Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (July 30, 1947 - present)
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s life story is the epitome of the penniless immigrant who finds fame and fortune in the land of opportunity.
Before becoming Governor of the state of California in 2003, he was a bodybuilder and an actor, but first and foremost a businessman.
He is referred to as "The Governator", the combination of his political title with his most famous film role - The Terminator.
His personal wealth of upwards of $100 million allows him to forego his $175,000 governor's salary - donating it to charity instead.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in a small village near Graz in Austria. German is his native language.
He was raised as a Catholic (and nowadays still attends Mass on Sundays with his wife and children).
His parents were strict by today’s standards (corporal punishment was used) and money was tight.
He has said that he grew up in a house without a phone, a fridge or a toilet.
Schwarzenegger’s big dream from the age of ten was to move to the U.S.
Arnold chose bodybuilding for a career, after trying out many different sports while at school.
He regarded bodybuilding as his ticket to America.
Schwarzenegger won the Junior Mr. Europe contest in 1965 while in the Austrian army, fulfilling the one year’s service then required of all 18-year-old Austrian males.
He won Mr. Europe the following year, at age 19.
In 1966, he came second in the Mr. Universe competition in London. One of the judges offered him both coaching and a place to stay. Living in Bennett’s crowded family home above a gym in the East End of London helped Schwarzenegger improve his English. 1967 saw Schwarzenegger win the Mr. Universe title
for the first time, the youngest ever winner, aged of 20.
He returned to Munich, trained for four to six hours every day, attended business school and worked in a health club – then went back to London in 1968 and won his second Mr. Universe title.
Now aged 21, he emigrated to the United States in 1968.
He became a prolific goal setter, writing out his aims at the start of each year on index cards.
To fulfill his goal of becoming the greatest bodybuilder in the world, Schwarzenegger had to win the Mr. Olympia contest.
In 1970 he became the youngest ever Mr. Olympia at the age of 23, a record still unbeaten.
Arnold Schwarzenegger holds the record for winning more major bodybuilding events (13) than anyone else in history - 1 x Mr. Junior Western Europe, 7 x Mr. Olympia, and 5 x Mr. Universe.
After Schwarzenegger won the Mr. Olympia title for the sixth consecutive time the 1975, he officially retired from professional bodybuilding. However, finding himself in very good shape through his training for the film Conan, he decided at very short notice to compete in the 1980 Mr. Olympia. He won – and promptly retired again.
He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Superior with a major in international marketing of fitness and business administration in 1979.
Schwarzenegger was financially secure through a series of successful business ventures and investments, long before his Hollywood acting career took off.
He had started a bricklaying business with another weight lifter in 1968. The business did well due to good marketing and a building boom following the 1971 Los Angeles earthquake.
Profits from the bricklaying were used to sell equipment and instructional tapes for fitness and bodybuilding via mail order.These profits were in turn used to fund purchases of first real estate and he was a millionaire by the age of thirty.
His domination of competitive bodybuilding in the 1970s was showcased in one of the key sports documentaries of the 20th century – “Pumping Iron”.
This coincided with a huge increase in the popularity of bodybuilding and gym membership.
Ben and Joe Weider, who had created the Mr. Olympia competition in 1965 saw their sports business empire boom as a result.
But Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn’t content with his sporting achievements – he wanted to be “the greatest actor”.
Describing his struggle to develop his acting career, he said: "It was very difficult for me in the beginning – I was told by agents and casting people that my body was 'too weird,' that I had a funny accent, and that my name was too long. You name it, and they told me I had to change it. Basically, everywhere I turned, I was told that I had no chance."
Despite this, Arnold won a Golden Globe Award for "Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture" in “Stay Hungry” (1976).
He went on to make millions from his action and comedy movies – including Conan the Barbarian, The Terminator, Last Action Hero, Junior, Twins and his most successful film – Terminator 2.
According to childhood friends, he often said his life’s goals were to live in America, to become an actor, and to marry a Kennedy.
April 1986 saw him accomplish all these - he married TV journalist Maria Shriver who is a niece of the late President John F. Kennedy and Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s success appears to spring from his serial goal setting, determination and relentless hard work. Had he been alive during the time of Orison Swett Marden’s writing career, he would doubtless have been held up by Marden as a fine example of how it is possible to achieve even the most fanciful dreams – through self-belief and single-mindedness.
Here's a video of Arnold Schwarzenegger and his success story:
