Born: 30 July 1947 (Age: 63)
Where: Thal, Austria
Height: 6' 2"
Awards: Won 1 Golden Globe.
In all of Hollywood history, there cannot be a better example of The Self-Made Man than Arnold Schwarzenegger. A millionaire many, many times over, he's made fortunes both through acting and property deals: he's married into the Kennedy clan, making him American royalty: and, of course, he's one of the very few stars whose films are promoted purely by the use of his surname. SCHWARZENEGGER in Some $200 Million Epic. You've seen it many times. In fact, they could just use his Christian name. Arnold would work equally well. You couldn't say the same for Tom (Cruise, that is). Oh, and in 2003 he became Governor of California, taking control of the fifth biggest economy on the planet. How much higher could he possibly go?
As ever, it's all down to the early years. Yet, unusually, Arnold wasn't driven to success by a rabid neediness engendered by childhood neglect. Born on July 30th, 1947, in the isolated Austrian village of Thal, down by the Italian border, he was subject to intense discipline from a very early age. Hitler's homeland in the immediate post-war period was a tough place to live, and Arnold was 14 before his family enjoyed such luxuries as a fridge, a phone and even indoor plumbing. His father, Gustav, was a police chief in Graz, leaving Arnold and his older brother Meinhard to be raised by their mother Aurelia. You'd expect a policeman to be a strict father, but Gustav was doubly so. Being a curling champion, he was keen to push his boys to athletic excellence too. They would rise at 6, do their chores, then perform sit-ups and squats before their breakfast. They were allowed out on Sunday evenings but, legend has it, were required to deliver a 10-page essay on their activities before retiring to bed.
It worked. Meinhard rapidly became a champion boxer. Arnold too was quick to find a beefy vocation. Training for the local soccer team, he began to lift weights. Studying his body, now aged 15, he realised that to give it perfect proportions he'd need 20-inch biceps - he set to work immediately. At 18, there was National Service, and Arnold signed up, only to go AWOL within a month in order to attend the Mr Junior Europe bodybuilding contest in Stuttgart. He won, with a perfect score, and spent seven days in the brig for his pains.
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