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49 free Arnold Schwarzenegger trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
44 free Arnold Schwarzenegger trivia questions with answers. Arnold Schwarzenegger has had three careers most people would settle for one of: seven-time Mr. Olympia, the biggest action star of the 1980s and 1990s, and two-term Governor of California. This quiz covers all three, plus the parts in between: the village of Thal, the week in Austrian military prison, the thick accent that got him dubbed in his first film, and the Hummer he talked a defence contractor into selling to civilians. Expect questions on Conan, The Terminator, Predator, Total Recall, Twins, Kindergarten Cop, True Lies and Junior; on Mr. Universe, Pumping Iron and the controversial 1980 comeback; on the recall election, the Kennedy in-laws and the Governator nickname; and on his books, heart surgeries and Netflix comeback. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on Schwarzenegger and his films. The early questions are for casual fans; the later ones about his degree, his stage name and his stone-lifting title are for people who have read the autobiography.
30 of 49 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which country was Arnold Schwarzenegger born?
Austria
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.
Q 02How many times did Schwarzenegger win the Mr. Olympia title?
Seven
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.
Q 03What was Schwarzenegger's nickname during his bodybuilding days?
The Austrian Oak
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.
Q 04How old was Schwarzenegger when he won his first Mr. Universe title?
20
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.
Q 05How old was Schwarzenegger when he won his first Mr. Olympia in 1970?
23
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.
Q 06What did Schwarzenegger do during his 1965 army service that landed him a week in military prison?
Went AWOL to enter a bodybuilding contest
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'.
Q 07Which 1977 documentary about the Mr. Olympia contest launched Schwarzenegger's film career?
Pumping Iron
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.
Q 08Under what stage name was Schwarzenegger credited in his 1970 debut Hercules in New York?
Arnold Strong
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.
Q 09For which 1976 film did Schwarzenegger win a Golden Globe as New Star of the Year?
Stay Hungry
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.
Q 10Which TV superhero role did Schwarzenegger reportedly lose for being too short?
The Incredible Hulk
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.
Q 11Which 1982 sword-and-sorcery epic was Schwarzenegger's breakthrough film?
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian, directed by John Milius, was the hit that made him a leading man; its sequel Conan the Destroyer followed in 1984.
Q 12Who directed The Terminator, the 1984 film that gave Schwarzenegger his signature role?
James Cameron
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.
Q 13In The Terminator, from what year is the cyborg sent back to kill Sarah Connor?
2029
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.
Q 21Which 1993 self-aware blockbuster spoof flopped after opening against Jurassic Park?
Last Action Hero
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.
Q 22Which supervillain did Schwarzenegger play in 1997's Batman & Robin?
Mr. Freeze
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.
Q 23Which fellow 1980s action star was Schwarzenegger's famous rival before they invested together in Planet Hollywood?
Sylvester Stallone
Q 14Terminator 2: Judgment Day was the highest-grossing film of which year?
1991
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.
Q 15What is the name of Schwarzenegger's character, the rescue team leader, in Predator?
Dutch
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'.
Q 16What is the name of the retired Special Forces colonel Schwarzenegger plays in Commando?
John Matrix
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.
Q 17Which 1990 sci-fi film, based on a Philip K. Dick story, casts Schwarzenegger as Douglas Quaid?
Total Recall
He earned $10 million plus 15 percent of the gross. Paul Verhoeven directed after sixteen years of development hell and forty script drafts.
Q 18Which director made all three of Schwarzenegger's comedies Twins, Kindergarten Cop and Junior?
Ivan Reitman
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.
Q 19How was Schwarzenegger paid for Twins, the 1988 comedy with Danny DeVito?
No salary, but a share of the profits
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.
Q 20In Kindergarten Cop, detective John Kimble goes undercover as a teacher in a small town in which state?
Oregon
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.
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.
Q 24On which late-night show did Schwarzenegger announce his 2003 California governor run?
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
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.
Q 25Which governor did Schwarzenegger replace after the 2003 California recall election?
Gray Davis
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.
Q 26Which number governor of California was Schwarzenegger?
38th
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.
Q 27What nickname did Schwarzenegger acquire as governor of California?
The Governator
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.
Q 28What SNL-derived insult did Governor Schwarzenegger aim at Democratic state politicians?
Girlie men
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.
Q 29Why can Schwarzenegger never run for President of the United States?
He is not a natural-born citizen
He became a US citizen in 1983 and has kept his Austrian citizenship since birth.
Q 30Which president made Schwarzenegger fitness council chairman, dubbing him 'Conan the Republican'?
George H. W. Bush
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.