By Elliott West
“That which does not kill us makes us stronger”.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Introduction
My heart is always filled with joy when I hear about inspirational life stories. A battle against adversity where the individual in question accepts no ifs or buts to achieve their ultimate goals in life and will not rest until they fulfil them. One such man who has truly fascinated me the more I learn about him is the Austrian bodybuilder turned movie star and politician, Arnold Schwarzenegger. An individual who was born in Thal, Austria and driven by a vision from an early age. A vision that built a steel mindset against any negative knockbacks, flooding his brain with positive thoughts and a sense of unparalleled determination.
Out of Place
Arnold was born in 1947 in Austria. A country that was still licking its wounds from the atrocities of the Second World War. His father, Gustav was an authoritarian parent, mentally scared after being buried in wartime rubble. This caused him to rule his household with an iron rod, a man who often beat his two sons with a belt pulled their hair, shouted and screamed after a drink and set his children tasks before they could be rewarded with food. Arnold’s mother, Aurelia was also spared from her husband’s aggressive nature and used to spend hours cleaning, scrubbing floors and folding laundry with ultimate precision. Woe betide anyone who messed it up because they would get the sharp end of her tongue.
This was a life that Arnold didn’t particularly like. At one point, he even questioned whether these were his real parents, an unpredictable policeman and a housewife who showed little affection and love. His father preferred his brother, Meinhard and the favouritism was blatant but in the end, his brother would turn to drink to drown the pain from his childhood violence and ended up dying in a car crash in 1971 due to drunk driving. Arnold stayed away from the funeral and didn’t process it for many years afterwards, putting his grief in a box to avoid impacting his career goals.
Body Building
“It would make me sick to miss a workout… I knew I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror the next morning if I didn’t do it.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Divine inspiration comes in many shapes and forms, a Road to Damascus moment that shapes your whole life before you. For Arnold, this came when he decided to venture away from the limits of his village and went to the nearest big town. Here, he went to the cinema and sat for hours watching Hollywood movies of the time. One such actor who caught his eye was the muscle-clad Adonis, Reg Park who starred in several Hercules movies. His stature and strength bowled this young man over, especially when he saw a picture of Park plastered across the front of a magazine in a local shop window. Reg had that wow factor that Schwarzenegger wanted a piece of. The drive to achieve a perfect physique and capitalise on the monetary returns. A world is your oyster moment.
Arnold started to visit his local gym in Graz, shunning away from his parent’s dream of becoming a policeman or an office worker. Bodybuilders like Reg Park, Steve Reeves and the Tarzan legend, Johnny Weissmuller gave him a sense of purpose, understanding his dreams and giving Arnold a sense of what was possible. Through this gym, he went on to meet former Mr Austria, Kurt Marnul. A man who had dedicated his life to training. His world was the gym. The noise of the thumping weights, sweaty sessions, a drug that fuelled both men and even resorted to Arnold breaking into the gym when it was closed. Schwarzenegger plastered the wall above his bed with pictures of bodybuilders and would spend hours lying there staring at them, dreaming of what could be. At one stage his mother even questioned his sexuality as not a single one was of a girl.
National Service was compulsory in Austria and when his time came at the age of 18, Arnold decided to join the army in the tank division. However, they said he was too tall and it wasn’t until his father put in a good word for him that they changed his mind. During his service, Schwarzenegger was invited to take part in the Junior Mr Europe competition but the army said he couldn’t go. Arnold went anyway, going AWOL. He went on to win it but spent a week in military prison when he returned. This competition and second place in another Graz contest opened the doors to his ticket to travel to America to compete in the legendary Mr Universe.
” The most famous US immigrant”, who “overcame a thick Austrian accent and transcended the unlikely background of bodybuilding to become the biggest movie star in the world in the 1990s”.
LA Weekly, 2002.
Schwarzenegger’s talent was quickly recognised and he made his first journey to the USA in 1966. Here he was taken under the wing of Charles “Wag” Bennett, one of the judges who offered to coach him. Wag paid for his plane tickets and gave him a roof over his head. This was the start of this Austrian’s dream, of experiencing the bustle of London life and getting the opportunity to improve his rudimentary command of the English language. The Bennett family became his adopted family, giving him the love and attention that his upbringing had sadly lacked. He even met Reg Park through Wag. A spell in Munich would follow where he worked and trained at Rolf Putziger’s gym from 1966 to 1968. An opportunity that led to him winning Mr Universe in London in 1968.
Arnold would then move to the USA in 1968 with still much debate of whether he did so legally with the necessary documentation. Here he trained at Gold’s Gym in Los Angeles and could often be spotted on the beach pumping iron with his new gym friends. Ric Drasin would coach him during this period and what a time of his life it was. In 1970, Schwarzenegger captured his first Mr Universe title here in New York and would go on to win a staggering seven times. He also won Mr Olympia the same year, a title that he would also go on to win seven times. The last win came in 1980 when he came out of retirement to compete in it. A period where controlled fitness and steroids were his number-one priorities in life.
Film Career
I’m going to become the greatest actor”.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger has been in 41 films so far, ranging from his first, Hercules in New York in 1970 and including the highly successful Conan films of 1982 and 1984, the Terminator franchise and Twins in 1988. A career that has been just as successful as the bodybuilding one previously. His catchphrases have become legendary and much-repeated. An actor who perfectly combines his physique with memorable acting performances. A man who is brilliant in his action roles but can also show his lighter, funny side as well.
Politics
Like Ronald Reagan and Clint Eastwood, Arnie also tried his hand as a politician. A staunch Republican, Schwarzenegger went on to serve as Governor of California in 1993 during the George W. Bush presidency, supported pro-life in the abortion debate, and same-sex marriages and would go on to win a second term in 2006. A champion of climate change and the perils of global warming, his tenure was however tainted with allegations of sexual and personal misconduct. A darker side to Arnold that was settled out of court. However, he never achieved another of his dreams of running for president due to not being a natural-born citizen. A man who became a millionaire at the age of 25 thanks to wise business investments.
Life After
“The only reason why someone doesn’t want to go to the gym when they get up is because you were thinking. That’s the biggest mistake you can make. I don’t think,” he said, before noting that he rides his bicycle to the gym every day”.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Now at the age of 76, Arnold leads a more relaxed lifestyle. The gym is still a prominent feature in his Californian home but he has embraced nature, having several dogs, a pig called Chanel and even a donkey in his Austrian home who he likes to stroke while relaxing in the kitchen. Now divorced Maria Shriver after an affair with his family’s housekeeper Mildred Baena, and has since fathered a son, Joseph Baena, now 26, Arnold has four children from his previous marriage, Katherine, Christina, Patrick and Christopher. A man who still walks and runs and who loves nothing more than smoking a good Cuban cigar. A champion of the self-help cause.
