49 Fun Facts About Arnold Schwarzenegger

In which country was Arnold Schwarzenegger born?

He was born in Austria, in a small village near Graz in the state of Styria, where his father Gustav served as the local police chief.

How many times did Schwarzenegger win the Mr. Olympia title?

He won in 1970 to 1975 and again in 1980. Lee Haney broke the record with an eighth title in 1991; Phil Heath later tied Arnold's seven.

What was Schwarzenegger's nickname during his bodybuilding days?

He was billed as The Austrian Oak on the bodybuilding circuit of the late 1960s and 1970s, a nod to his homeland and his massive frame; fans later shortened him to Arnie.

How old was Schwarzenegger when he won his first Mr. Universe title?

He was 20 when he won the amateur Mr. Universe in London in 1967, a year after placing second to Chester Yorton, and he went on to win the title four more times.

How old was Schwarzenegger when he won his first Mr. Olympia in 1970?

He was 23 when he won the 1970 Mr. Olympia in New York, a year after losing the title to three-time champion Sergio Oliva.

What did Schwarzenegger do during his 1965 army service that landed him a week in military prison?

He won the Junior Mr. Europe contest while absent without leave. He said the competition 'meant so much to me that I didn't carefully think through the consequences'.

Which 1977 documentary about the Mr. Olympia contest launched Schwarzenegger's film career?

Pumping Iron followed Arnold and his rivals in the run-up to the 1975 Mr. Olympia; some scenes were staged, and he later bought the rights to the film and its outtakes.

Under what stage name was Schwarzenegger credited in his 1970 debut Hercules in New York?

He was billed as Arnold Strong in Hercules in New York; his accent was so thick that his lines were dubbed, and agents had told him his real name was too long.

For which 1976 film did Schwarzenegger win a Golden Globe as New Star of the Year?

Stay Hungry, in which he starred opposite Jeff Bridges and Sally Field, won him the Golden Globe for New Star of the Year; he had slimmed down for the role before the 1975 Mr. Olympia.

Which TV superhero role did Schwarzenegger reportedly lose for being too short?

CBS judged him too short for The Incredible Hulk and the part went to the taller Lou Ferrigno, his bodybuilding rival; that year he instead guested on The Streets of San Francisco.

Which 1982 sword-and-sorcery epic was Schwarzenegger's breakthrough film?

Conan the Barbarian, directed by John Milius, was the hit that made him a leading man; its sequel Conan the Destroyer followed in 1984.

Who directed The Terminator, the 1984 film that gave Schwarzenegger his signature role?

Cameron dreamed up a metal torso dragging itself from an explosion while ill in Rome. The film grossed $78 million on a $6.4 million budget.

In The Terminator, from what year is the cyborg sent back to kill Sarah Connor?

The T-800 is sent back from 2029, when Skynet is losing its war against the human resistance; Kyle Reese, played by Michael Biehn, follows from the same year to protect her.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day was the highest-grossing film of which year?

Terminator 2 topped 1991 worldwide with more than $519 million and won four Oscars; Schwarzenegger had pushed Carolco to buy the sequel rights from a struggling Hemdale.

What is the name of Schwarzenegger's character, the rescue team leader, in Predator?

Major Alan 'Dutch' Schaefer leads the rescue team into the Central American jungle; the film gave him the much-quoted line 'get to the choppa'.

What is the name of the retired Special Forces colonel Schwarzenegger plays in Commando?

John Matrix is forced to assassinate a president in Val Verde, leaps from the plane as it takes off, and has about eleven hours to rescue his daughter Jenny.

Which 1990 sci-fi film, based on a Philip K. Dick story, casts Schwarzenegger as Douglas Quaid?

He earned $10 million plus 15 percent of the gross. Paul Verhoeven directed after sixteen years of development hell and forty script drafts.

Which director made all three of Schwarzenegger's comedies Twins, Kindergarten Cop and Junior?

Ivan Reitman directed all three; Junior, the last, earned Arnold a second Golden Globe nomination as a scientist who becomes pregnant with the help of a drug called Expectane.

How was Schwarzenegger paid for Twins, the 1988 comedy with Danny DeVito?

The studio doubted he could do comedy, so he gambled and walked away with more than $40 million, the biggest payday of his career. It was his first film to make $100 million domestically.

In Kindergarten Cop, detective John Kimble goes undercover as a teacher in a small town in which state?

The film was shot in Astoria, Oregon, where John Jacob Astor Elementary School stood in for the kindergarten and the town's waterfront featured throughout.

Which 1993 self-aware blockbuster spoof flopped after opening against Jurassic Park?

Last Action Hero, with Arnold as movie cop Jack Slater, opened one week after Jurassic Park in June 1993 and took about $50 million domestically against an $85 million budget.

Which supervillain did Schwarzenegger play in 1997's Batman & Robin?

Schwarzenegger played Mr. Freeze, the cold-obsessed villain who spouts ice puns; the film was panned and he did not headline another movie until End of Days in 1999.

Which fellow 1980s action star was Schwarzenegger's famous rival before they invested together in Planet Hollywood?

Sylvester Stallone and Arnold traded barbs in the press and competed over body counts and bigger guns before sharing the screen in The Expendables in 2010 and as co-leads in Escape Plan.

On which late-night show did Schwarzenegger announce his 2003 California governor run?

He surprised even his own advisers by announcing the run to Jay Leno on The Tonight Show on 6 August 2003, and won the recall election that October with 48.6 percent.

Which governor did Schwarzenegger replace after the 2003 California recall election?

