Before Arnold Schewarzenegger would break box office records with The Terminator, Terminator
2, Predator, Twins, Kindergarten Cop and would have a film career spanning over 50 years.
Before Arnold would coind popular catchphrases known the world over like “I'll be back”
“Get to The Choppa” & “Hasta La Vista Baby!”
Before he fell in love with Maria Shriver and vowed that he would only cum for her,
oh yes and of course his barbells.
Before he became Govern-ator of California, in 2003.
The story of Arnold Schwarzenegger has got to be one of the most motivational Rags To
Riches stories of all time.
The tale of a penniless immigrant making it in the land of opportunity, the United Stated
of America.
I mean he was even close to having a shot at being the President.
Childhood friends stated that he often said his goals in life were to move to America,
become an actor, and marry a Kennedy.
He accomplished all three and so much more.
As body building her took the sport out of obscurity while becoming the youngest winner
of the Mr. Europe, crowned Mr.Olympia seven times, and won Mr. Universe 5 times, at one
point the man and could deadlift 710 pounds.
Arnold became the poster boy for the American dream and bulked up his own net worth to an
estimated $400 million dollars.... but let's take a look at where he came from and his
astonishing journey!
What is going on guys?
It's your boy Michael McCrudden hitting you guys with an updated video on the life of
Arnold Schwarzenegger prior to fame, here for you on Before They Were Famous.
I've been a massive Arnold fan my entire life and it's been a while since we've covered
any A Listers here on this channel.
Of course we could hit you with a Where Are They Now?
On some of the biggest stars from the Terminator but if that's what you wanna see – you gotta
let me know in the comments down below.
Now let's get into this video... __________
Arnold
Alois Schwarzenegger was born on July 30, 1947 in Thal Austria.
Raised in a poor Catholic household by his parents Gustav and Aurelia,
young Arnold grew up without plumbing, a fridge, or a telephone, and learned discipline early
on, if he stepped out of line he would get the rod.
His father was the town's police chief and a military officer in the second world war…
so it’s not surprising that he ran that household like a drill sergeant.
Both he and his brother were excellent athletes and soon Arnold took to soccer.
Arnold's older brother Meinhard was his fathers favorite and the one many set their sites
on as the son of talent, promise and potential.
His father, nicknamed Arnold "Cinderella" as a child and his older brother, Meinhard,
constantly picked on him growing up.
Their school coach took them to a local gym to do some leg-strengthening exercise and
Arnold found he enjoyed them more than actually playing the sport, and began to focus on weightlifting.
At 14 his parents started pressuring him into different careers, but Arnold knew what he
wanted to become.
Influenced by American culture from watching movies, he idolized people like Steve Reeves
and Reg Parker, who crossed over from bodybuilding into acting.
His bedroom walls were covered with photos of oiled up men, which started to worry his
mom & I can't even imagine what his military father had to say.
Until Arnold helped make the sport of bodybuilding go mainstream it was thought by many to be
some sort of freak show.
Arnold took his training very seriously and was known to push himself until he would throw
up or collapse from exhaustion.
His arms, chest and shoulders were developing nicely but his legs just wouldn't grow so
he decided to cut his pants into shorts and took the name calling and critizisim for his
chicken legs as motivation.
When he turned 18 Arnold went to do his mandatory army service, and his dad pulled some strings
to get him a position driving tanks.
The only problem was a few weeks into it he got an invitation to go to the Junior Mr.
Europe competition which was in Germany.
Arnold was so determined to break into body building and transform this into a fil career
to allow him to live the American dream that he decided to go AWOL during his basic training
to compete.
He arrived at the contest and was virtually unknown, but every time he struck a pose,
the crowd went nuts.
He went on to win the competition and knew his dream could become a reality.
But when he tried to sneak back into base that night he was caught and thrown into solitary
confinement.
A few days later his lieutenants asked to see him.
Initially they scolded him, but word spread quickly that he had won the competition, and
they rallied around Schwarzenegger as a model of discipline and fitness.
Soon Arnold was getting extra food in the cafeteria, being excused from duty to do his
training, and the welders even made the guy a gym that he could bring around with him
on his tank.
He still owns a tank or two today!
In the span of a year, Arnold gained 25 pounds of rock-solid muscle.
His first crack at the Mr.Universe title got him second place, but one of the judges was
so impressed with him, he invited Arnold to live with him in London and train under his
guidance but money was tight with him surviving off 30 british pounds a week
While in England Arnold got a better understanding of English… kind of.
But more importantly his new training had paid off, and when he went for the Mr. Universe
title at the age of 20, he blew away the competition, becoming the youngest person to ever win.
He went on to win the Mr.Universe title 3 more times.
Then in 1968 he went to the states to compete and caught the eye of Jo Weider, a fitness
titan who owned a gym in Venice Beach.
He invited Arnold to live and train with him in Cali.
Every one wanted to know more about this Austrian immigrant living the American dream, and his
articles on fitness and B movie roles gave Arnold his first taste of celebrity but his
acting still needed some work.
His first major credit was as Arnold Strong in the low budget 1970's film Hercules In
New York.
For the film they dubbed an American voice to hide his thick German accent.
In1971, Arnold’s older brother died in a drinking and driving accident, soon followed
by his father who had a stroke, others report he too died in a drinking and driving accident.
Arnolds who wanted to focus on his training, decided not to attend the funerals but to
pump more iron instead.
People found this decision to be a little cold hearted but the man had big dreams he
wanted to accomplish.
His next acting role in Stay Hungry alongside Jeff Bridges and Sally Field earned him a
golden globe award for "Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture"
He continued to dominate in competitions picking up 5 Mr. Universe and 7 Mr. Olympia titles.
There were other perks to his success including the odd and fans giving him some love at competitions
- for more on that, it's in his book Total Recall.
Then in 1977 he was the focus of a documentary called ‘Pumping Iron’, which really boosted
his image.
His ascent to action superstar wouldn’t come until 1982, when director John Milius
thought Arnold’s stature, and heavy accent would make for the perfect Barbarian in Conan
which became a smash hit worldwide in 1984.
They may not have been able to understand the guy but the people loved it!
A sequel soon follow and two years later, Arnold would solidify his place in movie history
when he spoke those 3 iconic words.
When James Cameron offered him the role it was to play the hero Reese but Arnold demanded
to play the machine.
From there on out, Arnold had become box office gold and continued to pump out new films as
a real life superhero in Commando,
Raw Deal, Predator, The Running Man, Red Heat and at one point was commanding a salary of
15 Million per film.
Having achieved super star status Arnold began to diversify his portfolio appearing in comedies
like Twins, Junior and Kindergarten Cop.
Amazingly he was able to carry films just as well in a comedic role as he was as an
action star.
In 1983 he officially became an American citizen and a few years later he married a Kennedy
in Maria Shriver.
From there on out it seemed like Arnold could do no harm, more films would follow including
Total Recall, Terminator 2: Judgement Day which was his biggest film to date.
After nearly a decade of success Arnold didn't experience his first box office flop until
1993 with Last Action Hero but more hits would follow including True Lies and Batman & Robin
where he became a meme before meme's were even a thing...
Once he had conquered Show Business Arnold would set his sights on politics.
He began making frequent trips to the White House and in 1990 president Bush chose him
to be the chairman of the President's Council of Physical Fitness.
And
the rest of the story, well, we are gonna wrap this up here because this is before they
were famous.