Thread: Ten Things About... Arnold Schwarzenegger

Ten Things About... Arnold Schwarzenegger

By Mayer Nissim, Senior Entertainment Reporter
Friday, April 1 2011, 9:35am EDT

"Lifting things!" comedian Dylan Moran once incredulously yelped of Arnold Schwarzenegger's route to high political office. "He got there... by lifting things. Now, you and me, we avoid lifting things; It's unpleasant. Especially heavy things." That may well be true, but through his early bodybuilding days and via a stellar Hollywood career, Arnie eventually found himself the Governor of California.

He finished his second term in January and is considering a number of scripts for his movie comeback. So, as we eagerly await his silver screen return, read on for ten fast facts about The Governator!

1. Arnie was born Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger in the small village of Thal - near Gratz - in Austria on July 30, 1947 to mom Aurelia and local police chief dad Gustav.

2. At the age of 14, Schwarzenegger started "lifting things" when he swapped football for bodybuilding, inspired by American star Steve Reeves.

"His remarkable accomplishments allowed me a sense of what was possible," Arnie explains. Hefty autobiog/manual Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder is a must-read, with candid revelations on the likes of steroids (legal at the time) and oiling - too many bodybuilders over-oil, apparently!

3. Arnold bunked off during his year of Austrian military service in 1965 to compete in the Junior Mr Europe competition (which he won). He spent a week in the army jails for his trouble! He soon became the youngest ever Mr Universe at the age of 20 and then the youngest Mr Olympia when he was 23.

4. After moving to the US in 1968, Arnie won his first proper movie job, credited as "Arnold Strong" in the title role of 1970's Hercules in New York. His Austrian accent was so thick, his lines were overdubbed in post-production. Some of those lines? "Ha, ha, ha. You have struck Hercules", "Hercules has no need of money" and "How dare you touch Hercules?!"

5. His acting chops have been questioned by some, but Arnie won a Golden Globe for 'New Star of the Year' opposite Jeff Bridges and Sally Field in 1976's Stay Hungry. He was playing an Austrian bodybuilder though, which must have helped!

6. Schwarzenegger auditioned for the CBS TV version of The Incredible Hulk in 1982. Producer Kenneth Johnson claims that he rejected him because he was too short. Awwww! The role went to fellow bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno, who got his revenge after Arnie had pipped him to the 1975 Mr Olympia title.

7. Of his James Cameron triumvirate (The Terminator, T2: Judgment Day and True Lies), Arnie once quipped: "That was during his early, low-budget, art-house period". Apparently, Jim wanted Arnie to play Kyle Reese in The Terminator, but the actor begged to differ on reading the script. Cameron replied: "No, no! Reese is the star! He's the big hero! And the Terminator hardly has any lines!" Arnold reportedly said "trust me", and the rest - as they say - is history (unless someone goes back and changes it, obviously).

8. Arnie's political die was cast after apparently watching a TV debate between Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey in 1968. "Listening to Nixon speak sounded more like a breath of fresh air," he said. "I said to my friend, 'What party is he?' My friend said, 'He's a Republican'. I said, 'Then I am a Republican!' And I've been a Republican ever since!" But after Nixon got burned by JFK in '60 there were no televised presidential debates until 1976. The obvious explanation is that the young Arnie simply saw them both on telly one after the other, but some have suggested a faulty memory implant...

9. In 2003, Schwarzenegger became only the second non-US born person to become Governor of California (the first was Irish-born John Downey who served from 1860 to 1862). After winning the job, he started reprising the "girlie men" insult he first used against George Bush's opponents in 1988 (and originally borrowed from Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon's Arnie-inspired SNL bodybuilders Hans and Franz). "Don't be economic girlie-men," he implored the (clearly correct) economic pessimists in 2004.

10. Despite the widespread mayhem that goes on all around him, Arnie has apparently only died in four of his movies. SPOILER ALERT! Those were The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and the appropriately-named End Of Days.

From Celebrity - News - Ten Things About... Arnold Schwarzenegger - Digital Spy

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Number six on that list of ten is trivia which escaped me. Never heard that Arnold auditioned for the Hulk TV show and was rejected.