Mr. Olympia, action hero, governor, environmentalist and Kremlin critic: Arnold Schwarzenegger is brought to life in three limited editions of "Arnold" by Dian Hanson.
Arnold Schwarzenegger holds up a copy of the new limited edition biography, "Arnold."Image: TASCHEN VERLAG
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"Arnold," a new two-volume biography of Arnold Schwarzenegger by Dian Hanson, tells the life of the Austrian-born star in four parts: as an athlete, actor, American and activist.
To be published by Taschen Verlag on July 7, the biography of the Hollywood star was presented to the public for the first time on June 28 at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.
The work will be available in three editions, all limited, with exclusive interviews and never-before-published pictures.
While the collector's edition is the most affordable version at €1,250 ($1,364), the 100 copies of the Annie Leibovitz Art Edition will sell for €12,500 each.
Only 1947 copies of the various editions will be sold in total, to celebrate the year Arnold Schwarzenegger was born.
'Work of a sculptor'
Arnie, as he is affectionately known, was born on July 30, 1947, in Thal in the Austrian region of Styria. As a child, he was active in sports, including soccer, boxing and swimming.
At age 15, he first entered a weightlifting studio. Over the next few years, the young Schwarzenegger would spend most of his time fine-tuning his muscles.
"You have to train each muscle individually. It's like the precise work of a sculptor who works on marble with a hammer and chisel — not exactly like Rodin, but similar," Schwarzenneger told the German weekly Die Zeit in 2012.
Schwarzenegger at his bodybuilding peak in 1976 after winning six Mr. Olympia titles Image: Everett Collection/picture alliance
In 1967, he became the youngest Mr. Universe. Starting in 1970, he earned the Mr. Olympia title — the most important bodybuilding award — six times in a row. He readily admits that he took steroids, adding that they weren't banned at the time.
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Welcomed by Andy Warhol
When Schwarzenegger immigrated to the US in 1968, his impressive appearance soon caught the attention of the film industry. Known under his stage name, Arnold Strong, he got his first role in 1969 in "Hercules in New York."
At the same time, Schwarzenegger also found his way into the art scene and got to know Pop Art icon Andy Warhol. "He was fascinated by my energy and my strength," the bodybuilder told Die Zeit. "I worked as a model for him, and he introduced me to other artists like Jamie Wyeth and Laraine Newman."
Schwarzenegger also recalled how Warhol introduced him to producers, fundraisers and actors like James Caan, Woody Allen and other influential people like Jackie Kennedy. Years later, Schwarzenegger would become part of the Kennedy family himself when he married Maria Shriver, the niece of former US President John F. Kennedy, in 1986.
Now well-connected, his film career took off in 1977. Schwarzenegger surprised critics by winning a Golden Globe for Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture for his bodybuilder docudrama "Pumping Iron."
In 1982, he became famous as "Conan the Barbarian," and in 1984 he was offered the main role in a B-movie called "The Terminator," which, in Schwarzenegger's own words, was "a big challenge" for him. Thanks to his convincing performance as the android killer, the low-budget production by director James Cameron quickly rose to cult status.
The former Mr. Olympia made his Hollywood breakthrough as "Conan the Barbarian" Image: Eve Goldschmidt/dpa/picture alliance
The 'Governator'
By then, Schwarzenegger was in high demand, and his earnings continued to rise. From the late 1980s until the early 1990s, he enjoyed a great deal of commercial success not only with action movies, but also with comedies like "Twins" and "Kindergarten Cop" alongside Danny DeVito.
Nevertheless, the hype had ebbed. After his third performance as "The Terminator" in 2003, Schwarzenegger said farewell to the film world and launched his third career, this time as a politician.
When he ran for governor in California in 2003, he brought along the sword he used to carry as "Conan the Barbarian" to Sacramento, presenting himself as the strong man the state needed to rescue it from heavy debt, while calling his political opponents wimps.
Peace-loving USA patriot: An image from the limited edition "Arnold" Image: TASCHEN
It took him a while, however, to get used to his new profession as governor. "As an actor, you can rely on the screenplay, but a politician doesn't have one. Every day, every hour, it's incredible how many problems you're faced with — social welfare, poverty and overflowing jails. You wake up in the morning to 2,000 bush fires in California, or somebody is sitting in a prison cell waiting to be executed at midnight, and you get a call, saying, 'Governor, you could stop it,'" he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in 2013.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican, is a supporter of the death penalty and turned down two pardon opportunities as governor before lethal injection was declared unconstitutional in California in 2006, effectively ending capital punishment in the state.
