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The Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (
//;
German: [ˈaɐnɔlt ˈalɔʏs ˈʃvaɐtsənɛɡɐ]; born July 30, 1947) is an
Austrian-born
American actor, filmmaker, activist, businessman, investor, writer, philanthropist, former professional
bodybuilder and politician. Schwarzenegger served two terms as the
38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011.
Schwarzenegger began
weight training at the age of 15. He won the
Mr. Universe title at age 20 and went on to win the
Mr. Olympia
contest seven times. Schwarzenegger has remained a prominent presence
in bodybuilding and has written many books and articles on the sport.
Schwarzenegger gained worldwide fame as a
Hollywood action film icon. He was nicknamed the "Austrian Oak" and the "
Styrian Oak" in his bodybuilding days, "Arnie" during his acting career, and "The Governator" (a
portmanteau of "
Governor" and "
The Terminator" – one of his best-known movie roles) during his political career.
[2]
As a
Republican, he was first elected on October 7, 2003, in a special
recall election to replace then-Governor
Gray Davis.
Schwarzenegger was sworn in on November 17, 2003, to serve the
remainder of Davis's term. Schwarzenegger was then re-elected on
November 7, 2006, in
California's 2006 gubernatorial election, to serve a full term as governor, defeating
Democrat Phil Angelides, who was
California State Treasurer at the time. Schwarzenegger was sworn in for his second term on January 5, 2007.
[3] In 2011, Schwarzenegger completed his second term as governor, and it was announced that he had separated from
Maria Shriver, his wife for the previous 25 years; she is a member of the influential
Kennedy family, as a niece of the late
Democratic US President John F. Kennedy.
Early life
Schwarzenegger was born in
Thal,
Austria, a village bordering the
Styrian capital
Graz, and was christened Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger.
[4] His parents were the local police chief,
Gustav Schwarzenegger
(17 August 1907 – 13 December 1972), and Aurelia (née Jadrny; 29 July
1922 – 2 August 1998). Gustav served in World War II, after he
voluntarily applied to join the
Nazi Party in 1938.
[5] Gustav served with the
German Army as a
Hauptfeldwebel of the
Feldgendarmerie and was discharged in 1943 after contracting
malaria.
They were married on October 20, 1945 – Gustav was 38, and Aurelia was
23-years-old. According to Schwarzenegger, both of his parents were very
strict: "Back then in Austria it was a very different world, if we did
something bad or we disobeyed our parents, the rod was not spared."
[6] He grew up in a Roman Catholic family who attended
Mass every Sunday.
[7][8]
Gustav had a preference for his older son, Meinhard (17 July 1946 – 20 May 1971), over Arnold.
[9] His favoritism was "strong and blatant," which stemmed from unfounded suspicion that Arnold was not his biological child.
[10] Schwarzenegger has said his father had "no patience for listening or understanding your problems."
[7] Schwarzenegger had a good relationship with his mother and kept in touch with her until her death.
[11] In later life, Schwarzenegger commissioned the
Simon Wiesenthal Center
to research his father's wartime record, which came up with no evidence
of Gustav's being involved in atrocities, despite Gustav's membership
in the
Nazi Party and
SA.
[9] Schwarzenegger's father's background received wide press attention during the 2003
California recall campaign.
[12] At school, Schwarzenegger was apparently in the middle but stood out for his "cheerful, good-humored and exuberant" character.
[7]
Money was a problem in their household; Schwarzenegger recalled that
one of the highlights of his youth was when the family bought a
refrigerator.
[10]
As a boy, Schwarzenegger played several sports, heavily influenced by his father.
[7] He picked up his first barbell in 1960, when his
soccer coach took his team to a local gym.
[4] At the age of 14, he chose
bodybuilding over soccer as a career.
[13][14]
Schwarzenegger has responded to a question asking if he was 13 when he
started weightlifting: "I actually started weight training when I was
15, but I'd been participating in sports, like soccer, for years, so I
felt that although I was slim, I was well-developed, at least enough so
that I could start going to the gym and start Olympic lifting."
[6]
However, his official website biography claims: "At 14, he started an
intensive training program with Dan Farmer, studied psychology at 15 (to
learn more about the power of mind over body) and at 17, officially
started his competitive career."
[15]
During a speech in 2001, he said, "My own plan formed when I was 14
years old. My father had wanted me to be a police officer like he was.
My mother wanted me to go to trade school."
[16]
Schwarzenegger took to visiting a gym in Graz, where he also frequented
the local movie theaters to see bodybuilding idols such as
Reg Park,
Steve Reeves, and
Johnny Weissmuller on the big screen.
[6]
When Reeves died in 2000, Schwarzenegger fondly remembered him: "As a
teenager, I grew up with Steve Reeves. His remarkable accomplishments
allowed me a sense of what was possible, when others around me didn't
always understand my dreams. Steve Reeves has been part of everything
I've ever been fortunate enough to achieve." In 1961, Schwarzenegger met
former Mr. Austria Kurt Marnul, who invited him to train at the gym in
Graz.
[4]
He was so dedicated as a youngster 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."
[6]
When Schwarzenegger was asked about his first movie experience as a
boy, he replied: "I was very young, but I remember my father taking me
to the Austrian theaters and seeing some newsreels. The first real movie
I saw, that I distinctly remember, was a
John Wayne movie."
[6]
On 20 May 1971, his brother, Meinhard, died in a car accident.
[4] Meinhard had been drinking and was killed instantly. Schwarzenegger did not attend his funeral.
[10]
Meinhard was due to marry Erika Knapp, and the couple had a
three-year-old son, Patrick. Schwarzenegger would pay for Patrick's
education and help him to immigrate to the United States.
[10] Gustav died the following year from a stroke.
[4] In
Pumping Iron,
Schwarzenegger claimed that he did not attend his father's funeral
because he was training for a bodybuilding contest. Later, he and the
film's producer said this story was taken from another bodybuilder for
the purpose of showing the extremes that some would go to for their
sport and to make Schwarzenegger's image more cold and machine-like in
order to fan controversy for the film.
[17]
Barbara Baker, his first serious girlfriend, has said he informed her
of his father's death without emotion and that he never spoke of his
brother.
[18] Over time, he has given at least three versions of why he was absent from his father's funeral.
[10]
In an interview with
Fortune
in 2004, Schwarzenegger told how he suffered what "would now be called
child abuse" at the hands of his father: "My hair was pulled. I was hit
with belts. So was the kid next door. It was just the way it was. Many
of the children I've seen were broken by their parents, which was the
German-Austrian mentality. They didn't want to create an individual. It
was all about conforming. I was one who did not conform, and whose will
could not be broken. Therefore, I became a rebel. Every time I got hit,
and every time someone said, 'you can't do this,' I said, 'this is not
going to be for much longer, because I'm going to move out of here. I
want to be rich. I want to be somebody.'"
