Arnie as a boy:
the “Austrian
Oak” had a lot of
growing to do.76 APRIL 2016
Arnold Schwarzenegger was born on
July 30, 1947 in the village of Thal in
the south-east of Austria. He was the
second son of local police chief (and
former Nazi) Gustav and his wife Aurelia
(making “Who is your daddy and what
does he do?” ever an awkward line
of questioning). His father showed a
marked preference for Arnold’s older
brother, Meinhard, and treated Arnold
harshly throughout his life (when Arnold
wrote letters home, Gustav would return
them with spelling and grammar errors
highlighted in red). As a teenager and
against his father’s wishes, he developed
an interest in bodybuilding, idolising
English muscleman Reg Park. Copying
Park’s career trajectory, Schwarzenegger
competed in and won bodybuilding
competitions (in 1967, aged 20, he
became the youngest ever Mr. Universe)
before moving to the US in 1968 where
he found work in a few low-budget
films. In 1972 he met photographer
George Butler, whose pictures would
later illustrate a 1974 feature by writer
Charles Gaines in Sports Illustrated
about the uncharted demimonde of
bodybuilding. This meeting eventually
led to 1977’s Pumping Iron, which, in
semi-documentary style, told the story
of Arnold’s attempt to defeat fellow
strongman Lou Ferrigno and become
Mr. Olympia for the sixth time.
Schwarzenegger: The only way
to b e a champion is by go ing
through these forced reps and the
torture and pain. Pain makes me
grow. Growing is what I want.
Therefore, for me, pain is pleasure.Lou Ferrigno (co-star in
Pumping Iron): I was ecstatic to
be in that movie because I knew
that whatever happened I was
go ing to b e par t of something that
was history because of myself
and Schwarzenegger. Arnold was
five times Mr. Olympia and to be
on stage with him meant you were
on stage with the best. It was a lot
of fun and it put bodybuilding on
the map.Peter Manso (journalist who
interviewed Schwarzenegger
for an infamous 1977 Oui
magazine article): Initially I
figured it would take a while
to adjust to the sheer physical
presence of the guy, but that
wasn’ t so. H e didn’ t app ear
particularly monstrous, although
he’s definitely not the kind of
fellow I’d like to pick a fight
with. First and foremost,
Schwarzenegger was a European,
with the manners and humour toGENESIS
(1947-81)
Arnold Schwarzenegger: I never
felt that I was good enough, strong
enough, smart enough. [My father]
let me know that there was always
room for improvement. A lot of
sons would have been crippled by
his demands, but instead the
discipline rubbed off on me. I
turned it into drive.George Butler (director of
Pumping Iron): This is a man of
bottomless ambition. It’s always
been there. He sees himself as
mystically sent to America.John Milius (director of Conan
The Barbarian): Until Arnold,
people thought bodybuilders were
p er ver ts or vain circus freaks.
Arnold changed that. He turned
himself into a household word and
made i t a v ir tue to wor k ou t.Butler: In the early days he had
this thing called The Master Plan.
As I remember, it was a campy mix
of Nietzschean philosophy and a
Soviet Five-Year Plan, but before
Charles [Gaines] and I dismissed
it, we scratched our heads. Arnold,
as we could see with our own
eyes, was actually beginning to
make it work.ACT^1
PHOTOGRAPHY: SNAPPER MEDIA