rnold Schwarzenegger Life Story: From Austrian jail to Hollywood superstar

#markmakers #arnoldschwarzenegger #lifestory

✅ Did you know Arnold had a child with his housekeeper?
✅ Why didn't they want him in Hollywood movies at first?
✅ And how much time did he spend in prison?

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

It’s July 30, 1947 and Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is born in the small Austrian village of Thal. His father Gustav is a police officer. Arnold and his older brother Meinhard grow up together under his tough discipline, raised by a man accustomed to getting respect and instant obedience. Arnold must wake up early every morning to fetch milk from a neighboring farm. Then he has to do a series of exercises his father leaves him on a sheet of paper before he earns the right to eat breakfast. Later in the afternoon, when little Arnie finishes his homework, his father takes him and his brother out to practice soccer. They stick to this grueling routine come rain or come shine.

Gustav was a curling champion in his youth and teaches his sons to be physically fit. His active upbringing soon sees ten-year-old Arnold getting into soccer, his first competitive sport. He plays passionately for 5 years. At age 15, Arnold's coach decides to bring players to the gym once a week to work out and stay in shape. That day, Arnold's whole life changes. The young athlete is fascinated by the size of bodybuilders at the gym who lift huge weights and he immediately falls in love with the sport.

As Arnold later wrote in his biography: “This was it - my life, the answer I was looking for. Everything was right. As if I was moving on a wobbling bridge and finally stepping on solid ground. ”

The boy soon discovers he has an amazing muscle building ability. In just 2 years, he passes up most of the trainers at the gym, where he regularly practices like crazy. One Sunday, his gym is closed, but Arnold doesn’t hesitate-- breaking a window to get inside so he can keep training.
Arnold’s father isn’t very excited about his new obsession. Later, in Arnold's room, he finds a poster of a muscled half-naked man and calls a psychiatrist for his son, who assures his parents that this is just a phase in young Arnold's life that he will soon grow out of. But as you know, he couldn’t be more wrong. 17 years old Arnie realizes that bodybuilding is his ticket to worldwide fame. He spends many Saturdays at the local movie theater watching bodybuilders who’ve become stars on the big screen. They used their muscular physiques to break into the film industry, and that's exactly what young Arnold dreams of doing too.

But first, in 1965, in order to fulfill his civic duty, he joins the Austrian army. He’s ordered to serve as a tank driver. Shortly after joining, however, he’s invited to take part in Mr. Europe’s junior competition in Stuttgart, Germany. However, no soldier is allowed to leave the army base. But Arnold is so sure he’s destined to win this contest that he escapes from the base so he can make it to the competition. He climbs the base wall with only the clothes on his back and just enough money for a train to Germany.

He arrives practically empty-handed and has to borrow both shorts and sunscreen to compete. But he still manages to overwhelms his competition, and that evening, at the age of 18, Arnold is declared the new Mr. Europe. Despite winning his title, the army doesn’t forgive him for going AWOL, and he spends 7 days in military prison on a concrete bed with only a blanket.
After his compulsory military service, Arnold gets a job at his gym in Munich as a coach. This is an ideal opportunity for him to train for the next Mr. Europe. In the gym, he exercises twice a day like crazy, and soon he enters Mr. Europe to compete again. He wins for a second time, impressing everyone, even the judges who offer to pay his expenses so he can travel and take part in the global bodybuilding competition, Mr. Universe.

But he chooses instead to focus on smaller competitions in Europe because he thinks he’s still not good enough for the world stage. But when Arnold arrives at his next competition, he’s surprised by how many fans chant his name. Everybody is astonished by his physique.
He’s the first bodybuilder in Europe with a (biceps) circumference of 51 cm (20 inches)! Unfortunately, he ends up in second place which doesn’t sit well with him. He returns to Munich, where he plunges himself into training with even more enthusiasm. A year later, Arnold Schwarzenegger becomes the youngest Mr. Universe in history. After this huge success, he’s contacted by bodybuilding guru Joe Weider, who invites Arnold to Miami for more competitions and eventually to move to California to work for him.

In September 1968, Arnold Schwarzenegger arrives in the United States with only his exercise bag, $20 in his pocket, and speaking virtually zero English.

▶️ For the rest of this amazing life story watch the video!