[5]
Early adulthood
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.
[4][15] During his army service, he won the Junior Mr. Europe contest.
[14] He went
AWOL
during basic training so he could take part in the competition and
spent a week in military prison: "Participating in the competition meant
so much to me that I didn't carefully think through the consequences."
He won another bodybuilding contest in Graz, at Steirer Hof Hotel (where
he had placed second). He was voted best built man of Europe, which
made him famous. "The
Mr. Universe title was my ticket to America – the land of opportunity, where I could become a star and get rich."
[16] Schwarzenegger made his first plane trip in 1966, attending the
NABBA Mr. Universe competition in London.
[15] He would come in second in the Mr. Universe competition, not having the muscle definition of American winner
Chester Yorton.
[15]
Charles "Wag" Bennett, one of the judges at the 1966 competition, was
impressed with Schwarzenegger and he offered to coach him. As
Schwarzenegger had little money, Bennett invited him to stay in his
crowded family home above one of his two gyms in
Forest Gate,
London, England. Yorton's leg definition had been judged superior, and
Schwarzenegger, under a training program devised by Bennett,
concentrated on improving the muscle definition and power in his legs.
Staying in the
East End of London helped Schwarzenegger improve his rudimentary grasp of the English language.
[19][20] Also in 1966, Schwarzenegger had the opportunity to meet childhood idol
Reg Park, who became his friend and mentor.
[21]
The training paid off and, in 1967, Schwarzenegger won the title for
the first time, becoming the youngest ever Mr. Universe at the age of
20.
[15] He would go on to win the title a further three times.
[14] Schwarzenegger then flew back to
Munich,
training for four to six hours daily, attending business school and
working in a health club (Rolf Putzinger's gym where he worked and
trained from 1966–1968), returning in 1968 to London to win his next Mr.
Universe title.
[15] He frequently told
Roger C. Field, his English coach and friend in Munich at that time, "I'm going to become the greatest actor!"
[22]
Move to the U.S.
Schwarzenegger, who dreamed of moving to the U.S. since the age of
10, and saw bodybuilding as the avenue through which to do so,
[23] realized his dream by moving to the United States in September 1968 at the age of 21, speaking little English.
[4][14] There he trained at
Gold's Gym in
Venice, Los Angeles, California, under
Joe Weider. From 1970 to 1974, one of Schwarzenegger's weight training partners was
Ric Drasin, a
professional wrestler who designed the original Gold's Gym logo in 1973.
[24] Schwarzenegger also became good friends with professional wrestler
"Superstar" Billy Graham. 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.
[15]
Immigration law firm Siskind & Susser have stated that Schwarzenegger may have been an
illegal immigrant at some point in the late 1960s or early 1970s because of violations in the terms of his
visa.
[25] LA Weekly
would later say in 2002 that Schwarzenegger is the most famous
immigrant in America, who "overcame a thick Austrian accent and
transcended the unlikely background of bodybuilding to become the
biggest movie star in the world in the 1990s".
[23]
In 1977, Schwarzenegger's autobiography/weight-training guide
Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder was published and became a huge success.
[4] After taking English classes at
Santa Monica College in California, he earned a BA by correspondence from the
University of Wisconsin–Superior, where he graduated with a degree in international marketing of fitness and business administration in 1979.
[26]
Bodybuilding career
| Arnold Schwarzenegger |
| — Bodybuilder — |
| Personal info |
| Nickname |
The Austrian Oak |
| Born |
July 30, 1947 (age 67)
Thal, Styria, Austria |
| Height |
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[15] |
| Weight |
250 pounds (113 kg)[citation needed] |
| Professional career |
| Pro-debut |
NABBA Mr. Universe, 1968 |
| Best win |
IFBB Mr. Olympia, 1970–1975, 1980, Seven Times |
| Predecessor |
Sergio Oliva ('69), Frank Zane ('79) |
| Successor |
Franco Columbu ('76, '81) |
| Active |
Retired 1980 |
| Competition record |
| Men’s Bodybuilding |
Competitor for  |
| Mr Universe (amateur) |
| 1st |
1967 |
|
| Mr Universe (pro) |
| 1st |
1968 |
|
| 1st |
1969 |
|
| 1st |
1970 |
|
| Mr. Olympia |
| 2nd |
1969 |
|
| 1st |
1970 |
|
| 1st |
1971 |
|
| 1st |
1972 |
|
| 1st |
1973 |
|
| 1st |
1974 |
|
| 1st |
1975 |
|
| 1st |
1980 |
|
| Powerlifting[27] |
| Competitor for |
| International Powerlifting Championships |
| 1st |
1966 |
+80 kg |
| German Powerlifting Championships |
| 2nd |
1967 |
+80 kg |
| 1st |
1968 |
+80 kg |
| Graz-Paradise Keller Powerlifting Championships |
| 2nd |
1967 |
+80 kg |
| Men's Weightlifting[27] |
| Competitor for |
| Styrian Junior Weightlifting Championships |
| 1st |
1964 |
|
| German Austrian Weightlifting Championships |
| 1st |
1965 |
|
Schwarzenegger is considered among the most important figures in the
history of bodybuilding, and his legacy is commemorated in the
Arnold Classic
annual bodybuilding competition. Schwarzenegger has remained a
prominent face in the bodybuilding sport long after his retirement, in
part because of his ownership of gyms and fitness magazines. He has
presided over numerous contests and awards shows.
For many years, he wrote a monthly column for the bodybuilding magazines
Muscle & Fitness and
Flex.
Shortly after being elected Governor, he was appointed executive editor
of both magazines, in a largely symbolic capacity. The magazines agreed
to donate $250,000 a year to the Governor's various physical fitness
initiatives. When the deal, including the contract that gave
Schwarzenegger at least $1 million a year, was made public in 2005, many
criticized it as being a conflict of interest since the governor's
office made decisions concerning regulation of dietary supplements in
California.
[28] Consequently, Schwarzenegger relinquished the executive editor role in 2005.
[28] American Media Inc., which owns
Muscle & Fitness and
Flex, announced in March 2013 that Schwarzenegger had accepted their renewed offer to be executive editor of the magazines.
[28]
The magazine
MuscleMag International has a monthly two-page article on him, and refers to him as "The King".
One of the first competitions he won was the Junior Mr. Europe contest in 1965.
[4] He won Mr. Europe the following year, at age 19.
