ARNOLD
SCHWARZENEGGER
Date of birth (location)
30 July 1947,
Thal, Styria, Austria
Sometimes Credited As:
Arnold Strong
Nickname
Arnie
Austrian Oak
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Height
6' 2"
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Mini biography
Growing up in a small, isolated village in Austria, he turned to bodybuilding as his ticket to a better life. After conquering the world as the greatest bodybuilder who ever lived, he went to America to make his name in motion pictures. Hampered by his impossible name and thick accent, success eluded him for many years. It wasn't until he found the tailor- made role of Conan that he truly came into his own as a performer. A succession of over-the-top action films made him an international box office star. By alternating violent action films with lighter, comedic fare, he has solidified his position as one of the most popular--if not the most popular--movie stars in the world.
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IMDb mini-biography by
David Montgomery <[email protected]>
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Spouse
Maria Shriver (26 April 1986 - present)
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Trade mark
Frequent movie line "I'll be back"
Often has his character say comedic one liners that puncuate the action.
Many of his films have his characters doing feats of strength to match his muscular look, eg Commando (1985) where he is first seen in the film carrying a whole tree trunk on his shoulder.
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Trivia
(October 1997) Ranked #20 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.
(27 September 1997) Fourth child, a boy, born.
(April 1997) Underwent heart surgery correct a congenital heart valve condition.
Called by the Guinness Book of World Records, "the most perfectly developed man in the history of the world."
Noted fan of cigar smoking.
His voice in "Hercules" was dubbed.
part-owner of Planet Hollywood and Schatzi restaurants.
Father of four children.
Objects to his wife wearing trousers.
Advocate for the Republican party.
He reprised his Terminator 2 character for the theme park attraction T2-3D, a short film filmed in a new 3-D process that makes the film really appear to jump out at you.
His production company is 'Oak Productions'.
(1983) Became a US citizen.
His wife Maria is one of the Kennedy nieces.
(1979) Graduated from University of Wisconsin-Superior with a major in international marketing of fitness and business administration.
Sold his Planet Hollywood stock off and is no longer a part owner of the chain. (2000)
The soccer stadium in Graz, Austria (his home town) is named after him.
Was considered for the title role in the 1970s TV series "The Incredible Hulk," but was reportedly deemed not tall enough. His former bodybuilding competitor, Lou Ferrigno, ultimately won the part.
(March 2000) Is considering running for governer in California.
After leaving Austria for the first time, he came to England to work, earning under £30 a week.
Received an Honorary Doctorate from his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin Superior, in 1996 in recognition of his charitable works.
Son-in-law of producer Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
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Personal quotes
"I was always interested in proportion and perfection. When I was fifteen, I took off my clothes and looked in the mirror. When I stared at myself naked, I realized that to be perfectly proportioned I would need twenty-inch arms to match the rest of me."
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Salary
End of Days (1999) $25,000,000 (USA)
Batman & Robin (1997) $25,000,000 (USA)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) $15 million
6th Day, The (2000) $25,000,000 (USA)
Jingle All the Way (1996) $20,000,000 (USA)
Conan the Barbarian (1982) $250,000 (USA)
Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:
He had a name you couldn't pronounce, an accent you couldn't cut, and a body out of a Frank Frazetta painting, yet this worldchampion bodybuilder defied all the naysayers to become the undisputed Biggest Movie Star in the World, as well as a restaurateur, political activist, and leading spokesman for physical fitness. The product of a difficult childhood, he turned to weight training as both an escape and a self-esteem booster. Coming to America to make his fortune, Schwarzenegger landed the title role in the low-budget, barely released Hercules in New York (aka Hercules Goes Bananas 1970), billed as Arnold Strong. The movie revealed two things: his impressively sculptured body, and the fact that he couldn't act (let alone speak English). Schwarzenegger's lessthan-spectacular film debut sent him back to the weight room, and he concentrated on bodybuilding for some time thereafter, winning seven Mr. Olympia titles-a record only recently beaten-and earning the nickname "the Austrian Oak."
