Arnold Schwarzenegger Early Life

Schwarzenegger was born in Thal, Austria, a small town near the Styrian capital, Graz, and christened Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger . His parents were the local police chief and former Nazi stormtrooper Gustav Schwarzenegger (1907-1972), and his wife, the former Aurelia Jadrny (1922-1998), who had been married on October 20, 1945, when he was 38 and she was 23 and widowed. Arnold had a good relationship with his mother and kept in touch with her until her death.

Gustav was a strict and demanding father, who generally favored the elder of his two sons, the handsome and blonde Meinhard.

Meinhard died in a car accident in 1971, and Gustav died the following year. Schwarzenegger attended neither's funeral. In Pumping Iron he claimed he did not attend his father's funeral as he was training for a bodybuilding contest, although both he and the film's producer later stated that this story was taken from another bodybuilder[citation needed].

As a boy, Arnold played many sports, but discovered his passion for bodybuilding when in his mid-teens his soccer coach took the team for weight training. He attended a gym in Graz, where he also frequented the local cinemas, viewing his idols such as musclemen Reg Park, Steve Reeves, and Johnny Weissmuller on the big screen.

Arnold served in the Austrian army in 1965, to fulfill the one-year service requirement expected at the time of all 18 year old Austrian males. During this year he snuck off the base to compete in his first bodybuilding competition, the junior division of Mr. Europe, where he won first place. He was punished for sneaking off, but the respect he gained from his superiors was obvious: his drill sergeant once yelled at a group of soldiers, "Why don't you be more like Schwarzenegger!"

Schwarzenegger left Thal for a job managing a gym in Munich, Germany, while continuing his bodybuilding. He made his first plane trip in 1966, attending the NABBA Mr. Universe competition being held in London. He arrived in England knowing little English, and it was here he first started being referred to as The Austrian Oak (or The Styrian Oak), due to his large build and the story of him performing chin ups from the limb of an Oak tree on the banks of the river Thalersee, the lake of his hometown. He would come in second in the competition, but would win the title the next year, becoming the youngest ever Mr. Universe (at age 20).

Schwarzenegger moved to the United States in September 1968, with little money or knowledge of the English language, and trained at Gold's Gym in Santa Monica under the patronage of Joe Weider.

He became a U.S. citizen in 1983, although he also retains his Austrian citizenship. During this time, he earned a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Superior where he graduated with degrees in international marketing of fitness and business administration in 1979.

In 1977 his autobiography, Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder was published.

In 1986, Schwarzenegger married TV journalist Maria Shriver, niece of the late President of the United States John F. Kennedy. The couple have four children: daughters Katherine (born December 13, 1989) and Christina (b. July 23, 1991), and sons Patrick (b.September 18, 1993) and Christopher (b. September 27, 1997). Together, the couple own a home in gated Bel Air, California.