Arnold Schwarzenegger then and now was popular with a familiar leather jacket, and the classic cold face of the T-800 killer robot.
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger was born on July 30, 1947, in Steiermark, Austria. He spent a poor childhood with his father Gustav Schwarzenegger, a regional police officer and his mother, Aurelia Jadmy. His father, along with the discipline of a former Nazi veteran, brought him up very strictly. He gave Arnold only two options: to obey or to be whipped.
Country boy with the American dream
Although his academic achievements were not very good, young Arnold showed his aptitude for sports very early. At the age of 14, he took part in sports such as soccer, athletics and was particularly passionate about fitness. Being hard at work out, in 1965, he won a prize at the Junior Europe bodybuilding competition. His next victory in Graz made him known by the nickname: The most beautiful man in Europe.
He spent a lot of time in the gym and won the second prize at Mr. Universe in 1966. He then continued winning the first prize for four consecutive years thereafter. Winning Mr. Universe was the golden ticket for Arnold to be able to go to America to pursue his dream of changing his life. Arnold officially arrived in the US in 1968, with the ambition to become a famous actor.
“Hercules” in New York
He first built his dream in 1970 with the movie Hercules in New York. However, his limited English and his low voice became the biggest barrier for him as an actor. His colleagues considered that Arnold would not have a future in acting.
Beyond all that, his role in Stay Hungry (1976) earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Newcomer. Triumph continued with Arnold in Pumping Iron 1977, the movie about bodybuilding. In addition, the legendary action film Conan the Barbarian (1982) helped Mr. Universe caught the eye of the media at the time.
During the two decades of 80-90, Arnold Schwarzenegger performed many genres. In terms of action genres, there were Commando (1985), Predator (1987), Red Heat (1988). Regarding family comedy, he joined in Twins (1988, starring with Danny DeVito), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Jingle All The Way (1996), and so on.
Rising up by The Terminator
The Terminator (1984) made the name of director James Cameron and Arnold. He played the role of T-800, a terminator robot from the future. He returned to the past with the mission to destroy the young mother Sarah Connor, the human leader. The Terminator quickly became the most popular science fiction movie of its time. Other movie projects he participated in were not as successful as expected until Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).
The movie was an excellent sequel in the public eye at the time. This made The Terminator series become a permanent monument of action- science fiction movie. Arnold continued associating with James Cameron and achieved much success in True Lies (1994).
However, after that, Arnold’s acting career increasingly decrease. The peak of his failure was the role of villain Mr. Freeze in Batman and Robin (1997). However, in 2006, Arnold laid his name on the Walk of Fame. His American dream over two decades became a reality.
Turning to politics
While his acting career began to be gloomy, his political career was increasingly successful. Arnold Schwarzenegger served as president of the Presidential Council of Sports and Physical Development from 1990 to 1993. In 1994, he became a Red Cross ambassador and participated in many blood donation programs. With the support of the people, in 2003 he was elected Governor of California.
During his tenure, Arnold gained high appreciation. In May 2004 and 2007, he got a nomination by Time as one of the 100 people who helped shape the modern world.
“I’ll be back”
After all, acting was still fascinating interesting enough to invite the muscular governor to come back. Arnold became a key member of The Expendables. This movie gathered many famous action actors such as Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, and Jason Statham.
In 2015, Arnold re-appeared with the original destruction robot in Terminator Genisys – the fifth and also the reboot for the Terminator series. In a new timeline that had been changed, his T-800 had a friendly name “Pop”. He was sent by a mysterious person from the future to protect Sarah Connor since she was a 9-year-old child.
To solve Arnold’s “age” problem, the script was changed that the Terminator had the ability to age like normal people. The silver hair color of the T-800 was also Arnold’s true current hair color.
Related: The Transformation of Arnold Schwarzenegger
