Arnold Schwarzenegger - biography, actor's photo, filmography, personal life. Arnold Schwarzenegger in childhood What was Schwarzenegger sick in childhood

Arnold Schwarzenegger is a living symbol of fantastic action movies. Former California Terminator General, sportsman. A real American to the bone. But forty years ago he was just a simple Austrian guy. Americans call him Arnie, and in our country he is better known simply as Schwartz.

Schwarzenegger was born on July 30, 1947 in the small town of Tal Graz in Austria to 38-year-old police chief Gustav Schwarzenegger and his 23-year-old housewife wife Aurelia.

The dad, who at one time was a member of the Nazi party, was harsh and rude, which is why little Arnie daily raked sickly and often undeserved stars, eager to leave Austria and never see her again.

But there was positive side: my father dreamed of making him an athlete, and he did - with early years Arnold played football, training, if not strength, then certainly endurance.

From an early age, together with his brother Meinhardt, Arnie also worked on the site, replacing the "40 standard black harrowers". Until the age of 14, I did not see a telephone or a globe, did not know many ordinary household amenities. And the whole world was in the dark about what awaited him.

Impressed by the Russian strongman Vlasov seen at the World Weightlifting Championship and against the will of his father, from the age of 15, Arnold began to "swing".

Moreover, he showed such fanaticism that when the gym in Graz accidentally turned out to be closed due to a weekend or a holiday, young Arnie naturally entered it secretly through the window and swayed alone.

The guy also did not forget to intensively eat all sorts of fatty things, so at 17 he was no longer a skinny boy, but a mighty jock, capable of lifting weight, to which even an adult trainer was afraid to come close.

"At the age of seventeen, as a member of the Athletic Union of Graz, I was doing a 185-pound barbell - the applause from the crowd gave me extra strength."

Here the graduation ceremony arrived. After graduating from school, Arnie voluntarily entered the Austrian army. According to him, to eat and sleep. In the army, he was a tanker, a driver-mechanic (tanks of the Western school, unlike Soviet ones, are suitable for a person 188 cm tall).

It is noteworthy that Schwarzenegger was the only eighteen-year-old conscript who was entrusted with a tank on the move - apparently, the Austrian oak was far from being as simple as it might seem to all haters of "stupid jocks". True, Arnie himself later admitted that he was not an ideal soldier, and once he drowned his tank.

Service in the army, which lasted only one year - from 1965 to 1966, did not prevent him from serving a disciplinary arrest for unauthorized absence - he quietly hit the road to participate in the competition in bodybuilding "Mr. Europe" and was sleeping. IChSH, Arnie won that competition. And all because, in combination with excellent army feeding, he also daily rocked home-made rods - and all this against the background of the standard, never easy service of the gallant Austrian tanker. But willpower and perseverance helped Arnold overcome all difficulties.

Since then, it has become the custom. As soon as a young talent was announced at some pitching competition, all the judges gave him a standing ovation and handed him a prize. In 1967, he even became the youngest holder of the title "Mr. Universe". And all because, despite his tender age, Schwarzenegger had amazingly massive muscles, plus he struck with an exceptionally successful physique (genetics helped). He competed on equal terms with athletes who were six to eight years older than him, and won them.

A year later, in 1968, having become a two-time "Mr. Universe" at a competition in London, Arnold ascended to heaven. Still, he was the number one bodybuilder this side of the ocean! However, the main bodybuilding center and main rivals were found on the other side of the Atlantic. There lived a certain Joe Wader, the founding father of all modern bodybuilding. Through his representative in London Ludwig Schustrich, he offered the young Schwarzenegger a move to the United States and a one-year contract. However, Arnie, having estimated that a titmouse in his hands is much better than a cockroach in a pantry, refused the contract. For a year, Wader tried unsuccessfully to drag Arnold to the United States.

Meanwhile, the champion lived in Munich and led a truly champion lifestyle: he fought, drank, and generally lived a pure and holy life. According to the then friends of Arnold, he was narcissistic and cocky like a turkey. Not a single fight in nightclubs was complete without his participation. Quite reasonably, rather serious problems with the police soon began. And the further, the more serious.

And finally, one glorious evening, Arnie found himself in Schustrich's room with a sports bag in his hands and said that it was highly desirable for him to leave Germany as soon as possible and he was ready to accept Wader's offer, if it was still valid. Schustrich used all his influential enough connections to get him an American visa in one day. And already at the end of September 1968, Arnold Gustav Schwarzenegger, born in 1947, Austrian, non-partisan, set foot on the land of the cradle of democracy.

The place was chosen wisely - sunny and carefree California, and there our "iron" Arnie became "gold" even before his acting fees were overgrown with six or seven zeros. Unlike most other bodybuilders who achieved sports fame, but did not manage to turn it into money, Schwarzenegger had a powerful business acumen and a keen sense of profit. Having barely arrived in the United States, he, together with his jock friend Franco Colombo, was engaged in nothing more than the supply of bricks. Then another accident occurred - just one of those that led him to wealth and fame - in 1971 Los Angeles was severely damaged by an earthquake. Despite the reaction of the residents, bricks were urgently needed to restore the city, which Arnold began to sell in hard-to-see quantities.

But Arnie was not going to be engaged in building materials all his life. At the same time, he was actively swinging in American gyms, invariably impressing the article with his heroic strength. Soon, the tall Austrian athlete was noticed, and his career took off. He became a well-known bodybuilder in the United States to successfully sell bodybuilding accessories throughout the country - including videotapes of courses such as How to Become Apollo Out of the Dry in One Year. Having saved some money on bricks and vidos, Schwartz invested it in the delivery of goods by mail. The dough became more and more. Part of the profits from email marketing and the funds won in competitions were invested by Schwarzenegger in real estate. In addition, on the advice of Wader, he began to invest in various antique things. Even before his thirtieth birthday (and long before his movie success), Arnie became a millionaire.

