Arnold Schwarzenegger - 50 Interesting facts

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1. He was born as Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger in Thal, Austria on 30 July 1947 to Gustav Schwarzenegger and Aurelia, both local police chiefs.

2. His father voluntarily joined Nazy Party in 1938 and served Germany in World War II. He was discharged from the army in 1943 as he contracted malaria.

3. Arnold has stated that both his parents were very strict owing to the Nazy influence. Whenever anything went wrong or anyone disobeyed, the rod wasn’t spared.

4. His father had a belief that Arnold was not his biological son and would favor his elder son Meinhard over his younger son.

5. His brother died in a car accident on 20 May 1971. The following year, his father also died due to a stroke. Arnold did not attend either of the funerals. In an interview to Fortune in 2004 he stated child abuse at the hands of his father as the reason for not attending the funeral.

6. He was in a good relationship with his mother and stayed in touch with her till her death. He also took care of his brother’s son Patrick. He paid for his education and helped him to immigrate to America.

7. At the time of his father’s death, he was in America shooting for “Pumping Iron.” His then girlfriend Barbara Baker later said that he delivered his father’s demise without any emotion and has never spoken about his brother.

8. Arnold said that he started his weight training at the age of 15, though his official website claims he was 14. It all started when his soccer coach took him to a gym, that’s when he chose bodybuilding over soccer.

9. His parents had feared that he was turning into gay, as he had covered his wall with posters of oiled bodybuilders.

10. Arnold trained in a gym in Graz under former Mr. Austria Kurt Marnul. He was so dedicated that on weekends when usually gyms were closed he would break open to train. He would not look at himself in a mirror if he missed any training.

11. When he was training in the gym, he noted that his upper body was developing very well but his legs and calf muscles were very thin. To motivate himself he would cut his pants up to the thigh and walk around like that. People would laugh at the man with chicken legs and eventually it worked.

12. Arnold served in Austrian Army during the year 1965 as it was mandatory to serve for a year for all under 18 males in Austria.

13. During his service in the army he won Junior Mr. Europe contest. In another competition in Graz he was placed second. He was voted as the best built man in Europe and that made him famous.

14. He participated in Mr. Universe contest in London in 1966 as he viewed it as a ticket to America. Chester Yorton beat him for Arnold lacked in Muscle definition. 

15. One of the judges in the competition Charles Bennett was so impressive with Arnold that he offered to coach him. He even took him to his crowded house as Arnold was short of money.

16. In the year 1967, Arnold won the Mr. Universe title for the first time. He became the youngest ever to claim the title at the age of 20. He went on to win the title a further three times.

17. He moved to America in the year 1968 a dream he had since he was 10. He trained in Gold’s Gym under Joe Weider. He won his first Mr. Olympia title in New York in 1970 at the age of 23. He went on to win the title a further seven times.

18. In 1968, he along with fellow bodybuilder Franco Columbu started bricklaying business. It flourished due to their market knowledge and also due to an earthquake in 1971.

19. They then started to sell bodybuilding and fitness related equipments from the profit gained by bricklaying business.

20. As foray into the acting arena, Arnold starred in 1970's Hercules in New York, playing the role of Hercules. Later in the year 1973, he made his second appearance as a deaf mute hit-man for the mob in The Long Goodbye movie.

21. His next movie - Stay Hungry (1976) was the one which earned him his first award - Golden Globe for New Male Star of the Year.

22. In the early stages of his acting career, Arnold was told that he had no chance. Casting people have even said that his body is “too weird,” his accent is funny, and his name was too long, which they insisted on changing.

23. In the sets of the movie “Conan The Barbarian,” his breakthrough movie in the year 1982, he suffered a severe back injury. He is chased by dogs and he climbs a rock to escape. But the dogs jump on his back resulting in him falling down on the rocks. 

24. His life mirrors the life of fictional character “Conan the Barbarian.” Conan who was born in a small village and due to years of slavery grows into a physically powerful man. After becoming famous as a gladiator he indulges in women and wine. Later he rejects that lifestyle and performs great feats and eventually is crowned King.

25. He has performed many of the stunts in his movies himself, as it was difficult to find someone of his built. Eventually Billy Lucas, Joel Kramer and Peter Kent became his stunt double and very good friends.

