Arnold Schwarzenegger

Background

Arnold Schwarzenegger is an icon in all he has done. His work has time and again spoken for itself. He is looked up to all over the world and he continues to do better. He was born on July 30, 1947, in Thal, Austria. He is the son of Gustav Schwarzenegger and Aurelia. His father was the local chief of police. In 1938, he joined the Nazi Party after the Anschluss. He served as a military policeman during the invasions of Poland, France, and the Soviet Union during World War II. He was however wounded in battle and was discharged in 1943. His father’s history brought on so much heat and attention to him during the 2003 California gubernatorial recall election, where he was running for governor and got elected. His parents were very strict and his father was especially hard on Schwarzenegger. He automatically leaned to his mother’s side who he was pretty close to until her passing on.

He was an average student academically but always stood out because of his humorous and cheerful nature. His father was an athlete and due to his influence, Schwarzenegger played a number of sports as a teenager. He began his career as a bodybuilder, lifting weights at the age of 15 and when he was 20 years old, he won the Mr. Universe title. He eventually won the Mr. Olympia competition seven times and is still to date a prolific figure in bodybuilding. He has written several books and articles on that aspect of his life. The Arnold Sports Festival is named after him and it is considered the second-most important event in bodybuilding, the number one being Mr. Olympia. He was also featured in the bodybuilding documentary “Pumping Iron” in 1977. He retired from bodybuilding and ventured into film. This is when he acquired fame and recognition internationally. He matured into a regular Hollywood action film star. His breakout movie was “Conan the Barbarian” which was released in 1982. It became a box-office hit and had a sequel in 1984. His other successful films include “Terminator” in 1984, which bore many more sequels, and “Commando” in 1985 among many others. He, later on, founded his own film production company known as Oak Productions.

His other successful career was in politics. He vied for the California gubernatorial seat in 2003 in a special recall election to replace Gray Davis, the then-governor, and got elected. He was sworn in the same year on November 17 and served the rest of Davis’ term. He was re-elected in 2006 to serve a full term as governor and in 2011, his term limit was due as governor and he returned to acting. He made appearances in several movies afterward and his first one was “The Rundown” even though it was a three-second cameo. In 2005, he was featured on “The Kid & I” as himself and he also voiced “Baron von Steuben” in an episode of “Liberty’s Kids.” He also made a cameo appearance in “The Expendables,” a Sylvester Stallone action film released in 2010.