Arnold agreed to this role after calling his friend Reg Park, who himself played Hercules in the movies - he immediately advised Arnie to "agree without talking." When Arnold's agent negotiated with the studio, he said that his client "had experience working on stage," while keeping silent that on stage Arnold posed for bodybuilding competitions, and did not play Hamlet ... After auditioning, the casting director came to horror at the young strongman's accent - it was hardly understandable. But the powerful physique did its job, and they nevertheless took Arnold into the picture, deciding to carry out the voice acting with the help of another actor who speaks English normally (and replace the surname Schwarzenegger with Strong). Many years later, Arnie voiced Hercules with his own voice and the picture was republished.

The bodybuilding career also did not take shape right away. At first, he behaved very arrogantly and arrogantly, introducing himself, and by all means reported that he was a two-time "Mr. Universe". However, soon the pride was kicked off him - he confidently lost his first competition in the USA to Frank Zane, who was 20 kg lighter. Anyone else would have burst into tears, but the iron Arnie soberly analyzed the reasons for his defeat and the next year he went to Mr. Olympia in excellent shape. Unfortunately for him, Sergio Oliva, the icon of American bodybuilding, Storm Cliff and the World's Most Embossed Legs, took part in the competition. The proud Arnold lost again. And being beside himself with rage and resentment, he publicly vowed that he would never again suffer defeat from anyone.
He kept his oath.

One victory followed another. Schwarzenegger began collecting medals from the most prestigious competitions, becoming a real icon of bodybuilding: at the top of his career was the seven-time title "Mr. Olympia".

Having achieved all the titles in bodybuilding that were there, in 1980, Schwarzenegger finally parted with sports, and now he himself conducts bodybuilding competitions, being at the same time their organizer and sponsor - the Arnold Classic. The prizes are substantial - $ 100,000, a Hummer car and a gold Rolex watch.
But the cinema, however, did not submit for a long time: all the seventies, Arnie, in parallel with the competition, starred in films, but there was still no recognition. The critics had quite a strong opinion about the acting talent of this shackled and tongue-tied giant, in soft version voiced as a "tree", the accursed accent pursued relentlessly (until the end, Arnie still hadn't gotten rid of it). So he was not invited to the cinema for a long time.

"In Hollywood, I met different people. In this picture, a party in the yard of my house with directors Roman Polanski and Bob Raifelson and their girlfriends."

Stay Hungry (1976) is a drama that tells the story of bodybuilder Joe Santo who stands in the way of a crime syndicate that illegally buys real estate in the area. A bit naive, but kind and sincere film shows young Jeff Bridges and Arnold, who does not blow anyone's brains out and does not smear on the wall, but works in the gym, and for the soul ... plays the violin. This time, the critics were more supportive - no one remembered about oaks and other green spaces, but, on the contrary, it was noted that the bodybuilder showed himself as a real actor, and is clearly capable of much. In 77th Arnold receives the prestigious Golden Globe award for this role, for some reason in the Best Debut nomination. Apparently, critics did not consider "Hercules" as a film at all. Alas, that "Globe" remained the only award of this level for the entire career of Arnold.

In the late seventies, Arnold earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin. He always strove to develop not only the body, but also the mind.

Personal life
About six months after moving to the United States, Arnold met a young school teacher, Barbara Baker, and lived with her for five years. Arnold himself talks about the reason for their separation: “She was calm and balanced, and wanted to live an ordinary, measured life. I was very unbalanced and hated the very idea of being like everyone else. But from the memoirs of Baker: “He was a cheerful, incredibly charismatic and adventurous guy, but in the end he became simply unbearable - the whole world had to revolve around his precious person. I have never met such a complete egoist in my life. " Arnold cheated on her left and right. In 2006, Baker published a book of memories of their life with Arnold, calling it without a fuss: "In the shade of an Austrian oak." Contrary to expectations, Arnold did not protest, and even ... wrote a preface to this book!

In 77, Arnold began dating Sue Moray, who worked as a hairdresser, and around the same time began his relationship with journalist Maria Shriver (John F. Kennedy's niece), whom he met at the Robert Kennedy tennis tournament.

For about a year, he calmly met with them at the same time, until Moray finally broke up with him. Moreover: at the same time, according to rumors, Arnold also had an affair with Bridget Nielsen!
But the main woman in his life turned out to be Maria (although he had matured before marriage for as many as nine years). In 1986, they got married.

The couple have four children: daughters Katherine and Christina, and sons Patrick and Christopher.

Alas, literally recently, a grandiose scandal erupted, which ended with the fact that Maria, after a quarter of a century of living together, filed for divorce and left their huge house in Brentwood just a couple of weeks after the silver wedding ...
Arnold himself is to blame, or rather, his marital infidelity. A sensational fact was revealed: it turns out that Arnie has illegitimate son Joseph, the same age as Christopher, born to a servant who worked in the Schwarzenegger mansion in the second half of the nineties! Moreover, this boy was dear to Arnold, he saw him, and always found an opportunity to maintain a relationship. Oddly enough, the guy himself, before the scandal, did not even suspect that he was Schwarzenegger's son, but when he found out, he was shocked.

Be that as it may, for Maria this news was the last straw - and she left. However, I bought a house next door - in order to see the children more often, so the offspring now ply between the mansions of the father and mother.

Continuation of the story about Iron Arnie in the next part

This world famous bodybuilder, actor, businessman and politician was born in the Austrian village of Tal in 1947. Arnold celebrates his birthday on July 30th. Let's take a closer look at the biography of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Arnold Schwarzenegger as a child

Arnold Schwarzenegger's parents lived very poorly. They had a small farm in the form of livestock. Since childhood, the actor had a chance to do the housework and help his parents. He woke up very early every day so that he could milk the cow, get out and bring water from the well before school. The father, being the chief of police, raised the boy in severity. Every evening he made his son write a detailed account of the past day on paper.

Most likely, thanks to the conditions in which the actor was brought up, Schwarzenegger grew up very stubborn and hardworking. From a young age, he understood that thanks to dedication, perseverance and work, absolutely everything can be achieved.