26. Arnold married Maria Shriver a Journalist and a niece of President John F. Kennedy on April 26 1986. They have four children namely Katherine, Christina, Patrick and Christopher.

27. Has stated that the fight scene in “The Predator” (1987), was difficult as Kevin Peter Hall who played the “Predator” in the movie, was unable to see through the mask.

28. In the sets of “True Lies” (1994) he has to ride a horse and come to a standstill on the edge of the building. They had built a ramp to help the horse get some distance to stop. However during the shoot the horse went crazy and started to spin and jump. He slid of the animal in time and a stunt man grabbed him. All went well but it was a scary experience for the actor.

29. In a scene in “The 6th Day” (2000) he was to stay underwater when there is a big explosion above. During rehearsal he had no trouble but, during the shoot the water got too milky. He couldn’t see properly and ran out of air. When he swam up, got trapped in between the flames. Eventually his stunt double Billy Lucas saved him with a tank and goggles.

30. The most famous dialogue of his “I will be back” was originally written as “I will come back.”

31. Director James Cameron originally wanted him to play the role of Kyle Reese. But after going through the script he asked the director for role of The Machine. When the director was hesitating he asked him to just “trust me.”

32. In 1987, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

33. In 1992, he along with his wife Maria Shriver opened a restaurant in Santa Monica named as “Schatzi On Main”. Schatzi in Germani means darling. He sold it in 1998.

34. He is the second actor to be elected as the Governor of California. The first was Ronald Reagan.

35. On becoming the governor of California he refused to take the salary of governor and travelled around in private jets on his own expense.

36. When he was the governor of California a poster for Burger King stated “It’s so big and beefy, it might run for governor.”

37. In December 2001, he broke 6 ribs in a motorcycle crash in Los Angeles. "It was very painful, much more painful than the heart surgery," he said at the time, referring to an operation he had in 1997 to replace a heart valve.

38. In 2005, when he was riding a Harley Davidson with his son Patrick met with an accident near their Brentwood home. He received 15 stitches to his lips. He got his two-wheeler license in 2006.

39. He had once saved a drowning man while on vacation in Hawaii in 2004 by swimming into the sea.

40. He was one of the initial investors in the “Planet Hollywood” along with fellow actors Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. He eventually withdrew from it in 2000 stating a success well below than what he expected.

41. He was considered for the role of Robert Neville in “I Am Legend” back in the year 1996. It came out in 2007 with Will Smith in the lead.

42. His “Conan The Destroyer” was a failure and this prompted him to reject all the sequels of his later movies such as “Commando”, “Predator”, “Total Recall”, and “True Lies”. The Only exception he made was “The Terminator Series” and “The Expendables Series.”

43. He considers “The Kindergarten Cop” as his personal favorite among his own movies.

44. He has rejected many leading roles and has regretted for missing them. “The Rock”, “The Saint” and “Face Off” being a few among them.

45. He is the first private citizen in United States to own a Humvee. It was so large that it was classified as a large truck. He spent a huge amount on converting it to burn hydrogen.

46. He holds dual citizenship of U.S.A and Austria. He became a U.S citizen on September 17, 1973. He had asked the Austrian government to retain his Austrian citizen too, to which they agreed.

47. His net worth is estimated to be around $100 to $200 million. Sometimes even around $800 million according to Tax return he filed in 2006. He has invested in stocks, bonds and real estate over the years from his bodybuilding and movie earning.

48. In the year 2011 his alleged relationship with his maid Mildred Patricia Baena for more than 14 years was revealed. The same year, Maria Shriver divorced him and bought a new house nearby to stay in touch with the kids.

49. Arnold has stated that he came to know about him fathering a son with Mildred only when the kid grew up and started to look like him. After the divorce he has taken full responsibility of the kid.

50. In 2001, he was awarded Taurus Honorary Award from Taurus World Stunt Awards. In 2004, Maverick Tribute Awards in the Cinequest Film Festival. Last year, Arnold received Hero of Our Lifetime Award from Empire Awards. This year, he was honored with International Lifetime Achievement Award from Goldene Kamera.

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