Gray Davis was recalled with 55.4 percent voting yes; Arnold won the replacement ballot with 48.6 percent, about 17 points ahead of Democrat Cruz Bustamante.

Which number governor of California was Schwarzenegger?

He served as California's 38th governor from 2003 to 2011 and was only the second foreign-born holder of the office, after Irish-born John G. Downey in the 1860s.

What nickname did Schwarzenegger acquire as governor of California?

The Governator fused his office with his Terminator role; he later co-developed a comic and cartoon character of that name with Stan Lee, but the project was halted in 2011.

What SNL-derived insult did Governor Schwarzenegger aim at Democratic state politicians?

In July 2004 he called Democratic legislators 'girlie men', borrowing the catchphrase of Hans and Franz, the SNL bodybuilders who had parodied him since the late 1980s.

Why can Schwarzenegger never run for President of the United States?

He became a US citizen in 1983 and has kept his Austrian citizenship since birth.

Which president made Schwarzenegger fitness council chairman, dubbing him 'Conan the Republican'?

George H. W. Bush named him chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, a post he held from 1990 to 1993 after campaigning for Bush in 1988.

Maria Shriver, whom Schwarzenegger married in 1986, is the niece of which US president?

Her mother Eunice Kennedy Shriver was John F. Kennedy's sister and founded the Special Olympics; the couple met at the Robert F. Kennedy tennis tournament in 1977.

What civilian vehicle did Schwarzenegger persuade AM General to build in 1992?

He lobbied AM General for a street-legal Humvee and took delivery of one of the first Hummer H1s in 1992; as governor he later had one converted to run on hydrogen.

What was the name of the Santa Monica restaurant Schwarzenegger and his wife opened in 1992?

Schatzi On Main, on Main Street in Santa Monica, served Wiener schnitzel and other dishes from his homeland; Schatzi means 'little treasure' or 'darling' in German, and he sold it in 1998.

What was the title of Schwarzenegger's 2023 book of life advice?

Be Useful, published in 2023, turns his father's favourite admonition into a set of rules for living, the first of them 'Have a clear vision'.

Where did Schwarzenegger earn his bachelor's degree, mostly by correspondence?

He completed a degree in business and international marketing of fitness at the University of Wisconsin–Superior, mostly by correspondence, after earning credits at Santa Monica College and UCLA extension.

Which reality series did Schwarzenegger front for a single season in early 2017?

He hosted The New Celebrity Apprentice for one season in early 2017, firing contestants with 'you're terminated', and quit after Trump repeatedly mocked his ratings.

Which 2023 Netflix action comedy gave Schwarzenegger his first lead in a scripted series?

In FUBAR he plays Luke Brunner, a CIA veteran who discovers his daughter is also an agent; the series debuted at number one on Netflix in May 2023.

What heart defect was Schwarzenegger born with, leading to surgeries in 1997, 2018 and 2020?

Born with a bicuspid aortic valve, he chose a Ross procedure over a mechanical valve in 1997, knowing it would need replacing; the 2018 replacement turned into emergency open-heart surgery.

In which German city did Schwarzenegger win a 1967 stone-lifting contest, hoisting a 254 kg stone?

He had moved to Munich in 1966 to work at Rolf Putziger's gym and attend business school; the 1967 contest required lifting the stone between the legs from two footrests.

At which legendary Venice, California gym did Schwarzenegger train under Joe Weider from 1968?

Weider brought him to Gold's Gym in Venice, where he arrived at 21 speaking little English; training partner Ric Drasin drew the gym's famous weightlifter logo in 1973.

Who played Schwarzenegger's wife Helen in the 1994 film True Lies?

Jamie Lee Curtis played Helen, the wife who believes her spy husband is a dull computer salesman, and won a Golden Globe for the role.

What did Schwarzenegger say he did as a teenager when the Graz gym was closed on weekends?

'It would make me sick to miss a workout,' he said. His father had wanted him to be a policeman and his mother wanted trade school.

What did Schwarzenegger decline to accept during his eight years as governor?

He was already worth hundreds of millions from films and real estate, starting with an apartment building he bought for $10,000.

In which village in the Austrian state of Styria was Schwarzenegger born in 1947?

Thal, a village just west of Graz, was where his father Gustav served as police chief; his childhood home there opened as a museum in 2011.

In which state did Schwarzenegger break his femur after tripping over a ski pole in December 2006?

He fell while skiing at Sun Valley, Idaho, on 23 December 2006; three days later surgeons in Santa Monica repaired the femur with cables and screws in a 90-minute operation.

With which fellow bodybuilder did Schwarzenegger start a bricklaying business in 1968?

Franco Columbu, his Sardinian training partner, co-founded the bricklaying firm; demand jumped after the 1971 San Fernando earthquake and the profits seeded a mail-order business and real estate buys.

Which Republican did Schwarzenegger endorse in the party's 2016 presidential primaries?

He endorsed John Kasich and campaigned with him in Ohio in March 2016; that October he said that for the first time since becoming a citizen he would not vote for the Republican nominee.

Which 2006 California law signed by Governor Schwarzenegger created the nation's first cap on greenhouse gases?

The Global Warming Solutions Act, AB 32, committed California to cut emissions to 1990 levels by 2020; weeks later he ordered the state to work with the Northeast's Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Which Democratic state treasurer did Schwarzenegger beat for re-election as governor in 2006?

Phil Angelides, the sitting state treasurer, lost to him by about 17 points, 56 percent to 39 percent, in a year that was otherwise poor for Republicans nationally.