Sports career

At the age of 15, the young man began to study. At first, he did not manage to achieve much results, but with the help of coach Kurt Marnul, who has the title "Mr. Austria", Arnie began to do well. He was so passionate about bodybuilding that there was not a day when he did not train. Even in the absence gym, the bodybuilder independently made barbells and continued to practice.

Since 1965, Arnold begins to take part in bodybuilding competitions, and in 1967 he was awarded the title "Mr. Universe". In 1968, having won the title "Mr. Universe" again, Schwarzenegger received an invitation from Joe Weider, an authority figure in the world of bodybuilding, to live for some time in the United States and take part in another competition. And since 1970, Arnold had no equal, he won the title of "Mr. Olympia" for five years in a row.

Conquering Hollywood

Having reached all the heights in sports, Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to conquer Hollywood. But even here it was not without perseverance. The first films were not successful, and without giving up, he went to acting school. This gave an excellent result. Already in 1982, Arnold Schwarzenegger became a real movie star, thanks to the movie "Conan the Barbarian". Despite the ruthless criticism from the professionals, the film made a stunning impression on the fans. And, of course, the actor becomes a world star in 1984 with the release of the film "The Terminator".

Then Schwarzenegger went further. Deciding to prove to everyone that he is a versatile actor and can act in more than just action films, Arnold accepted offers to play a comedic role. And in this role, he also became successful. This is confirmed by such favorite comedies as "True Lies", "Gemini", "Kindergarten Policeman" and others.

Political career

In one of his interviews, Schwarzenegger said that in his film career he reached the top, as it once happened with bodybuilding. He is no longer interested in this, which is why he decided to go into politics and run for governor of California. A new stage has begun in Arnold's life. In 2003, he was elected governor of California, which he held until January 2011, as Schwarzenegger was legally unable to participate in the 2010 elections. During his governorship, Arnold was recognized as the most independent politician in America who came to power. He fulfilled his obligations regardless of the circumstances and expectations of other political forces.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and his family

Arnie has had many romances. Arnold Schwarzenegger met his future wife at the age of 30. With journalist Maria Shriver, they legalized their relationship only in 1986. Up to this point, for 9 years of their relationship, there were partings and short romances of the actor with other women.

The marriage of Arnold and Mary lasted 25 long years, and then followed. The reason for this was the actor's betrayal with the housekeeper. The wife could not forgive the betrayal and filed for divorce.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has five children, four of whom are from Maria and one illegitimate son from a housekeeper.

Despite the divorce, Arnold Schwarzenegger is now in a great relationship with his ex-wife and children. They support the actor and are proud of his success.

Arnold Schwarz Jenegger turned 65 in July - almost old age. It cannot be said that he did not prepare for it - he is still a very intelligent person. Twenty years ago, The Last Movie Hero was released - a film in which Schwarzenegger made his first attempts to step on the path of another legendary American movie hero, Clint Eastwood, a stern, intelligent, wrinkled doer of justice. It is in this capacity that Schwartz is now going to return to the screen.

In any case, the viewers will treat him, even if he is old and already not pumped up, with tenderness. It is impossible without tenderness. Is that at ex-wife Maria Shriver succeeds in this - and even then it is evident that with difficulty.

His memoirs, a 655-page book, are pretty neat: there are at least scandalous details. He only describes the romance that happened on the set of "Red Sonya" with his partner Bridget Nielsen (Arnold was not stopped by the fact that he had a constant girlfriend - the same Maria, future wife). And the ridiculous copulation with the maid Mildred Patricia Baena, as a result of which he became the father of a boy named Joseph (and lost his family - Maria, having learned that her husband was growing a child from a housekeeper, filed for divorce last year).

Schwarzenegger, however, insists in the book that he still hopes to get Maria back. ("We will be husband and wife again. I am an optimist.") Reading the book, I also want to believe in it.

Schwarzenegger and cats

Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in 1947 in the Austrian village of Thal, near Graz, in the family of a police officer and a housewife. “The eastern regions were occupied by the Russians, and we remembered this all the time. The cold war began, and we all lived in fear - but how do we hear the roar of Russian tanks and the Soviet empire swallows us? The priests in the churches frightened the flock, telling how the Russians kill babies in the hands of their mothers. "

The Schwarzenegger family did not live in poverty, but in poverty. His mother, Aurelia Jardny, married early for the first time - but her husband died in the war just eight months later, leaving her son Meinhard as a souvenir. And then the 23-year-old widow saw Gustav Schwarzenegger - tall and handsome man, who was 15 years older than her. He was a Nazi in the past, who, however, did not commit any atrocities in the war. "She was crazy about men in military uniform," writes Schwarzenegger. At the end of 1945, Aurelia and Gustav got married, and Arnold was soon born.

“My house was very simple, of stone and bricks, well designed, with thick walls and small windows, small to keep the alpine winters out. We had two bedrooms, each with a charcoal stove to keep warm, and there was a kitchen where we ate, did our homework, washed and played. (...) There was no running water, no shower, no flush toilet, the nearest well was a quarter of a mile from the house, and even when it was raining or snowing, one of us (with Meinhard) had to follow water ".

Schwarzenegger's house had many cats - his mother loved them very much. “And they cost us nothing, since they themselves got their own food. There were always a lot of them, they ran around the house, twirled underfoot, brought half-dead mice from the attic, demonstrating what excellent hunters they were. Each family member had his own cat, next to which one could curl up in bed in the evening and fall asleep - this was our tradition. At one point, we had seven cats. We loved them, but not very much, because in our world there was no concept of “going to the vet”. When one of them began to suffer from illness or old age, it remained to wait for the sound of a shot with backyard... The sound that my father's pistol made. Then my mother, Meinhard and I went out and buried the cats in a grave with a cross at the top. "

His father was not a monster - “he could be both generous and loving, especially with his mother, they loved each other very much. (…) But once a week, usually on Friday night, he came home drunk. At two, three, four in the morning (...). My brother and I woke up to hear him pounding on the door and yelling at Mom. His anger quickly faded away, the next morning he was already kind and affectionate, took us to dinner, gave gifts. But if we behaved badly, he would hit on the head - or pull out the belt. And to us it seemed completely normal: all the fathers got drunk and used corporal punishment in relation to children. A family lived next to us, where the father dragged his son by the ears and flogged him with rods, which he soaked on purpose to make it more painful, more painful. "

Schwarzenegger and Terminator

We skip over in two decades. Schwarzenegger is already an actor, he is in America. Director James Cameron offered him a role in The Terminator. It was originally planned that the robot sent from the future would be played by O. J. Simpson, an American football player and at the same time an actor (later he would become famous as the murderer of his ex-wife, who, despite a lot of evidence, would be acquitted).

