movie career, Arnold Schwarzenegger also became famous for his unique dialogues and his unique way of delivering them. Most action movie fans love to use quotes from Arnold Schwarzenegger movies in their daily lives as well. Here are ten of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most famous quotes from his movies:
Who was Arnold Schwarzenegger married to?
Away from the silver screen, Arnold Schwarzenegger continued his amazing story of success as the immigrant from a dysfunctional family married a member of America’s famous Kennedy family. In 1986, Arnold Schwarzenegger tied the nuptial knot with the daughter of R. Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Maria Owings Shriver. After 25 years of marriage, the couple announced their separation in May of 2011. The reason behind the separation was the fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger was having an affair with a member of his household staff and that affair had resulted in the birth of a baby. The famous Fox comedy show, Family Guy mocked that situation with a mini sketch.
Schwarzenegger also confessed to having an affair with his Red Sonja co-star Brigitte Nielsen during the 80s. He was in a relationship and living with Maria Shriver at that time. When asked about the affair, Nielsen said: “Maybe I wouldn’t have got into it if he said ‘I’m going to marry Maria’ and this is deadly serious, but he didn’t, and our affair carried on.”
As of July 2015, Arnold Schwarzenegger was dating physical therapist Heather Milligan, a woman 27 years younger than himself.
Which state was Arnold Schwarzenegger the Governor of?
Just when everyone thought that Arnold Schwarzenegger had achieved his peak and couldn’t really do something more impressive, he surprised everyone by entering politics in 2003 and becoming the Governor of the state of California for two successive terms. He contested with a ticket from the Republican Party and brought a lot of economic stability to the state after becoming the Governor. In his idiosyncratic way, he criticised the members of the opposing Democratic Party. Speaking of the Democrats, he said “If they don’t have the guts, I call them ‘girlie-men’, they should go back to the table and fix the budget.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger contested for a second term and was successfully re-elected. Arnold Schwarzenegger cited former American President Ronald Reagan as a personal inspiration and said this about him: “I became a citizen of the United States when Reagan was President, and he is the first President I voted for as an American citizen. He inspired me and made me even prouder to be a new American.”
After completing his second term as California’s Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to revive his movie career and has appeared in movies such as The Expendables and Terminator: Genisys.
Who is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s son?
Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered 4 children with his ex wife Maria Shriver. They are Katherine Eunice Schwarzenegger , Christina Maria Aurelia Schwarzenegger, Patrick Arnold Shriver Schwarzenegger, and Christopher Sargent Shriver Schwarzenegger. He also has a son named Joseph Baena from his affair with his housekeeper Mildred Patricia ‘Patty’ Baena. Joseph Baena recently shared a thank you post for his dad on the occasion of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s birthday.
What is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s net worth?
Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most famous pop culture figures of the last 50 years. He is not just the most famous bodybuilder of all time, in some ways he is even bigger than the sport of bodybuilding. He is also the biggest action movie star in cinema history, with his movies making millions of dollars at the box office. He even served two terms as the Governor of California. Aa of 2019, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s net worth is around 400 million dollars.