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| Arnold Schwarzenegger |
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| Forecourt Ceremony held on Thursday, July 14, 1994 |
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Born: July 30, 1947, in Thal, Styria, Austria
Age at the time of the ceremony: 46
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Arnold Schwarzenegger is another great figure of Hollywood filmmaking. Made famous for his body-building, Ah-nold has lept from film to film, always delighting audiences just by being himself.
Arnold's father Gustav had been a non-commissioned officer in the German army of occupation since the anschluss of March 1938. After being drummed out in 1943 for having malaria, Gustav married, at age 38, Aurelia Jadrny in October 1947. She was 23. The family was Roman Catholic and very strict. Gustav was a policeman.
Growing up, Arnold felt that Gustav did not care for him; that he preferred his older brother Meinhard. Arnold was close to his mother her entire life. He was an average student, but won people over with his charming, sunny personality. After tying out various sports, Arnold decided on weight training at the age of 14. He began training at a gym in nearby Graz, where there were cinemas where he would see the films of Steve Reeves and other bodybuilder / actors.
His parents wanted Arnold to conform to standard behavior, but the young man vowed to move away as soon as he could.
Serving a compulsory year in the Austrian Army in 1965, 18 year old Arnold went AWOL to compete and win the Junior Mr. Europe contest. Travelling to London for the 1966 Mr. Universe contest, Arnold finished second behind American Chester Yorton. A judge at the contest, Charles Bennett, offered to train Arnold, who moved to London to do so — and to learn English. He won the Mr. Universe title in 1967. He could lift a 500 pound stone.
Moving to the US in 1968, Arnold began training at Gold's Gym in Venice California. He began to call himself "Arnold Strong" and it was under this name that he appeared in his first film Hercules in New York (released in February 1970). Arnold would win the Mr. Olympia title in New York in September 1970; he would win it another six times. In no time at all, Arnold came to dominate the "Golden Age" of professional body building.
Arnold's brother Meinhard died while drunk driving in May 1971; father Gustav died of a stroke in December 1972. Arnold did not attend either funeral.
Director Bob Rafelson would make a film of bodybuilding journalist Charles Gaines' novel Stay Hungry (released in April 1976), with Jeff Bridges. Arnold won much attention from this movie. It is a charmer — see it if you can.
Gaines helped work on the documentary Pumping Iron (released in January 1977), which really brought Schwarzenegger to the movie-going public's attention. With this newly-found profile, he guest starred on The Streets of San Francisco aired on ABC in May 1977, with Karl Malden — naturally.
During this period, Schwarzenegger wrote articles for various bodybuilding magazines. He published his first autobiography / weight training guide Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder, which became a hot seller.
After playing bodybuilder / actor / husband Mickey Hargitay inThe Jayne Mansfield Story with Loni Anderson in the titular role, aired over CBS in October 1980, Arnold starred in his first big action movie: Conan the Barbarian (released in May 1982), with James Earl Jones. It did well enough to warrant a sequel only two years later, Conan the Destroyer (released in June 1984), with Grace Jones.
Director James Cameron knew exactly what to do with Arnold's odd screen image: have him play a cyborg.
The Terminator (released in October 1984), with Linda Hamilton, became the sleeper hit of the year. Schwatzenegger was such a fun-loving badass, the studio sent out his next action picture, Commando (released in October 1985), with the tagline: "Let's Party!" The no-brainer action film was born. Predator (released in June 1987), with Carl Weathers, continued this pattern.
Director Ivan Reitman saw something different in Schwarznegger; a gift for comedy. Twins (released in December 1988), with Danny DeVito, became the first of several films the team made. Arnold got $10 million and 15% of the gross for Total Recall (released in June 1990), with Sharon Stone, then did Kindergarten Cop (released in December 1990), with Reitman.
But Arnold Schwarzenegger's true masterpiece is Terminator 2: Judgement Day (released in July 1991), again with Linda Hamilton. The scale of the film is massive, with the Terminator becoming the hero of the film as he battles against a shape-shifting cyborg. It's big, loud, heartfelt, scary and utterly thrilling. A must.
Compared to Terminator 2, the rest of Scwarzenegger's filmography is mere commentary; he did Last Action Hero (released in June 1993), with F. Murray Abraham, for director Ivan Reitman, then starred in James Cameron's True Lies (which played the Chinese in July 1994); Junior (released in November 1994) with Danny DeVito, was a misfire with Arnold becoming the world's first pregmant man (!), but that sort of thing never lasted long. Arnold returned to action pictures with Eraser (which played the Chinese in July 1996).
A fiasco for everyone was
Batman & Robin (released in June 1997) — you remember — it's the one with George Clooney playing Batman. Lots of people went to see it. Not nearly enough people went to see End of Days (released in November 1999),with Gabriel Byrne.
Collateral Damage (released in February 2002), with Elias Koteas, did well, as did Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (which played the Chinese in July 2003). Arnold assumed the office of Governor of California from November 2003 to January 2011 (not the first, and probably not the last actor to go into politics). While in office, he did a small role in Sylvester Stallone's The Expendanbles (released in August 2010). Out of office, his part was expanded for The Expendables 2 (released in August 2012).
In October 2012, his second autobiography, Total Recall, was published. Many stories of his days as the Governator were included.
The Last Stand (released in January 2013), with Johnny Knoxville, bombed, and so more-or-less did The Expendables 3 (released in August 2014). Arnold did a guest role on Two and a Half Men aired over CBS in February 2015, and appeared in the moderately successful Terminator Genisys (which played the Chinese in July 2015). He has a truncatedly smallish role in Killing Gunther (released in September 2017). He played James Hook in The Iron Mask (released in August 2019) with Jason Fllemyng.
Schwarzenegger returned to the Terminator franchise in Terminator: Dark Fate (which played the Chinese in November 2019) with Linda Hamilton. |
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| Mann's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Arnold Schwarzenegger Forecourt block. Executed by unknown, Thursday, July 14, 1994. 49 x 43 inches. |
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| Mann's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Arnold Schwarzenegger Forecourt ceremony, Thursday, July 14, 1994. Arnold Schwarzenegger gives the cameras a grin while signing his name in the cement. |
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