[4][15] He would go on to compete in, and win, many bodybuilding contests. His bodybuilding victories included five Mr. Universe (4 –
NABBA [England], 1 –
IFBB [USA]) wins, and seven Mr. Olympia wins, a record which would stand until
Lee Haney won his eighth consecutive Mr. Olympia title in 1991.
Schwarzenegger continues to work out even today. When asked about his personal training during the 2011
Arnold Classic he said that he was still working out a half an hour with weights every day.
[29]
Powerlifting/weightlifting
During Arnold's early years in bodybuilding, he also competed in several
Olympic weightlifting and
powerlifting contests. Arnold won two weightlifting contests in 1964 and 1965, as well as two powerlifting contests in 1966 and 1968.
[27]
In 1967, Schwarzenegger competed in and won the
Munich
stone-lifting contest, in which a stone weighing 508 German pounds
(254 kg/560 lbs.) is lifted between the legs while standing on two foot
rests.
Personal records
Schwarzenegger, pictured with 1987 world champion American
Karyn Marshall, presenting awards at the USA Weightlifting Hall of Fame in 2011 in
Columbus, Ohio
Mr. Olympia
Schwarzenegger's goal was to become the greatest bodybuilder in the world, which meant becoming
Mr. Olympia.
[4][15] His first attempt was in 1969, when he lost to three-time champion
Sergio Oliva.
However, Schwarzenegger came back in 1970 and won the competition,
making him the youngest ever Mr. Olympia at the age of 23, a record he
still holds to this day.
[15]
He continued his winning streak in the 1971–74 competitions.
[15] In 1975, Schwarzenegger was once again in top form, and won the title for the sixth consecutive time,
[15] beating
Franco Columbu. After the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest, Schwarzenegger announced his retirement from professional bodybuilding.
[15]
Months before the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest, filmmakers George Butler
and Robert Fiore persuaded Schwarzenegger to compete, in order to film
his training in the bodybuilding documentary called
Pumping Iron. Schwarzenegger had only three months to prepare for the competition, after losing significant weight to appear in the film
Stay Hungry with
Jeff Bridges.
Lou Ferrigno proved not to be a threat, and a lighter-than-usual Schwarzenegger convincingly won the 1975 Mr. Olympia.
Schwarzenegger came out of retirement, however, to compete in the 1980 Mr. Olympia.
[4] Schwarzenegger was training for his role in
Conan,
and he got into such good shape because of the running, horseback
riding and sword training, that he decided he wanted to win the Mr.
Olympia contest one last time. He kept this plan a secret, in the event
that a training accident would prevent his entry and cause him to lose
face. Schwarzenegger had been hired to provide
color commentary
for network television, when he announced at the eleventh hour that
while he was there: "Why not compete?" Schwarzenegger ended up winning
the event with only seven weeks of preparation. After being declared Mr.
Olympia for a seventh time, Schwarzenegger then officially retired from
competition.
Steroid use
Schwarzenegger has admitted to using performance-enhancing
anabolic steroids
while they were legal, writing in 1977 that "steroids were helpful to
me in maintaining muscle size while on a strict diet in preparation for a
contest. I did not use them for muscle growth, but rather for muscle
maintenance when
cutting up."
[30] He has called the drugs "tissue building."
[31]
In 1999, Schwarzenegger sued Dr. Willi Heepe, a German doctor who
publicly predicted his early death on the basis of a link between his
steroid use and his
later heart problems.
As the doctor had never examined him personally, Schwarzenegger
collected a US$10,000 libel judgment against him in a German court.
[32] In 1999, Schwarzenegger also sued and settled with
The Globe, a U.S. tabloid which had made similar predictions about the bodybuilder's future health.
[33]
List of competitions
Acting career
Early roles
Schwarzenegger wanted to move from bodybuilding into acting, finally
achieving it when he was chosen to play the role of Hercules in 1970's
Hercules in New York. Credited under the name "Arnold Strong," his accent in the film was so thick that his lines were
dubbed after production.
[14] His second film appearance was as a deaf mute hit-man for the mob in director
Robert Altman's
The Long Goodbye (1973), which was followed by a much more significant part in the film
Stay Hungry (1976), for which he was awarded a
Golden Globe for New Male Star of the Year.
Schwarzenegger has discussed his early struggles in developing his
acting career. "It was very difficult for me in the beginning – 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."
[6]
Schwarzenegger drew attention and boosted his profile in the
bodybuilding film
Pumping Iron (1977),
[13][14]
elements of which were dramatized; in 1991, he purchased the rights to
the film, its outtakes, and associated still photography.
[34] In 1977 he also appeared in an episode of the
ABC situation comedy The San Pedro Beach Bums. Schwarzenegger auditioned for the title role of
The Incredible Hulk, but did not win the role because of his height. Later,
Lou Ferrigno got the part of Dr. David Banner's alter ego. Schwarzenegger appeared with
Kirk Douglas and
Ann-Margret in the 1979 comedy
The Villain. In 1980 he starred in a biographical film of the 1950s actress
Jayne Mansfield as Mansfield's husband,
Mickey Hargitay.
Action superstar
Schwarzenegger's breakthrough film was the
sword-and-sorcery epic
Conan the Barbarian in 1982, which was a box-office hit.
[13] This was followed by a sequel,
Conan the Destroyer, in 1984, although it was not as successful as its predecessor.
[35] In 1983, Schwarzenegger starred in the promotional video,
Carnival in Rio.
In 1984, he made his first appearance as the eponymous character, and
what some would say was his acting career's signature role, in
James Cameron's science fiction
thriller film
The Terminator.
[13][14][36] Following this, Schwarzenegger made
Red Sonja in 1985.
[35] Ironically he was not allowed to dub his own voice for German versions of
The Terminator because his Austrian accent was not considered tough.
[37]
During the 1980s, audiences had an appetite for action films, with both Schwarzenegger and
Sylvester Stallone becoming international stars.
[14]
Schwarzenegger's roles reflected his sense of humor, separating him
from more serious action hero films, such as the alternative universe
poster for
Terminator 2: Judgment Day starring Stallone in the comedy thriller
Last Action Hero. He made a number of successful films, such as
Commando (1985),
Raw Deal (1986),
The Running Man (1987),
Predator (1987), and
Red Heat (1988).
Twins (1988), a comedy with
Danny DeVito, also proved successful.
Total Recall (1990) netted Schwarzenegger $10 million and 15% of the film's gross. A science fiction script, the film was based on the
Philip K. Dick short story "
We Can Remember It for You Wholesale".
Kindergarten Cop (1990) reunited him with director
Ivan Reitman, who directed him in
Twins. Schwarzenegger had a brief foray into directing, first with a 1990 episode of the TV series
Tales from the Crypt, entitled "
The Switch",
[38] and then with the 1992
telemovie Christmas in Connecticut.