Following his two terms, he returned to familiar terrain and filmed yet another edition of "Terminator" in 2015.
A vocal critic of former President Donald Trump, Schwarzenegger took over the former president's casting show, "The Apprentice," in January 2017, but dropped it after one season due to bad ratings.
Arnold Schwarzenegger: His movie hits and misses
From a hero in a loincloth and sandals to a high-tech killer, Arnie's career was built as an action man. But he has thrived in diverse comedic and romantic roles, even if not all were hits.
Image: Melinda Sue Gordon/2015 Paramount Pictures/dpa/picture alliance
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
This was the movie that launched Arnold Schwarzenegger's international film career. The Austria-born actor played a former slave faced with numerous challenges — which he masters, thanks to his considerable strength. The fantasy film was shot in Spain, and uses minimal dialogue relying instead on an expressive musical score.
Image: Eve Goldschmidt/dpa/picture alliance
Terminator (1984)
"Arnie" had even less dialogue to learn for "Terminator." As a killing machine from the future, he speaks a mere 58 words during the whole film. Nevertheless, four of those words have gone down in movie folklore: "I'll be back." The low-budget production from James Cameron, who went on to direct "Titanic," soon gained cult status as a milestone of the action film genre.
Image: United Archives/picture alliance
Twins (1988)
More than just an action star, cast as Danny DeVito's twin brother, Schwarzenegger shifted genre gears in the comedy "Twins." The movie was a box office hit, and made the former competitive bodybuilder from Austria one of the highest-paid stars in Hollywood by the end of the 1980s.
Image: imago/United Archives
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
James Cameron's "T2" was the first Hollywood production to cost more than $100 million. It earned some five times that amount at the box office. This time around, Schwarzenegger's Terminator has been programmed to save humanity and his vocabulary expands tenfold, including another legendary line — "Hasta la vista, baby."
Image: Rights Managed/Mary Evans/IMAGO
True Lies (1994)
After successes with action films and comedies, it was only logical that Schwarzenegger would try his hand at an action-comedy. His third movie with James Cameron was "True Lies," in which he plays an agent trying to keep his job a secret from his wife, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. But the truth comes out, leading to a movie enjoyed by both critics and audiences.
Image: United Archives/TBM/picture alliance
Batman & Robin (1997)
For his role as villain Mr. Freeze, Schwarzenegger (seen here with Poison Ivy, played by Uma Thurman) was nominated for a Golden Raspberry. He did not win the dubious award for the worst acting performance, but in general, the film by Tim Burton was panned so mercilessly that Hollywood took a break from Batman films for a while.
Image: Warner Bros/Everett Collection/picture alliance
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2012)
After a series of flops, Schwarzenegger played his most famous role a third time. At no point did fans seems to mind that Terminator spoke with an Austrian accent. The actor himself says he only keeps the accent up because his fans consider it his trademark. After T3, he took a break from movies and turned to politics, getting elected as governor of California.
Image: Columbia/dpa/picture alliance
Terminator Genisys (2015)
When the Terminator said he'd be back, he meant it. But the character has changed over time, and doesn't take himself so seriously anymore. Here, T-800, as played by Schwarzenegger, is allowed to have a few gray hairs, and is lovingly called Pops. But as cuddly as he may be, he's still able to save Sarah Connor and the rest of humanity from total destruction.
Image: Melinda Sue Gordon/2015 Paramount Pictures/dpa/picture alliance
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Will "Dark Fate" be the last time we see Schwarzenegger as Terminator? In this outing, two Terminators are sent back in time from a future in which machines have risen up against humans. There's a reunion with Linda Hamilton in her iconic role as Sarah Connor. But critical reception was mixed, and the film flopped at the box office.
Image: Kerry Brown/Paramount/imago images
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Environmentalist and Kremlin critic
But only one role has not been enough for the former politician for a long time. Above all, Arnold Schwarzenegger has made the fight against climate change his mission. In his speeches, such as at this year's Austrian World Summit, an annual climate conference in Vienna co-hosted by his Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative platform, he focuses on new technologies and urges a shift away from fossil fuels.