Writers George Butler and Charles Gaines featured him prominently in their book Pumping Iron a comprehensive examination of bodybuilding; he then made a considerable impact in the 1977 film of the same name, and was much talked about. He'd been cast as a bodybuilder (what else?) in the comedy Stay Hungry (1976, starring Jeff Bridges and Sally Field). His performance was, in the main, kindly reviewed, but Schwarzenegger still didn't actively pursue a screen career until accepting the role of the impeccably costumed Handsome Stranger in a cartoonish Western, The Villain (1979). He realized that he'd milked bodybuilding and decided to tackle a new career.
Schwarzenegger threw himself wholeheartedly into acting, beginning with roles in Scavenger Hunt (1979) and the TV movie The Jayne Mansfield Story (1980, earnestly but ineptly playing Mansfield's muscleman husband, Mickey Hargitay), then graduating to the title role of 1982's sword-and-sorcery blockbuster Conan the Barbarian and its 1984 sequel, Conan the Destroyer Later in 1984 he starred in The Terminator a sci-fi actioner that cast him as an unstoppable killer robot from the future; its success made him a superstar and gave him a signature line-"I'll be back!"-that he managed to work into many subsequent films for a knowing laugh. In fact, Schwarzenegger's sense of humor (even about himself) set him apart from the other pumped-up action stars of the 1980s. He played a Conan-like barbarian in Red Sonja (1985), and then churned out a string of blood-and-wisecracks blockbusters including Commando (also 1985), Raw Deal (1986), Predator, The Running Man (both 1987), and Red Heat (1988). He turned to silly comedy for real in Twins (also 1988, costarring with Danny DeVito), proving he could make cash registers jingle without killing dozens of adversaries in every reel. Since then he's alternated between "serious" action films like Total Recall (1990) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), which have been hugely successful, and "lighter" fare like Kindergarten Cop (1990), a modest hit, and the overblown, tongue-incheek Last Action Hero (1993), a colossal fiasco that had the media clucking that even the mighty Arnold could fail. In 1994 he reteamed with Terminator's James Cameron for the smash hit True Lies then starred as a pregnant man in Junior.
Though he does not officially produce his films, Schwarzenegger pretty much calls all the shots, right down to planning publicity, and he has dabbled in directing for TV (an episode of "Tales From the Crypt" and the 1992 remake of Christmas in Connecticut as a possible prelude to big-screen helming. In 1990 he was named chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, and his lengthy association with Republican politics sparked rumors that he might someday run for office. Ironically, he is married to TV journalist Maria Shriver, one of the (Democratic) Kennedy clan.
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Filmography as: Actor, Producer, Director, Notable TV guest appearances
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Actor - filmography
(2000s) (1990s) (1980s) (1970s)
True Lies 2 (2002) .... Harry Tasker
Terminator 3 (2002) .... The Terminator (T-800)
AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills: America's Most Heart-Pounding Movies (2001) (TV) .... Himself
Collateral Damage (2001) .... Gordon Brewer
Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001) (uncredited) (voice) .... White wolf
... aka DR.2 (2001) (USA: promotional abbreviation)
... aka DR2 (2001) (USA: promotional abbreviation)
6th Day, The (2000) .... Adam Gibson
... aka Sixième jour, Le (2000) (Canada: French title)
Intimate Portrait: Kelly Preston (1999) (TV) .... Himself
Intimate Portrait: Loni Anderson (1999) (TV) .... Himself
End of Days (1999) .... Jericho Cane
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Hollywood Hero (1999) (TV)
