Arnold Schwarzenegger Biography / Pictures

Schwarzenegger was born in Thal, Austria (four miles from Graz) to a Gendarmerie-Kommandant policeman, Gustav Schwarzenegger (1907-1972) and Aurelia Jadrny (1922-1998). He moved to the US

 in 1968 and became a US citizen in 1983. Meanwhile, he earned a B.A from the University of Wisconsin, Superior where he graduated with a major in international marketing of fitness and business administration in 1979. The football stadium in Graz was renamed Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium in 1997.

In 1971 Schwarzenegger's brother Meinhard was killed in an automobile accident.

In 1986, Schwarzenegger married noted TV journalist Maria Shriver, niece of late President Kennedy. The couple have 4 children: daughters Katherine and Christina and sons Patrick and Christopher.

In April 1997 he underwent an operation to correct a congenital heart valve defect.

Schwarzenegger first gained fame as a prominent bodybuilder. His well-developed physique revolutionized the sport, earned him the moniker "The Austrian Oak" and won him the titles of Junior Mr. Europe, Mr. World, Mr. Universe (five times) and Mr. Olympia (seven times). He is considered one of the most important figures in the history of bodybuilding, and his legacy in the sport is commemorated in the Arnold Classic annual bodybuilding competition.

Schwarzenegger's uniquely muscular appearance earned him several movie roles. His first credited film appearance was in Hercules in New York (1970). Under the name Arnold Strong, Schwarzenegger played the title character who travels to New York and befriends a mild-mannered man. His accent in the film was so thick that his lines were dubbedbed. Schwarzenegger came to the attention of more people in the documentary Pumping Iron (1977).

Schwarzenegger's breakthrough film was Conan the Barbarian (1982), cemented by Conan the Destroyer (1984). He is perhaps most known for his role in James Cameron's The Terminator (1984) where his deadpan acting style actually helped the film. Schwarzenegger's acting ability (described by one critic as having an emotional range that "stretches from A almost to B") has long been the butt of many jokes; he retains a strong Austrian accent in his speech even in roles which do not call for such an accent. However, few of the fans of his work seem to care. He also made a mark with injecting his films with a droll sense of humor, setting him apart from the more serious action heroes such as those played by Sylvester Stallone.

Following his arrival as a Hollywood superstar, he made a number of commercially successful films: Commando (1985), Raw Deal (1986), The Running Man (1987), Predator (1987) and Red Heat (1988). Twins, (1988) a comedy with Danny DeVito, was a change of pace. Total Recall (1990) got Schwarzenegger $10m and 15% of the gross, and hid a widely praised, thought-provoking science-fiction script behind his usual violent action. Kindergarten Cop (1990) was another comedy.

Schwarzenegger arguably hit his high-water mark with Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). After the box-office failure of The Last Action Hero, (1993) Schwarzenegger's career never again achieved quite the same prominence. True Lies (1994) was a sendup of spy films. It was followed by Eraser (1996), End of Days (1999), The 6th Day (2000) and Collateral Damage (2002). He starred in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) and was slated to star in a possible True Lies 2, but his duties as California governor have likely put his movie career on hold until at least 2007.

Schwarzenegger is a registered voter of the Republican party, although he describes himself as fiscally conservative and socially moderate. He backed President Ronald Reagan while he was in office but chastised fellow Republicans during the impeachment of Bill Clinton.

In an interview on October 29, 2002, with MSNBC's Chris Matthews at Chapman University, Schwarzenegger explained why he is a Republican:

"Well, I think because a lot of people don't know why I'm a Republican, I came first of all from a socialistic country which is Austria and when I came over here in 1968 with the presidential elections coming up in November, I came over in October, I heard a lot of the press conferences from both of the candidates Humphrey and Nixon, and Humphrey was talking about more government is the solution, protectionism, and everything he said about government involvement sounded to me more like Austrian socialism.

"Then when heard Nixon talk about it, he said open up the borders, the consumers should be represented there ultimately and strengthen the military and get the government off our backs. I said to myself, what is this guy's party affiliation? I didn't know anything at that point. So I asked my friend, what is Nixon? He's a Republican. And I said, I am a Republican. That's how I became a Republican."

It had been known since the 1990s that Schwarzenegger was interested in public office (a belief jokingly referenced in a Sylvester Stallone film, Demolition Man, where a future America passed a constitutional amendment to allow foreign-born Americans, and thus Schwarzenegger, to become President).

Regarding a run for public office, in 1999, he told Talk magazine that "I think about it many times." He said, "The possibility is there because I feel it inside. I feel there are a lot of people standing still and not doing enough. And there's a vacuum." Some analysts suspected that it was his unofficial announcement to run in the 2002 California gubernatorial election. Ultimately, he supported his friend and fellow moderate Republican, Richard Riordan, former mayor of Los Angeles, California.

Schwarzenegger was appointed Chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports in the administration of George H. W. Bush from 1990 to 1993. During that time, Schwarzenegger traveled across the U.S. promoting physical fitness to kids. He later served as Chairman for the California Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports under Governor Pete Wilson.

Schwarzenegger scored his first real political success on November 5, 2002 when Californians approved his personally crafted and sponsored Proposition 49, the "After School Education and Safety Program Act of 2002", an initiative to make state grants available for after school programs.

In the 2003 California recall, Schwarzenegger was widely rumored to be considering a run at becoming Governor of California. In the July 2003 issue of Esquire magazine, he said, "Yes, I would love to be governor of California ... If the state needs me, and if there's no one I think is better, then I will run." When a recall campaign against Democratic governor Gray Davis qualified for the ballot on July 24, Schwarzenegger left many wondering whether he would jump into the contest. Schwarzenegger was just wrapping up a promotional tour for Terminator 3 and said he would announce his decision on whether to run on August 6 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.