"We have blood on our hands," the ex-bodybuilder has said of Europe financing Moscow's war of aggression in Ukraine with its billions in payments to Russia for oil and gas imports.
He also doesn't mince words when criticizing politicians in his own country. In an emotional video released immediately after the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, Schwarzenegger called Trump a liar, a coup plotter and a failed leader.
"He will go down in history as the worst president ever," he said. He added, however, that America will come back stronger "because we now understand what we have to lose."
Austrian-born Schwarzenegger has come to represent the embodiment of the American dream like few Europeans before him. As "Terminator" (1984), he coined the legendary phrase "I'll be back" and continues to reinvent himself — including in print.
This article has been translated from German.
From stage to public office: 10 celebrities who became politicians
Some were comedians or actors, others were writers or singers — before they entered politics. Ukraine's new president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is the most recent addition to a list of celebrities who became politicians.
Image: Imago Images/A. Gusev
Fiction comes true
Not too long ago, Volodymyr Zelenskiy cracked jokes on screen in the popular Ukrainian TV show "Servant of the People," in which he plays a history teacher who becomes president of Ukraine. For Zelenskiy, the story has become reality — the actor won the country's presidential election in April. He isn't the only screen actor enter the political scene.
Image: Imago Images/A. Gusev
Terminator to governator
Arnold Schwarzenegger was a bodybuilder and actor before he became governor of California (2003-2011). He is hands down one of the best-known celebrities to make that radical change in career. Initially a tough Republican, he later tightened weapons laws and raised minimum wage. He is still active in environmental protection.
Jesse Ventura — above in the 1987 film "Predator" — was an actor and a professional wrestler before he served first as mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, and then as the state's governor for a term. He returned to the screen from 2009 to 2012 as host of the US TV series "Conspiracy Theory."
Image: picture-alliance/Everett Collection/20th Century Fox Film
'Let's make America great again'
Acting gave Ronald Reagan a taste of politics long before he became governor of California and the 40th US president in 1981. Beginning in 1941, he was active in the union at Warner Bros. film company and later became president of the Screen Actors Guild. Decades later, President Donald Trump picked up Reagan's successful 1980 election campaign slogan, "Let's make America great again."
Image: imago/United Archives
Brief Intermezzo
Clint Eastwood's political career also started in California, where the actor and director served as mayor of his hometown, Carmel, from 1986-88. But the fast-paced film industry drew him back. However he kept his political voice present, and many years later, the legendary film star spoke at the 2016 Republican party convention, endorsing the party's presidential candidate, Donald Trump.
Image: Imago
Family legacy
With a politician father and grandfather who were interior minister and mayor of Athens respectively, the Greek actress and chanson singer Melina Mercouri seemed destined to enter politics, too. She became a lawmaker and later served twice as Greece's culture minister.
Image: picture-alliance/Everett Collection
Back in Berlin
In 1973 the military coup in Chile forced writer Antonio Skarmeta to flee via Argentina to Berlin. His writing focused on life in exile and being a stranger in a foreign country. Skarmeta returned to his native country 16 years later, only to live in the German capital again from 2000 to 2003, this time as Chilean Ambassador.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Burgi
Actress and MP
British actress Glenda Jackson won two Oscars for Best Actress, including for the 1969 film "Women in Love" (above). In 1992 she headed into politics for the Labour Party and served for four legislature periods in the House of Commons. She was one of Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair's most outspoken critics during the Iraq War. Jackson finally retired from politics at age 79.
Image: picture-alliance/Everett Collection
Bollywood to parliament
Vinod Khanna was one of the most successful actors in India in the 1970s. Yet he retired from the film business at the height of his career, spending a few years at the ashram of a mystical guru named Osho Rajneesh in the US before winning a seat in the Indian Parliament. Later he served as tourism and culture minister and as state minister in the foreign ministry. Khanna died in 2017.
Image: Imago Images/Prod.DB
A singing president
Michel Martelly was president of Haiti from 2011 to 2016 and tasked with rebuilding the country after a devastating 2010 earthquake. Before that he was a popular singer who performed under the stage name "Sweet Micky" singing Kompa, a form of Haitian folk music.