[39] He has not directed since.
Schwarzenegger's commercial peak was his return as the title character in 1991's
Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which was the highest-grossing film of 1991. In 1993, the
National Association of Theatre Owners named him the "International Star of the Decade".
[4] His next film project, the 1993 self-aware
action comedy spoof Last Action Hero, was released opposite
Jurassic Park, and did not do well at the box office. His next film, the comedy drama
True Lies (1994), was a popular spy film, and saw Schwarzenegger reunited with James Cameron.
That same year, the comedy
Junior
was released, the last of Schwarzenegger's three collaborations with
Ivan Reitman and again co-starring Danny DeVito. This film brought him
his second Golden Globe nomination, this time for
Best Actor – Musical or Comedy. It was followed by the action thriller
Eraser (1996), the Christmas comedy
Jingle All The Way (1996), and the comic book-based
Batman & Robin (1997), in which he played the villain
Mr. Freeze. This was his final film before taking time to recuperate from a back injury. Following the critical failure of
Batman & Robin, his film career and box office prominence went into decline. He returned with the supernatural thriller
End of Days (1999), later followed by the action films
The 6th Day (2000) and
Collateral Damage (2002), both of which failed to do well at the box office. In 2003, he made his third appearance as the title character in
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which went on to earn over $150 million domestically.
[40]
Arnold Schwarzenegger's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
In tribute to Schwarzenegger in 2002, Forum Stadtpark, a local
cultural association, proposed plans to build a 25-meter (82 ft) tall
Terminator statue in a park in central
Graz. Schwarzenegger reportedly said he was flattered, but thought the money would be better spent on social projects and the
Special Olympics.
[41]
Retirement
His film appearances after becoming Governor of California included a three-second cameo appearance in
The Rundown, and the 2004 remake of
Around the World in 80 Days. In 2005, he appeared as himself in the film
The Kid & I. He voiced
Baron von Steuben in the
Liberty's Kids episode "
Valley Forge". He had been rumored to be appearing in
Terminator Salvation as the original T-800; he denied his involvement,
[42]
but it was later revealed that he would appear briefly via his image
being inserted into the movie from stock footage of the first
Terminator movie.
[43][44] Schwarzenegger appeared in Sylvester Stallone's
The Expendables, where he made a
cameo appearance.
Return to acting
In January 2011, just weeks after leaving office in California,
Schwarzenegger announced that he was reading several new scripts for
future films, one of them being the World War II action drama
With Wings as Eagles, written by
Randall Wallace, based on a true story.
[45][46] On March 6, 2011, at the Arnold Seminar of the
Arnold Classic, Schwarzenegger revealed that he was being considered for several films, including sequels to
The Terminator and remakes of
Predator and
The Running Man, and that he was "packaging" a comic book character.
[47] The character was later revealed to be
the Governator, star of the comic book and animated series of the same name. Schwarzenegger inspired the character and co-developed it with
Stan Lee, who would have produced the series. Schwarzenegger would have voiced the Governator.
[48][49][50][51]
On May 20, 2011, Schwarzenegger's entertainment counsel announced
that all movie projects currently in development were being halted:
"Schwarzenegger is focusing on personal matters and is not willing to
commit to any production schedules or timelines."
[52] On July 11, 2011, it was announced that Schwarzenegger was considering a comeback film despite his legal problems.
[53] He appeared in
The Expendables 2 (2012),
[54] and starred in
The Last Stand (2013), his first leading role in 10 years, and
Escape Plan (2013), his first co-starring role alongside Sylvester Stallone. He starred in
Sabotage, released in March 2014 and appeared in
The Expendables 3, released in August 2014. He will reprise his role as Conan the Barbarian in The Legend of Conan[55][56] and is set to star in a fifth Terminator movie Terminator: Genisys.[57]
Filmography
Selected notable roles:
Political career
Early politics
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. At the
2004 Republican National Convention, Schwarzenegger gave a speech and explained why he was a Republican:
[58]
I finally arrived here in 1968. What a special day it was. I remember
I arrived here with empty pockets but full of dreams, full of
determination, full of desire. The presidential campaign was in full swing. I remember watching the Nixon–Humphrey
presidential race on TV. A friend of mine who spoke German and English
translated for me. I heard Humphrey saying things that sounded like
socialism, which I had just left.
But then I heard Nixon speak. He was talking about free enterprise,
getting the government off your back, lowering the taxes and
strengthening the military. Listening to Nixon speak sounded more like a
breath of fresh air. I said to my friend, I said, "What party is he?"
My friend said, "He's a Republican." I said, "Then I am a Republican."
And I have been a Republican ever since.
In 1985, Schwarzenegger appeared in
Stop the Madness, an anti-drug music video sponsored by the
Reagan administration. He first came to wide public notice as a Republican during the
1988 Presidential election, accompanying then-Vice President
George H.W. Bush at a campaign rally.
[59]
Schwarzenegger's first political appointment was as chairman of the
President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, on which he served from 1990 to 1993.
[4] He was nominated by George H. W. Bush, who dubbed him "
Conan
the Republican". He later served as Chairman for the California
Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports under Governor
Pete Wilson.
Between 1993 and 1994, Schwarzenegger was a
Red Cross ambassador (a ceremonial role fulfilled by celebrities), recording several television/radio
public service announcements to donate blood.
In an interview with
Talk
magazine in late 1999, Schwarzenegger was asked if he thought of
running for office. He replied, "I think about it many times. The
possibility is there, because I feel it inside."
[60] The Hollywood Reporter claimed shortly after that Schwarzenegger sought to end speculation that he might run for
governor of California.
[60]
Following his initial comments, Schwarzenegger said, "I'm in show
business – I am in the middle of my career. Why would I go away from
that and jump into something else?"
[60]
Governor of California
Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy in the
2003 California recall election for Governor of California on the August 6, 2003 episode of
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
[14]
Schwarzenegger had the most name recognition in a crowded field of
candidates, but he had never held public office and his political views
were unknown to most Californians. His candidacy immediately became
national and international news, with media outlets dubbing him the
"Governator" (referring to
The Terminator movies, see above) and
"The Running Man" (the name of another one of his films), and calling
the recall election "Total Recall" (yet another movie starring
Schwarzenegger). Schwarzenegger declined to participate in several
debates with other recall replacement candidates, and appeared in only
one debate on September 24, 2003.