Schwarzenegger was not supposed to play Terminator and generally doubted whether it was worth participating in the project. Director James Cameron (the future author of "Titanic" and "Avatar") at that time shot only one picture, it was called "Piranha-2". Schwarzenegger was destined for the role, which was eventually played by Michael Bean.

But suddenly, during lunch in a California restaurant, Schwarzenegger began to tell Cameron how the Terminator should behave. Schwarzenegger literally suffered: “I had such a clear vision. He does not blink when he shoots, and when he kills, he has no expression at all on his face - no expression of joy, no expression of victory, nothing at all. "

After dinner, coffee was brought in, and Cameron suddenly asked, "Why don't you play Terminator?"

No, no, no, - answered Schwarzenegger. At that moment he was trying to prove that he was an actor. "The Terminator had even less dialogue than Conan, just 18 lines, and I was afraid people would think I was avoiding words."

However, Cameron stuck with this idea: “Hey, damn it, you can take on this role even tomorrow! Well, no one understands this character the way you do! Very few actors are capable of playing a car at all! "

Schwarzenegger resisted desperately - he wanted to play heroes, not villains. Cameron took out a piece of paper and a pencil and began to draw. “You can transform him into a heroic figure that people will admire, simply because of what the Terminator is capable of. We will shoot this way, we will edit this way ... "

And in the end, Schwarzenegger played perhaps his most important role. He is reminded first of all that Cameron was a big fan of night filming (when the director does not depend on the sun and can set the lighting as he pleases). “And all the time I had this glue on my face. Fortunately, I have good skin, and no amount of chemistry will ruin it, but it was still awful. I had a red Terminator eye over my own eye. And the wire that made it glow, heated up, heated up and heated up - almost to the point of being burned. "

Schwarzenegger and Stallone

It just so happened that the two famous heroes of the action movies of the 80s constantly teased each other - but fate nevertheless tied them together: for example, the Danish model Bridget Nielsen, the star of Red Sonja, first visited Schwartz's mistress, and then Stallone's wife.

“We dived with him for many years. In the days of "Rocky" and "Rambo" he was the number one action star, and I kept trying to catch up with him. I remember I said to Maria during the filming of Conan the Destroyer: "I finally get paid a million dollars for a film, but Stallone is paid three million, and I feel like I'm standing still!" To provoke myself, I began to imagine that Stallone was mine

the most important enemy; Likewise, I demonized bodybuilder Sergio Oliva when he was my rival for the Mr. Olympia title. I got so involved in this hatred of Sly that I began to publicly criticize him - his body, his way of dressing, and journalists even began to quote my malicious statements about him.

Well and that, of course, he began to answer - and I cannot blame him for that. In fact, he went so far as to regale journalists with all sorts of unpleasant stories about me. I once sued a British journalist for libel - and he, as it turned out later, paid his lawyers. But some time passed, I became much more confident that I am a star, and I wanted to make peace with him. "

Schwarzenegger and the future

As governor of California, Schwarzenegger could not act in films (he found only a couple of days for filming in "The Expendables" in Stallon). He is returning now. The role in "The Expendables II" will be followed by the main roles in the films "The Last Stand" and "The Grave". In the first film (in the Russian box office it will be called "The Return of the Hero"), Schwarzenegger plays a sheriff who got in the way of a gang of drug dealers. In the second, the characters Stallone and Schwarzenegger try to escape from prison; the piquancy is that the hero Stallone is an architect and at one time he himself designed this prison so that it was impossible to escape from it.

Schwarzenegger's plans for the near future include the fantasy "Unknown Soldier" (in Russia it will be called "Black Sands") and the thriller Breacher (we will try to translate it as "Disruptive") - again about the fight against drug dealers. And also - the comedy "Triplets", a sequel to the film "Gemini", where Schwarzenegger played with Denny DeVito. This time, Eddie Murphy will also appear in the film - three actors will portray the brothers.

Schwarzenegger's five most famous films

Conan the Barbarian (1982; plus the sequel to Conan the Destroyer). Schwarzenegger as a hairy huge savage who spent most of his life in slavery, but then becomes a great king. The role that brought him fame.

The Terminator (1984; plus two sequels). One of the great fantastic action movies of the twentieth century; Schwarzenegger is a robot, a killing machine sent from the future. In the second part (even greater), Schwarzenegger plays an outwardly indistinguishable, but already different, "kind" robot, and the plot turns into an almost ancient Greek tragedy: Rock dominates the hero, he knows that he must die, and goes his own way without turning.

Commando (1985). A former special forces soldier rescues his daughter kidnapped by South American bandits. It seems like a simple action movie, and the trail from it in the form of various "Hostages" still lasts.

Total Recall (1990). A brilliant adaptation of the story by Philip K. Dick: Schwarzenegger is a worker who in the past either was or was not a special agent who worked on Mars.

True Lies (1994). Another film by James Cameron, author of the first two Terminators, this time a rework of a French comedy. Arnold's hero is a super spy who hides his profession from his family.

Today I want to tell you the success story of one of the world's most famous film actors, whose name is always associated with the Terminator from science fiction action movies. Of course, this post will talk about Arnold Schwarzenegger and how Arnie began his career forty years ago only as a simple Austrian guy who dreams of becoming a world famous athlete.

Schwarzenegger was born on July 30, 1947 in the small town of Tal Graz in Austria to 38-year-old police chief Gustav Schwarzenegger and his 23-year-old housewife wife Aurelia.