Batman & Robin (1997) .... Mr. Freeze/Dr. Victor Fries
T2 3-D: Battle Across Time (1996) .... The Terminator
... aka T2: Terminator 2:3-D (1996)
... aka Terminator 2: 3-D (1996)
Jingle All the Way (1996) .... Howard "Howie" Langston
Eraser (1996) .... U.S. Marshal John "The Eraser" Kruger
Sinatra: 80 Years My Way (1995) (TV) .... Himself
Beretta's Island (1994) .... Himself
Century of Cinema, A (1994) .... Himself
Junior (1994) .... Dr. Alex Hesse
True Lies (1994) .... Harry Tasker
1993 MTV Movie Awards (1993) (TV) .... Presenter
Last Party, The (1993) (uncredited) .... Himself
Last Action Hero (1993) .... Jack Slater/Himself
Dave (1993) .... Himself
1992 MTV Movie Awards (1992) (TV) .... Presenter
Making of 'Terminator 2: Judgement Day', The (1992) (TV) .... Himself/T800
Lincoln (1992) (TV) (voice) .... John G. Nicolay
Feed (1992) .... Himself
Christmas in Connecticut (1992) (TV) (uncredited) .... Man in chair in front of Media Truck
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991/II) (VG) .... Terminator
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) .... The Terminator (T-800)
... aka T2 (1991) (USA: promotional abbreviation)
... aka T2 - Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Making of 'Total Recall', The (1990) (TV) .... Himself/Douglas Quaid
Kindergarten Cop (1990) .... Detective John Kimble
Total Recall (1990) .... Douglas Quaid/Howser, Mars Intelligence/Brubaker
Twins (1988) .... Julius Benedict
Red Heat (1988) .... Ivan Danko
Running Man, The (1987) .... Ben Richards
Predator (1987) .... Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer
Raw Deal (1986) .... Mark Kaminsky
... aka Triple Identity (1986)
Commando (1985) .... Colonel John Matrix
Red Sonja (1985) .... Kalidor
Terminator, The (1984) .... The Terminator (T-800)
Conan the Destroyer (1984) .... Conan
Making of 'Terminator', The (1984) (TV) .... Himself
Carnival in Rio (1983) (TV) .... Himself, as host
Our Voices Ourselves (1982) (TV) .... Himself
Conan the Barbarian (1982) .... Conan
Jayne Mansfield Story, The (1980) (TV) .... Mickey Hargitay
... aka Jayne Mansfield: A Symbol of the 50's (1980) (TV)
Villain, The (1979) .... Handsome Stranger
... aka Cactus Jack (1979) (UK)
Scavenger Hunt (1979) .... Lars, Gym Instructor
Pumping Iron (1977) .... Himself
Stay Hungry (1976) .... Joe Santo
Long Goodbye, The (1973) (uncredited) .... One of Augustine's Hoods
Hercules in New York (1970) (as Arnold Strong) .... Hercules
... aka Hercules - The Movie (1970)
... aka Hercules Goes Bananas (1970)
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Filmography as: Actor, Producer, Director, Notable TV guest appearances
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Producer - filmography
(2000s) (1990s)
6th Day, The (2000) (producer)
... aka Sixième jour, Le (2000) (Canada: French title)
Last Action Hero (1993) (executive producer)
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Filmography as: Actor, Producer, Director, Notable TV guest appearances
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Director - filmography
(1990s) (1980s)
Christmas in Connecticut (1992) (TV)
"Tales from the Crypt" (1989) TV Series
... aka "HBO's Tales from the Crypt" (1989)
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Filmography as: Actor, Producer, Director, Notable TV guest appearances
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Notable TV guest appearances
"WCW Monday Nitro" (1995) playing "Himself" in episode: "Night of Championships" 2/28/2000
"WWF Smackdown!" (1999) playing "Himself" 11/18/1999
"Magic Hour, The" (1998/I) playing "Himself"(episode # 1.1) 1998
"Tales from the Crypt" (1989) playing "X-Con" in episode: "Switch, The" (episode # 2.2) 4/21/1990
"Streets of San Francisco, The" (1972) playing "Josef Schmidt" in episode: "Dead Lift" (episode # 5.19) 5/5/1977
"San Pedro Beach Bums, The" (1977)
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