[61]
President
George W. Bush meets with Schwarzenegger after his successful election to the California Governorship
On October 7, 2003, the recall election resulted in Governor
Gray Davis being removed from office with 55.4% of the
Yes
vote in favor of a recall. Schwarzenegger was elected Governor of
California under the second question on the ballot with 48.6% of the
vote to choose a successor to Davis. Schwarzenegger defeated Democrat
Cruz Bustamante, fellow Republican
Tom McClintock,
and others. His nearest rival, Bustamante, received 31% of the vote. In
total, Schwarzenegger won the election by about 1.3 million votes.
Under the regulations of the
California Constitution, no runoff election was required. Schwarzenegger was the second foreign-born governor of California after Irish-born Governor
John G. Downey in 1862.
As soon as Schwarzenegger was elected governor,
Willie Brown
said he would start a drive to recall the governor. Schwarzenegger was
equally entrenched in what he considered to be his mandate in cleaning
up
gridlock. Building on a catchphrase from the sketch "
Hans and Franz" from
Saturday Night Live (which partly parodied his bodybuilding career), Schwarzenegger called the Democratic State politicians "
girlie men".
[62]
Schwarzenegger's early victories included repealing an unpopular
increase in the vehicle registration fee as well as preventing driver's
licenses being given out to illegal immigrants, but later he began to
feel the backlash when powerful state unions began to oppose his various
initiatives. Key among his reckoning with political realities was a
special election
he called in November 2005, in which four ballot measures he sponsored
were defeated. Schwarzenegger accepted personal responsibility for the
defeats and vowed to continue to seek consensus for the people of
California. He would later comment that "no one could win if the
opposition raised 160 million dollars to defeat you".
Schwarzenegger then went against the advice of fellow Republican
strategists and appointed a Democrat, Susan Kennedy, as his Chief of
Staff. Schwarzenegger gradually moved towards a more politically
moderate position, determined to build a winning legacy with only a
short time to go until the next gubernatorial election.
Schwarzenegger ran for re-election against Democrat
Phil Angelides, the
California State Treasurer, in the
2006 elections,
held on November 7, 2006. Despite a poor year nationally for the
Republican party, Schwarzenegger won re-election with 56.0% of the vote
compared with 38.9% for Angelides, a margin of well over one million
votes.
[63]
In recent years, many commentators have seen Schwarzenegger as moving
away from the right and towards the center of the political spectrum.
After hearing a speech by Schwarzenegger at the 2006
Martin Luther King, Jr. breakfast, San Francisco mayor
Gavin Newsom said that, "[H]e's becoming a Democrat [... H]e's running back, not even to the center. I would say center-left".
It was rumored that Schwarzenegger might run for the
United States Senate in 2010, as his governorship would be term-limited by that time. This turned out to be false.
[64][65]
Wendy Leigh, who wrote an unofficial biography on Schwarzenegger,
claims he plotted his political rise from an early age using the movie
business and
bodybuilding as building blocks to escape a depressing home.
[9]
Leigh portrays Schwarzenegger as obsessed with power and quotes him as
saying, "I wanted to be part of the small percentage of people who were
leaders, not the large mass of followers. I think it is because I saw
leaders use 100% of their potential – I was always fascinated by people
in control of other people."
[9]
Schwarzenegger has said that it was never his intention to enter
politics, but he says, "I married into a political family. You get
together with them and you hear about policy, about reaching out to help
people. I was exposed to the idea of being a public servant and Eunice
and
Sargent Shriver became my heroes."
[23] Eunice Kennedy Shriver was sister of
John F. Kennedy,
and mother-in-law to Schwarzenegger; Sargent Shriver is husband to
Eunice and father-in-law to Schwarzenegger. He cannot run for president
as he is not a
natural born citizen of the United States. In
The Simpsons Movie (2007), he is portrayed as the President, and in the
Sylvester Stallone movie,
Demolition Man
(1993, ten years before his first run for political office), it is
revealed that a constitutional amendment passed which allowed
Schwarzenegger to run for President.
[66]
Schwarzenegger is a dual Austrian/United States citizen.
[67] He holds
Austrian citizenship by birth and has held
U.S. citizenship since becoming naturalized in 1983. Being Austrian and thus European, he was able to win the 2007
European Voice campaigner of the year award for taking action against climate change with the California
Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and plans to introduce an emissions trading scheme with other US states and possibly with the EU.
[68]
Because of his personal wealth from his acting career, Schwarzenegger did not accept his governor's salary of $175,000 per year.
[69]
Schwarzenegger's endorsement in the
Republican primary of the
2008 U.S. Presidential election was highly sought; despite being good friends with candidates
Rudy Giuliani and Senator
John McCain,
Schwarzenegger remained neutral throughout 2007 and early 2008.
Giuliani dropped out of the Presidential race on January 30, 2008,
largely because of a poor showing in Florida, and endorsed McCain. Later
that night, Schwarzenegger was in the audience at a Republican debate
at the
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
in California. The following day, he endorsed McCain, joking, "It's
Rudy's fault!" (in reference to his friendships with both candidates and
that he could not make up his mind). Schwarzenegger's endorsement was
thought to be a boost for Senator McCain's campaign; both spoke about
their concerns for the environment and economy.
[70]
In its April 2010 report,
Progressive ethics watchdog group
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
named Schwarzenegger one of 11 "worst governors" in the United States
because of various ethics issues throughout Schwarzenegger's term as
governor.
[71][72]
Governor Schwarzenegger played a significant role in opposing
Proposition 66, a proposed amendment of the Californian
Three Strikes Law,
in November 2004. This amendment would have required the third felony
to be either violent or serious to mandate a 25-years-to-life sentence.
In the last week before the ballot, Schwarzenegger launched an intensive
campaign
[73] against Proposition 66.
[74] He stated that "it would release 26,000 dangerous criminals and rapists".
[75]
Although he began his tenure as governor with record high approval
ratings (as high as 89% in December 2003), he left office with a record
low 23%,
[76] only one percent higher than that of Gray Davis's when he was recalled in October 2003.
Allegations of sexual misconduct
During his initial campaign for governor, allegations of sexual and
personal misconduct were raised against Schwarzenegger, dubbed
"Gropegate".
[77] Within the last five days before the election, news reports appeared in the
Los Angeles Times
recounting allegations of sexual misconduct from several individual
women, six of whom eventually came forward with their personal stories.
[78]
Three of the women claimed he had grabbed their breasts, a fourth
said he placed his hand under her skirt on her buttock. A fifth woman
claimed Schwarzenegger tried to take off her bathing suit in a hotel
elevator, and the last said he pulled her onto his lap and asked her
about a sex act.
[77]
Schwarzenegger admitted that he has "behaved badly sometimes" and
apologized, but also stated that "a lot of [what] you see in the stories
is not true". This came after an interview in adult magazine
Oui from 1977 surfaced, in which Schwarzenegger discussed attending sexual orgies and using substances such as
marijuana.