The dad, who at one time was a member of the Nazi party, was harsh and rude, which is why little Arnie daily raked sickly and often undeserved stars, eager to leave Austria and never see her again.

But there was also a positive side: his father dreamed of making him an athlete, and he did - from an early age Arnold played football, training, if not strength, then certainly endurance.

Impressed by the Russian strongman Vlasov seen at the World Weightlifting Championship and against the will of his father, from the age of 15, Arnold began to "swing".

"At the age of seventeen, as a member of the Athletic Union of Graz, I was doing a 185-pound barbell - the applause from the crowd gave me extra strength."

Since 1970, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had already made a name for herself in bodybuilding, began acting in films, as did many of his idols, such as Steve Reeves and Reg Park. He has to deal with difficulties: a difficult surname to pronounce, a foreign accent and "overly large" muscles.
But nevertheless, less than a year after his arrival, the honored producer Aubrey Weisberg, who worked at the small film studio Filmpartners, became interested in him - he just had a script about the mythical strongman Hercules, who found himself in a modern metropolis, and Aubrey considered that the young Schwarzenegger fits perfectly. And as for the accent - Hercules is generally laconic ...
Arnold agreed to this role after calling his friend Reg Park, who himself played Hercules in the movies - he immediately advised Arnie to "agree without talking." When Arnold's agent negotiated with the studio, he said that his client "had experience working on stage," while keeping silent that on stage Arnold posed for bodybuilding competitions, and did not play Hamlet ... After auditioning, the casting director came to horror at the young strongman's accent - it was hardly understandable. But the powerful physique did its job, and they nevertheless took Arnold into the picture, deciding to carry out the voice acting with the help of another actor who speaks English normally (and replace the surname Schwarzenegger with Strong). Many years later, Arnie voiced Hercules with his own voice and the picture was republished.

Having achieved all the titles in bodybuilding that were there, in 1980, Schwarzenegger finally parted with sports, and now he himself conducts bodybuilding competitions, being at the same time their organizer and sponsor - the Arnold Classic. The prizes are substantial - $ 100,000, a Hummer car and a gold Rolex watch.
But the cinema, however, did not submit for a long time: all the seventies, Arnie, in parallel with the competition, starred in films, but there was still no recognition. The critics had quite a strong opinion about the acting talent of this constrained and tongue-tied giant, in a mild version sounded like a “tree”, the accursed accent pursued relentlessly (until the end, Arnie still hasn't got rid of it). So he was not invited to the cinema for a long time.
"In Hollywood, I met different people. In this picture, a party in the yard of my house with directors Roman Polanski and Bob Raifelson and their girlfriends."

And nevertheless, the second picture in Schwarzenegger's filmography appears after seven long years, when his famous victorious series of five titles "Mr. Olympia" was already behind him, and he himself became rich and famous.
Stay Hungry (1976) is a drama that tells the story of bodybuilder Joe Santo who stands in the way of a crime syndicate that illegally buys real estate in the area. A bit naive, but kind and sincere film shows young Jeff Bridges and Arnold, who does not blow anyone's brains out and does not smear on the wall, but works in the gym, and for the soul ... plays the violin. This time, the critics were more supportive - no one remembered about oaks and other green spaces, but, on the contrary, it was noted that the bodybuilder showed himself as a real actor, and is clearly capable of much. In 77th Arnold receives the prestigious Golden Globe award for this role, for some reason in the Best Debut nomination. Apparently, critics did not consider "Hercules" as a film at all. Alas, that "Globe" remained the only award of this level for the entire career of Arnold.

In the late seventies, Arnold earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin. He always strove to develop not only the body, but also the mind.

Personal life
About six months after moving to the United States, Arnold met a young school teacher, Barbara Baker, and lived with her for five years. Arnold himself talks about the reason for their separation: “She was calm and balanced, and wanted to live an ordinary, measured life. I was very unbalanced and hated the very idea of being like everyone else. But from the memoirs of Baker: “He was a cheerful, incredibly charismatic and adventurous guy, but in the end he became simply unbearable - the whole world had to revolve around his precious person. I have never met such a complete egoist in my life. " Arnold cheated on her left and right. In 2006, Baker published a book of memories of their life with Arnold, calling it without a fuss: "In the shade of an Austrian oak." Contrary to expectations, Arnold did not protest, and even ... wrote a preface to this book!

The couple have four children: daughters Katherine and Christina, and sons Patrick and Christopher.

Alas, literally recently, a grandiose scandal erupted, which ended with the fact that Maria, after a quarter of a century of living together, filed for divorce and left their huge house in Brentwood just a couple of weeks after the silver wedding ...
Arnold himself is to blame, or rather, his marital infidelity. A sensational fact was revealed: it turns out that Arnie has an illegitimate son Joseph, the same age as Christopher, who was born to a servant who worked in the Schwarzenegger's mansion in the second half of the nineties! Moreover, this boy was dear to Arnold, he saw him, and always found an opportunity to maintain a relationship. Oddly enough, the guy himself, before the scandal, did not even suspect that he was Schwarzenegger's son, but when he found out, he was shocked.

Only in the 82nd real success in cinema came to him. The first films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in a series of all the blockbusters that made the actor a superstar are the famous film adaptations of the novels of the Hyborian Era by writer Robert Irwin Howard, written in the fantasy genre back in the thirties. These stories told about a powerful and dexterous barbarian warrior named Conan, capable of single-handedly destroying hundreds of enemies, and crushing all kinds of evil spirits.
Film company "Universal Pictures" allocated an impressive budget of $ 20 million by the standards of the early eighties, and Arnold was instantly among the favorites for the role of Conan (by the way, Steven Spielberg, who had a phenomenal flair for successful images, recommended to the producers).

And it was the very long-awaited success that Arnie dreamed of: "Conan the Barbarian" (1982) became an overnight hit, impressed the audience to the core with its savage romance, confident production, brutality and Poledouris' genius soundtrack. Interesting fact: Schwarzenegger was obliged to reduce the size muscle mass- his muscles were so great that the directors of the sword fencing scenes could not get the correct movements from him ... He lost weight up to one hundred kilograms (immediately after filming, gaining all 120). Critics did not hesitate to burst out snide articles about the actor's acting, “not much better than the acting of his horse,” and it was for “Barbarian” that Arnold received his first nomination for “Golden Raspberry” in the category “worst actor”. Later he will be nominated more than once ...

