Biographic - Sunday August 5, 2012 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

Arnold Schwarzenegger was born on July 30, 1947, in the picturesque Austrian town of Tal. The son of the town's chief of police, the teenage Arnold was such a fan of Reg Park, the muscle-bound star of a string of Italian-made Hercules movies, that he took up competitive bodybuilding. He quickly took the sport by storm and, at the age of 20, became the youngest Mr. Universe in history. He moved to California in 1968, and within two years he held the three most prestigious titles in bodybuilding- Mr. Universe, Mr. World, and Mr. Olympia. Then he set sights on a new target, making his acting debut in the low-budget movie "Hercules in New York" he was billed as Arnold Strong, and his accent was so thick, his lines had to be dubbed by another actor! Smaller tv and movie roles were followed by "Pumping Iron" the 1977 documentary that made him a star. The roles began to get bigger, culminating in 1982's "Conan The Barbarian" which made $50 million at the box office. A successful sequel was followed by the movie role that would define his character: The nearly indestructible killing machine in 1984s sci-fi shoot 'em-up "The Terminator" In 1983, 15 years after moving to America, he became a U.S. Citizen, three years later, he married into American "royalty" with his wedding to TV news anchor Maria Shriver, the niece of President John F. Kennedy. Meanwhile, he continued to conquer all before him at the box office, with the likes of "Predator" and "Red Heat." He showed an unexpected flair for comedy when he was teamed with the diminutive Danny Devito as the most unlikely "Twins" beginning a pattern of alternating lighter fare like "Kindergarten Cop" with blockbuster action movies such as "The Terminator" sequels, "Total Recall," "Last Action Hero" and "True Lies" it was a formula that made Arnold one of the biggest stars movie history. Arnold wrote another chapter in his astonishing story when he was elected California governor in October 2003. He left office in 2011, the same year that his 25-year marriage ended in a blaze of media coverage. "The Expendables 2" marks a return to acting and is the first in a run of big-budget movies which he is slated to star.

Tags