[79] Schwarzenegger is shown smoking a marijuana joint after winning Mr. Olympia in the 1975 documentary film
Pumping Iron. In an interview with
GQ magazine in October 2007, Schwarzenegger said, "[Marijuana] is not a drug. It's a leaf. My drug was pumping iron, trust me."
[80] His spokesperson later said the comment was meant to be a joke.
[80]
British television personality
Anna Richardson settled a libel lawsuit in August 2006 against Schwarzenegger, his top aide, Sean Walsh, and his publicist, Sheryl Main.
[81]
A joint statement read: "The parties are content to put this matter
behind them and are pleased that this legal dispute has now been
settled."
[81]
Richardson claimed they tried to tarnish her reputation by dismissing
her allegations that Schwarzenegger touched her breast during a press
event for
The 6th Day in London.
[82] She claimed Walsh and Main libeled her in a
Los Angeles Times article when they contended she encouraged his behavior.
[81]
Citizenship
In 2005,
Peter Pilz, from the
Austrian Green Party, demanded that parliament revoke Schwarzenegger's Austrian citizenship due to his decision not to prevent the executions of
Donald Beardslee and
Stanley Williams,
causing damage of reputation to Austria, where the death penalty has
been abolished since 1968. This demand was based on Article 33 of the
Austrian Citizenship Act that states:
A citizen, who is in the public
service of a foreign country, shall be deprived of his citizenship, if
he heavily damages the reputation or the interests of the Austrian
Republic.
[67] Pilz claimed that Schwarzenegger's actions in support of the death penalty (prohibited in Austria under Protocol 13 of the
European Convention on Human Rights)
had indeed done damage to Austria's reputation. Schwarzenegger
explained his actions by referring to the fact that his only duty as
Governor of California was to prevent an error in the judicial system.
Environmental record
On September 27, 2006 Schwarzenegger signed a bill creating the
nation's first cap on greenhouse gas emissions. The law set new
regulations on the amount of emissions utilities, refineries and
manufacturing plants are allowed to release into the atmosphere.
Schwarzenegger also signed a second global warming bill that prohibits
large utilities and corporations in California from making long-term
contracts with suppliers who do not meet the state's greenhouse gas
emission standards. The two bills are part of a plan to reduce
California's emissions by 25 percent to 1990s levels by 2020. In 2005,
Schwarzenegger issued an executive order calling to reduce greenhouse
gases to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
[83]
Schwarzenegger signed another executive order on October 17, 2006
allowing California to work with the Northeast's Regional Greenhouse Gas
Initiative. They plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by issuing a
limited amount of carbon credits to each power plant in participating
states. Any power plants that exceed emissions for the amount of carbon
credits will have to purchase more credits to cover the difference. The
plan took effect in 2009.
[84]
In addition to using his political power to fight global warming, the
governor has taken steps at his home to reduce his personal carbon
footprint. Schwarzenegger has adapted one of his
Hummers to run on hydrogen and another to run on biofuels. He has also installed solar panels to heat his home.
[85]
In respect of his contribution to the direction of the US motor industry, Schwarzenegger was invited to open the 2009
SAE World Congress in Detroit, on April 20, 2009.
[86]
In 2011, Arnold Schwarzenegger founded the
R20 Regions of Climate Action to develop a sustainable, low carbon economy.
[87]
Electoral history
Presidential ambitions
In October 2013, the
New York Post reported that Schwarzenegger was exploring a future run for
President. The former California governor would face a
constitutional hurdle;
Article II, Section I, Clause V
nominally prevents individuals who are not natural-born citizens of the
United States from assuming the office. He has reportedly been lobbying
legislators about a possible
constitutional change, or filing a legal challenge to the provision.
Columbia University law professor
Michael Dorf
observed that Schwarzenegger's possible lawsuit could ultimately win
him the right to run for the office, noting, "The law is very clear, but
it’s not 100 percent clear that the courts would enforce that law
rather than leave it to the political process."
[88]
Business career
Schwarzenegger has had a highly successful business career.
[9][23]
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, like starting a mail order business or buying a
new car – and succeed in doing so.
[18]
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.
Business ventures and investments
Bricklaying business
In 1968, Schwarzenegger and fellow bodybuilder
Franco Columbu
started a bricklaying business. The business flourished thanks to the
pair's marketing savvy and an increased demand following the
1971 San Fernando earthquake.
[89][90]
Schwarzenegger and Columbu used profits from their bricklaying venture
to start a mail order business, selling bodybuilding and fitness-related
equipment and instructional tapes.
[4][89]
Real estate investing
Schwarzenegger 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 $10,000. He would later
go on to invest in a number of real estate holding companies.
[91][92]
Restaurant
In 1992, Schwarzenegger and his wife opened a restaurant in
Santa Monica called
Schatzi On Main.
Schatzi literally means "little treasure," colloquial for "honey" or "darling" in German. In 1998, he sold his restaurant.
[93]
Planet Hollywood investment
Schwarzenegger was a founding celebrity investor in the
Planet Hollywood chain of international theme restaurants (modeled after the
Hard Rock Cafe) along with
Bruce Willis,
Sylvester Stallone and
Demi Moore. Schwarzenegger severed his financial ties with the business in early 2000.
[94][95]
Schwarzenegger said the company had not had the success he had hoped
for, claiming he wanted to focus his attention on "new US global
business ventures" and his movie career.
[94]
Other ventures and investments
He also invested in a shopping mall in
Columbus, Ohio.
He has talked about some of those who have helped him over the years in
business: "I couldn't have learned about business without a parade of
teachers guiding me... from
Milton Friedman to
Donald Trump... and now,
Les Wexner and
Warren Buffett. I even learned a thing or two from Planet Hollywood, such as when to get out! And I did!"
[16] He has significant ownership in
Dimensional Fund Advisors, an investment firm.
[96]
Schwarzenegger is also the owner of Arnold's Sports Festival, which he
started in 1989 and is held annually in Columbus, Ohio. It is a festival
that hosts thousands of international health and fitness professionals
which has also expanded into a three-day expo. He also owns a movie
production company called Oak Productions, Inc. and Fitness
Publications, a joint publishing venture with
Simon & Schuster.
[97]
Personal life
Early love life
In 1969, Schwarzenegger met Barbara Outland (later Barbara Outland Baker), an English teacher he lived with until 1974.
[98] Schwarzenegger talked about Barbara in his
memoir
in 1977: "Basically it came down to this: she was a well-balanced woman
who wanted an ordinary, solid life, and I was not a well-balanced man,
and hated the very idea of ordinary life."