In an effort to forge the iron while it was hot, the sequel Conan the Destroyer (1984) was instantly filmed.

But Richard Fleischer, who took the place of the talented John Milius in the director's chair, could not compare with his predecessor, so the rather sluggish picture did not repeat the triumph of "Barbarian".

But there was a film ahead that would at once take Schwarzenegger to the sky-high heights, whose popularity, and so rather big after the role of Conan, would grow exponentially.
The Terminator (1984) is a milestone in the history of action fiction, dividing the genre into "before" and "after", as happened with fiction with the advent of "Star Wars" Lucas. It is impossible to say anything new about James Cameron's film - everything has already been said with numerous variations and the most colorful epithets. Now a real masterpiece appeared in Arnold's filmography, and his type instantly turned out to be super-demanded, so that he could now choose from several scenarios at once.

It seems that Schwarzenegger himself fell in love with the story of the barbarian, since the author of "Conan the Destroyer" Fleischer got him in a new film based on the universe of Hyboria.

At first, the project was considered as the third episode of the story about Conan, but then they decided to make the story completely original, and named the character Calidor (you can hardly distinguish him from Conan.) Alas, the idea ended in failure - despite the familiar aesthetics and stunning Bridget Nielsen, “ Red Sonja "(1985) did not interest almost anyone, ingloriously sinking into oblivion. Perhaps, as part of the trilogy, the picture would have looked more advantageous, or maybe the lack of the director's skill is to blame, but the fantasy-style project ended quite ingloriously.

But in the world there were still enough types worthy of Schwarzenegger! The best movie directed by Mark Lester, eerily straightforward "Commando" (1985) about a special forces officer taking revenge on the villains who kidnapped his daughter, gave the world John Matrix, no doubt on a par with other immortal screen images of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The picture became a kind of apotheosis of brutality - on average, there is one murder per minute of screen time (more than 80 dead). Hanging with an impressive arsenal, Arnold in camouflage and with a smeared frowning face has become a kind of teenage icon, a kind of role model - however, in this hypostasis he will perform more than once.

In the wake of the popularity of primitive action films, the film No Compromise (1986) was released, but this is the very work that can rightfully be considered a walkthrough for an actor - deliberately simple, clearly low-budget and not representing anything from itself an action game with an expressionless hero and a standard scheme "One-against-all" is a kind of "Commando" without style and charisma. The viewer ignored him.

But the next project became a real hit - it was a fantastic action movie "Predator" (1987), about an alien bounty hunter who stumbled upon a worthy enemy on Earth in the person of a special forces soldier named The Dutchman, and naturally gave up after a series of magnificent battle scenes.

Director John McTiernan (who will direct Bruce Willis's landmark "Die Hard" a year later) and special effects master Stan Winston, voted the best in his craft, delivered a spectacle that captured the imagination of audiences and made the film a cult following. The Terrifying Predator was partly invented by James Cameron - it was from his sketch that Winston crafted the monster's famous sliding jaw.

"The Running Man" (1987) is a tape about a dystopian future, in which scary reality shows are held with the participation of people who are trying to kill in front of television cameras, and they are forced to save their lives by any means. Schwarzenegger played the role of police officer Ben Richards, who not only defeated all rivals in the labyrinth of death, but also dealt with the author of the terrible game. The film brought much less than expected, but still it was not a failure, and contained many advantages - dynamic and exciting, it was filmed based on the work of the famous Stephen King - however, somewhat secondary in its plot (maybe because of King and wrote it under a pseudonym).

When Arnold got a call from McTiernan, who shot him in Predator, and offered to play the main role in an action movie about a lone cop who fights European terrorists in a captured skyscraper, Schwarzenegger refused without much hesitation. McTiernan had to invite a completely different actor to Die Hard ... Well, Schwarzenegger chose the script in which Mother Russia appeared.

The movie "Red Heat" was released in 1988, and James Belushi stars in it with Arnold. Here Arnie portrays not just anyone, but ... a Soviet policeman, a fiery communist, who pursues a Soviet bandit in the United States. The film cannot but cause a smile with its naivety in the depiction of Soviet realities by the Americans, and the few phrases that “Captain Ivan Danko” uttered in Russian became the reason for the sincere fun of millions of our compatriots for many years to come. "Turak!" "Khuligani!" "Capitalism! .." Pearls were falling from the screen.

By that time, Arnold was ripe to dilute the series of brutal images with the cheerful and soulful comedy "Gemini" (1988) with Denny DeVito.

The beautiful-hearted and naive Julius Benedict showed the world a completely different Schwarzenegger: the Schwarzenegger Who Smiles. This image added to the already considerable army of fans of the actor those who hate violence, and even skeptics admitted that Arnold is much more difficult than it might seem at first glance. The film proved to be a huge box office success.

The film Total Recall, released in 1990, was an absolutely brilliant achievement not only in the field of special effects (for which it received an Oscar), but also in terms of dynamism and entertainment.

Inspired to genius, containing a number of absolutely outstanding components, he consolidated the position in Hollywood of Dutch director Paul Verhoeven (who took off a year earlier thanks to the genius "Robocop"), and added another successful film to Schwarzenegger's filmography. Quarter Billion at the Box Office! And one of the best adaptations of the cult writer Philip Dick, which is put on a par with another brilliant film based on his work - Ridley Scott's Blade Runner.

Another departure from the brutal image - albeit partial. In the film "Kindergarten Policeman" (1990), Schwarzenegger appears as ... a nanny for kids.

That, of course, could not but affect his popularity among the most sentimental part of the audience - everyone fell in love with Arnie! The author of "Gemini" Reitman again made a wonderful movie, in which, however, Arnold clearly lacked a partner, such as De Vito ...

It seemed that Arnold was at the height of his fame, and there was nothing more to be desired. And then he takes part in the film, which is recognized by most movie lovers as one of the best fantastic action films in history, and the best film in the entire career of an actor. It was the great Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) by James Cameron, who finally decided to shoot a sequel to the original 1984 film.

Winning four Oscars out of six nominations and revolutionizing special effects, Terminator 2 will forever remain a true gem of all action films in the history of cinema. It is difficult to find another such interesting and exciting film, and even so perfect stylistically, with all the desire (with special delight the picture was accepted by the youth audience).

More than five hundred million, collected by the picture at the worldwide box office, speak for themselves - in the entire civilized world there seems to be not a single person who has not seen this brilliant picture ... Arnold's popularity skyrocketed, reaching its apogee. He did not have more films of this level - even despite the indisputable success.

In 1991, Arnold, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore and Sylvester Stallone founded the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain. However, this enterprise unexpectedly turned out to be unprofitable, went bankrupt several times, the share price fell 32 times, so in 2000 the calculating Arnie got out of this dubious case.

Schwarzenegger's further career in cinema can be viewed as a kind of natural downward movement - which is quite expected, given the height to which he managed to climb, collaborating with Cameron.
Arnold's old acquaintance from the Predator movie, John McTiernan, suggested that he make a film that would play up clichés from pictures with action heroes - but not in a parody, but in a deeper and more dramatic style. The idea seemed to Schwarzenegger to be successful, and in 1993, The Last Movie Hero appeared on the screens, in which Arnold appears as a kind of collective image, trying to rethink his own meaning and almost the meaning of life. The film was clearly much deeper than it seemed at first glance, but the wide audience chose not to delve into such subtleties, so the film did not even pay off in the States, and it did not shine with success in the world box office. And then there's the annoying nomination for the Golden Raspberry ... The replenishment of the filmography was not very successful.

Perhaps the last truly powerful film by Schwarzenegger can be considered "True Lies" (1994), shot by Cameron - indeed, all projects of this director are simply knocked off their feet.

It turned out to be a downright example of spectacular action, despite the fact that it was a remake of the recent French "Total Surveillance". Perchik added Jamie Lee Curtis, who is downright gorgeous here. Almost four hundred million fees meant a complete and unconditional success, although the film was still far from the epoch-making “Doomsday”.

Ivan Reitman is again filming a comedy with Schwarzenegger - and even with Denny DeVito, just like in the good old days. This time the director went out of his way: the symbol of masculinity and a mountain of muscles in the film "Junior" (1994) appears in the role of ... a future mother!
The scientist "got pregnant" as a result of the experiment, performed by Arnold, amusingly demonstrates the manners of a pregnant woman, and makes fun of all the cliches that are inextricably linked with his image. The bold move paid off - it looks like a combination of Schwarzenegger, DeVito and Reitman means guaranteed success.

But from the mid-90s, an obvious decline in his career began, which was sadly "supplemented" by health problems.
"The Eraser" (1996), the action movie is so straightforward that it makes no sense to look for even a touch of irony in it. Everything is heavy and harsh - sophisticated special effects, luxurious stunts, fights and one Schwarzenegger against hundreds of enemies with firearms, stacking adversaries throughout the whole picture. Critics razed The Eraser to the ground, Arnold's fans were quite pleased - at least the one hundred million dollar budget returned with interest. But all this was not the same ...

Without any interruption after the "Eraser" Arnold is taken for new project- the comedy "A Gift for Christmas" (1996), in which he plays the role of a loving father who is ready to do anything to find at least one store in the pre-holiday turmoil, which still has a toy his son dreams of. On the set, Arnold felt an unusual malaise several times, the shooting was postponed several times due to heart pains that the actor periodically felt. At the same time, he asked everyone not to talk about the fact that he was getting sick ... The lack of rest between filming cost Arnold dearly - one of the evenings he was taken away by an ambulance.

Heart problems required surgery - and so, in 1997, Schwarzenegger had a heart valve that was defective from birth replaced with an artificial one. He still did not want to believe that his indestructible health was letting him down - on the very first day after the operation, when the patient was prescribed the strictest bed rest, Arnold voluntarily left the hospital ward, found a bicycle in the courtyard of the clinic and went on a short trip through the park. According to rumors, he almost died that day: the stitches parted, an immediate reoperation was required. From that time on, he realized that the times of heavy loads and grueling workouts were forever in the past. It was just before the anniversary - Schwarzenegger was 50 years old.

Recovering from the operation, Schwarzenegger takes part in one of his most dubious projects - Joel Schumacher's film Batman and Robin (1997), although it brought in an impressive 250 million, was recognized by film critics as one of the "worst films" of all time, and received monstrous eleven (!!!) nominations for the Golden Raspberry anti-award (however, he won only one). Shaved head Schwarzenegger, who played the villainous Mr. Freeze, received $ 25 million for the work, but they were not worth it to participate in this lurid farce. It is impossible to imagine a more gaudy picture ... The nomination for the "Golden Raspberry" in the category "Worst Supporting Actor" was more than natural.

The End of the World (1999) by Peter Hyams, although it was much more stylish than the creation of Schumacher, nevertheless turned out to be a rather ordinary mystical thriller, playing on medieval myths on the eve of the new millennium. The 200 million box office is more of a tribute to Schwarzenegger's fans, who number in the millions around the world ... They simply could not miss a new film featuring their idol, even though this film was essentially nothing special. Schwarzenegger did not shine in the game - for which he was nominated for the next Golden Raspberry.

Alas, Arnold didn't have enough fans for more: "The Sixth Day" (2000), which tells about the world of the future, in which people are threatened by their cloned copies, in the States generally failed with a crash, and after being rolled out in the world he barely returned the costs. Critics this time rode around Arnie like never before - he was nominated for three "Golden Raspberries": Worst Actor, Worst Acting Duet (with his own clone) and Worst Supporting Actor (actually a clone). Hmm. Schwarzenegger seriously begins to think about ending his acting career: it is better to leave "undefeated", while his great victories are still fresh in people's minds, than to slide into the "B" category (where many famous actors in the past thundered), again and again taking part in failed projects , and in the end left without any proposals for filming.