[98]
Baker has described Schwarzenegger as "[a] joyful personality, totally
charismatic, adventurous, and athletic" but claims towards the end of
the relationship he became "insufferable – classically conceited – the
world revolved around him".
[99] Baker published her memoir in 2006, entitled
Arnold and Me: In the Shadow of the Austrian Oak.
[100]
Although Baker, at times, painted an unflattering portrait of her
former lover, Schwarzenegger actually contributed to the tell-all book
with a foreword, and also met with Baker for three hours.
[100]
Baker claims, for example, that she only learned of his being
unfaithful after they split, and talks of a turbulent and passionate
love life.
[100] Schwarzenegger has made it clear that their respective recollection of events can differ.
[100] The couple first met six to eight months after his arrival in the U.S—their first date was watching the
first Apollo Moon landing on television.
[18] They shared an
apartment in
Santa Monica for three and a half years, and having little money, would visit the beach all day, or have barbecues in the back yard.
[18]
Although Baker claims that when she first met him, he had "little
understanding of polite society" and she found him a turn-off, she says,
"He's as much a self-made man as it's possible to be—he never got
encouragement from his parents, his family, his brother. He just had
this huge determination to prove himself, and that was very attractive
... I'll go to my grave knowing Arnold loved me."
[18]
Schwarzenegger met his next paramour, Sue Moray, a
Beverly Hills hairdresser's assistant, on
Venice Beach
in July 1977. According to Moray, the couple led an open relationship:
"We were faithful when we were both in LA ... but when he was out of
town, we were free to do whatever we wanted."
[10] Schwarzenegger met
Maria Shriver
at the Robert F. Kennedy Tennis Tournament in August 1977, and went on
to have a relationship with both women until August 1978, when Moray
(who knew of his relationship with Shriver) issued an ultimatum.
[10]
Marriage and family
On April 26, 1986, Schwarzenegger married television journalist
Maria Shriver, niece of President
John F. Kennedy, in
Hyannis, Massachusetts. The Rev. John Baptist Riordan performed the ceremony at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church.
[101] They have four children:
Katherine Eunice Schwarzenegger (born December 13, 1989 in Los Angeles); Christina Maria Aurelia Schwarzenegger (born July 23, 1991 in Los Angeles);
[102] Patrick Arnold Shriver Schwarzenegger (born September 18, 1993 in Los Angeles);
[103] and Christopher Sargent Shriver Schwarzenegger (born September 27, 1997 in Los Angeles).
[104] Schwarzenegger lives in a 11,000-square-foot (1,000 m
2) home in
Brentwood.
[105][106] The divorcing couple currently own vacation homes in
Sun Valley, Idaho and
Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.
[107] They attended
St. Monica's Catholic Church.
[108]
Marital separation
On May 9, 2011, Shriver and Schwarzenegger ended their relationship
after 25 years of marriage, with Shriver moving out of the couple's
Brentwood mansion.
[109][110][111] On May 16, 2011, the
Los Angeles Times
revealed that Schwarzenegger had fathered a son more than fourteen
years earlier with an employee in their household, Mildred Patricia
'Patty' Baena.
[112][113][114]
"After leaving the governor's office I told my wife about this event,
which occurred over a decade ago," Schwarzenegger said in a statement
issued to
The Times. In the statement, Schwarzenegger did not
mention that he had confessed to his wife only after Shriver had
confronted him with the information, which she had done after confirming
with the housekeeper what she had suspected about the child.
[115]
Fifty-year-old Baena, of
Guatemalan origin, was employed by the family for 20 years and retired in January 2011.
[116] The pregnant Baena was working in the home while Shriver was pregnant with the youngest of the couple’s four children.
[117] Baena's son with Schwarzenegger, Joseph,
[118] was born on October 2, 1997;
[119] Shriver gave birth to Christopher on September 27, 1997.
[120]
Schwarzenegger says it took seven or eight years before he found out
that he had fathered a child with his housekeeper. It wasn't until the
boy "started looking like me, that's when I kind of got it. I put things
together," the action star and former California governor, told 60
Minutes.
[121] Schwarzenegger has taken financial responsibility for the child "from the start and continued to provide support."
[122] KNX 1070 radio reported that in 2010 he bought a new four-bedroom house, with a pool, for Baena and their son in
Bakersfield, about 112 miles (180 km) north of Los Angeles.
[123] Baena separated from her husband, Rogelio, in 1997, a few months after Joseph's birth, and filed for divorce in 2008.
[124]
Baena's ex-husband says that the child's birth certificate was
falsified and that he plans to sue Schwarzenegger for engaging in
conspiracy to falsify a public document, a serious crime in California.
[125]
Schwarzenegger has consulted an attorney, Bob Kaufman. Kaufman has earlier handled divorce cases for celebrities such as
Jennifer Aniston and
Reese Witherspoon.
[126][127]
Schwarzenegger will keep the Brentwood home as part of their divorce
settlement and Shriver has purchased a new home nearby so that the
children may travel easily between their parents' homes. They will share
custody of the two minor children.
[128]
Schwarzenegger came under fire after the initial petition did not
include spousal support and a reimbursement of attorney's fees.
[55] However, he claims this was not intentional and that he signed the initial documents without having properly read them.
[55] Schwarzenegger has filed amended divorce papers remedying this.
[55][129]
After the scandal, actress
Brigitte Nielsen came forward and stated that she too had an affair with Schwarzenegger while he was in a relationship with Shriver,
[130]
saying, "Maybe I wouldn't have got into it if he said 'I'm going to
marry Maria' and this is dead serious, but he didn't, and our affair
carried on."
[130]
When asked in 2014 "Of all the things you are famous for ... which are
you least proud of?", Schwarzengger replied "I'm least proud of the
mistakes I made that caused my family pain and split us up".
[131]
Accidents and injuries
Schwarzenegger was born with a
bicuspid aortic valve, an aortic valve with only two leaflets (a normal aortic valve has three leaflets).
[132][133]
Schwarzenegger opted in 1997 for a replacement heart valve made of his
own transplanted tissue; medical experts predicted he would require
heart valve replacement surgery in the following two to eight years as
his valve would progressively degrade. Schwarzenegger apparently opted
against a mechanical valve, the only permanent solution available at the
time of his surgery, because it would have sharply limited his physical
activity and capacity to exercise.
[134]
On December 9, 2001, he broke six ribs and was hospitalized for four days after a motorcycle crash in Los Angeles.
[135]
Schwarzenegger saved a drowning man's life in 2004 while on vacation in Hawaii by swimming out and bringing him back to shore.