The next film - a straightforward action movie "Compensation for Damage" (2001) about a firefighter who loses his family during a terrorist attack, and independently finds and destroys the culprits, only confirmed Arnold's fears.

Again a failure, again completely destructive reviews - there was something to get depressed from. The only Arnold film that did not even return the costs and became unprofitable! This despite the fact that in fact he was not even very bad - just too ordinary. Well, at least the "Raspberries" passed by.

After filming with Arnold, an accident happened - he fell off his Harley (Arnold loves these bikes). The result is six broken ribs and a week of bed rest. Along the way it turned out interesting fact: Arnold's motorcycle driving license obtained in Austria is not valid in the USA! The actor had no idea about this, for many years he was driving without a license, and immediately received "normal" rights after leaving the hospital.

A series of disappointments, according to Arnold, had to be interrupted by a powerful blockbuster, which was supposed to "shoot", hitting the whole world to the very heart. Just at this time, the producers of the young film company "C-2 Pictures" turned to James Cameron with a request to direct the third part of "The Terminator" - they promised a two hundred million budget, Schwarzenegger's participation and a complete carte blanche. It is possible that if Cameron got down to business, the world would see something amazing and epoch-making. But this did not happen - Cameron refused with the words: "I have nothing more to say on this topic."

Then the production was taken up by Jonathan Mostow, who by that time had shot the wonderful thriller "Crash" (1997) with Kurt Russell, and won an Oscar for best sound a military drama about submariners "U-571" (2000). In general, it was quite possible to expect something interesting ... But Mostow ruined everything. Indeed, some ideas should not be touched by anyone other than their authors. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) was not at all a continuation of Cameron's legendary dilogy - it was something completely alien in spirit, chaotic and sometimes strange. How unlike the genius harmony of James' creations! The whole world went to the big name "Terminator" and Schwarzenegger - and the whole world sighed with disappointment.

In show business, Arnold has achieved everything that could be dreamed of. It's time to conquer a new peak. 56-year-old Schwarzenegger decided to retire from cinema and devote himself to politics.
Back in 1990, George W. Bush appointed Schwarzenegger as the head of the Presidential Council on Sports and Health, and Arnold himself strongly supported politics and, in general, began to take a rather active part in public life. It was from the beginning of the nineties that the actor began to acquire real political weight, being keenly interested in the life of the people and the possibilities of solving universal human problems (although in the mid-80s he accepted Active participation in anti-drug propaganda under the patronage of Reagan). He became "his own man" in the US elite, a good acquaintance of the largest people in business and politics in the United States.
"Sledding at Camp David. President George W. Bush and I are about to bump into the first lady."

In the late 90s, during an interview with Talk magazine, he mentioned that he had thought more than once about ... presidential elections... These words of his, of course, became the subject of an exercise in wit for all and sundry, but time has shown that Iron Arnie should not be underestimated. After all, the actor Reagan became the head of state! Why not do it to another movie star? Looking ahead, it must be said that US law prohibits people born outside America from running for president. Purebred Austrian Schwarzenegger is clearly out of the blue here ...
Since the early 2000s, rumors have spread in the press about Arnold's intention to run for governor of California. He denied it! He even once said that “all this is nonsense. I'm in the middle of my career, I'm an actor, why should I suddenly jump to something else? " Later it became clear that he was very cunning. Because on the most popular "Jay Leno Show" in 2003, immediately after filming in the third "Terminator", Arnie publicly announced his candidacy for the post of Governor of California! This news caused shock, and then - great enthusiasm. "Terminator to Governor!" Was the slogan of all Arnold fans across the state. The pre-election race began with a huge interest in what was happening throughout the country.

Arnold's election campaign was shamelessly built on his film career - the names of the most famous films and quotes from them were constantly used, so Schwarzenegger's competitors reproached him (and in many respects rightly) for unfair play - after all, they did not have such universal popularity in cinema and sports on their side! "What does politics have to do with it?" they asked. But Arnold never gave a damn, and during the October 2003 elections he calmly received 1.3 million votes, confidently defeating the rest of the candidates for the office, and creating the biggest sensation of those days. New huge victory on life path- Arnold Schwarzenegger took over as governor of the very California where he began his career as a penniless European immigrant.

But I must admit that Arnold's third career was not as successful as the previous two - if he was an athlete and an actor, he was a rather ordinary politician. But he was in office for seven years and was re-elected, and that means something! Since 2011, Arnold Schwarzenegger has vacated the governor's chair upon the expiration of his term of office (it is forbidden to be elected for the third time), stating that "he has had enough."
While still governor, Arnold appeared in a small role in his friend Sylvester Stallone's film The Expendables (2010).

And in 2012 he starred in the sequel "The Expendables - 2"

Also in 2013, the film directed by Mikael Hofström "Escape Plan" was released, where Arnold played in tandem with Sylvester Stallone.

According to Stallone and Schwarzenegger themselves, the idea of such a picture came to them already in the mid-80s, and even several test scripts were written. But at first it was impossible to synchronize the shooting schedules, and then Schwarzenegger went into politics - the project was postponed until better times.

Another action movie was released earlier this year. "Sabotage" directed by David Ayer, where Schwarzenegger plays a police officer, and he again has to fight the drug mafia.

In August 2013, Arnold took part in the filming of the action movie "The Expendables 3", where many famous actors played, such as Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Antonio Banderas, Dolph Lundgren and others.

In April 2014, Iron Arnie began filming the fantastic action movie Terminator: Origins. Arnold again played the famous role of the T-800 Terminator.
The film was directed by Alan Taylor. The film is scheduled for release in 2015.

Arnold is not going to retire. And although he is already at a rather old age, he still leads an active lifestyle, trains in the gym, runs in the morning, and constantly assures everyone that he is full of energy. So there is no doubt that he will still declare himself, and rather soon.
“It’s not victories that give you strength. Struggle gives strength. When you go through difficulties and don't give up - that's the power. "