[136]
On January 8, 2006, while Schwarzenegger was riding his
Harley Davidson
motorcycle in Los Angeles, with his son Patrick in the sidecar, another
driver backed into the street he was riding on, causing him and his son
to collide with the car at a low speed. While his son and the other
driver were unharmed, the governor sustained a minor injury to his lip,
requiring 15 stitches. "No citations were issued", said Officer Jason
Lee, a
Los Angeles Police Department spokesman.
[137] Schwarzenegger did not obtain his motorcycle license until July 3, 2006.
[138]
Schwarzenegger tripped over his ski pole and broke his right
femur while skiing in
Sun Valley, Idaho, with his family on December 23, 2006.
[139]
On December 26, 2006, he underwent a 90-minute operation in which
cables and screws were used to wire the broken bone back together. He
was released from the
St. John's Health Center on December 30, 2006.
[140]
Schwarzenegger's private jet made an emergency landing at
Van Nuys Airport
on June 19, 2009, after the pilot reported smoke coming from the
cockpit, according to a statement released by the governor's press
secretary. No one was harmed in the incident.
[141]
Height
Schwarzenegger's official height of 6'2" (1.88 m) has been brought
into question by several articles. In his bodybuilding days in the late
1960s, he was measured to be 6'1.5" (1.87 m), a height confirmed by his
fellow bodybuilders.
[142][143] However, in 1988 both the
Daily Mail and
Time Out magazine mentioned that Schwarzenegger appeared noticeably shorter.
[144] Prior to running for Governor, Schwarzenegger's height was once again questioned in an article by the
Chicago Reader.
[145] As Governor, Schwarzenegger engaged in a light-hearted exchange with Assemblyman
Herb Wesson
over their heights. At one point, Wesson made an unsuccessful attempt
to, in his own words, "settle this once and for all and find out how
tall he is" by using a tailor's tape measure on the Governor.
[146]
Schwarzenegger retaliated by placing a pillow stitched with the words
"Need a lift?" on the five-foot-five inch (165 cm) Wesson's chair before
a negotiating session in his office.
[147] Bob Mulholland also claimed Schwarzenegger was 5'10" (1.78 m) and that he wore risers in his boots.
[148] The debate on Schwarzenegger's height has spawned a website solely dedicated to the issue,
[149]
and his page remains one of the most active on CelebHeights.com, a
website which discusses the heights of celebrities. The latter estimates
Schwarzenegger's height as being 6'1.5" at its peak and shrinking to
6'0" (1.83 m) today.
[142] In 1999,
Men's Health magazine stated his height was 5'10".
[150]
Autobiography
Schwarzenegger's autobiography,
Total Recall, was released in
October 2012. He devotes one chapter called "The Secret" to his
extramarital affair. The majority of his book is about his successes in
the three major chapters in his life: bodybuilder, actor, and Governor
of California.
[151]
Net worth
Schwarzenegger's net worth had been conservatively estimated at $100–$200 million.
[152] After separating from his wife,
Maria Shriver,
in 2011, it has been estimated that his net worth has been
approximately $400 million, and even as high as $800 million, based on
tax returns he filed in 2006.
[153][154] Over the years as an investor, he invested his bodybuilding and movie earnings in an array of
stocks,
bonds,
privately controlled companies, and real estate holdings worldwide, so a
more accurate estimation of his net worth is difficult to calculate,
particularly in light of declining real estate values owing to
economic recessions in the United States and
Europe since 2007. In June 1997, Schwarzenegger spent $38 million of his own money on a private Gulfstream jet.
[155]
Schwarzenegger once said of his fortune, "Money doesn't make you happy.
I now have $50 million, but I was just as happy when I had
$48 million."
[9] He has also stated, "I've made many millions as a businessman many times over."
[16]
Activism
Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003
He bought the first Hummer manufactured for civilian use in 1992, a
model so large, 6,300 lb (2,900 kg) and 7 feet (2.1 m) wide, that it is
classified as a large truck and U.S. fuel economy regulations do not
apply to it. During the gubernatorial recall campaign he announced that
he would convert one of his Hummers to burn hydrogen. The conversion was
reported to have cost about US$21,000. After the election, he signed an
executive order to jump-start the building of hydrogen refueling plants
called the
California Hydrogen Highway Network, and gained a
U.S. Department of Energy grant to help pay for its projected US$91,000,000 cost.
[156] California took delivery of the first H2H (Hydrogen Hummer) in October 2004.
[157]
Arnold Schwarzenegger has been involved with the
Special Olympics for many years after they were founded by his ex-mother-in-law, Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
[158] In 2007, Schwarzenegger was the official spokesperson for the Special Olympics which were held in Shanghai, China.
[159]
Schwarzenegger believes that quality school opportunities should be
made available to children who might not normally be able to access
them.
[160]
In 1995, he founded the Inner City Games Foundation (ICG) which
provides cultural, educational and community enrichment programming to
youth.
[160] ICG is active in 15 cities around the country and serves over 250,000 children in over 400 schools countrywide.
[160] He has also been involved with After-School All-Stars, and founded the Los Angeles branch in 2002.
[161] ASAS is an after school program provider, educating youth about health, fitness and nutrition.
On February 12, 2010, Schwarzenegger took part in the Vancouver
Olympic Torch relay. He handed off the flame to the next runner,
Sebastian Coe.
[162]
Schwarzenegger is a lifelong supporter and "friend of
Israel", and has participated in L.A.'s Pro-Israel rally
[163] among other similar events.
[164]
Awards and honors
Schwarzenegger's home town of
Graz had its soccer stadium named
The Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium in his honor. It is the home of both
Grazer AK and
Sturm Graz. After the
Stanley Williams
execution and street protests in Schwarzenegger's hometown, several
local politicians began a campaign to remove his name from the stadium.
In response, Schwarzenegger said, "to spare the responsible politicians
of the city of Graz further concern, I withdraw from them as of this day
the right to use my name in association with the Liebenau Stadium", and
set a deadline of two days to remove his name. Graz officials removed
Schwarzenegger's name from the stadium in December 2005.
[165] It is now officially titled
UPC-Arena.
The Sun Valley Resort has a short ski trail called
Arnold's Run, named after Schwarzenegger in 2001.
[166] The trail is categorized as a black diamond, or most difficult, for its terrain.
People in
Thal, Austria,
celebrated Schwarzenegger's 60th birthday by throwing a party.
Officials proclaimed "A Day for Arnold" on July 30, 2007. The mayor sent
Schwarzenegger the enameled sign, Thal 145, the number of the house
where Schwarzenegger was born, declaring "This belongs to him. No one
here will ever be assigned that number again".
[167
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Bibliography
