74 APRIL 2016
He told you he’d be back. With Arnie returning to
these shores this month for fitness expo The
Arnold Classic Australia, MH hears from the actor
directors, strongmen and others who helped
shape his path. The result is a unique total recall o
the life and work of a true Hollywood icon
BY JOHN NAUGHTON
IN ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER’S
Encyclopaedia of Modern Bodybuilding
there’s a sub-chapter heading entitled
“Fear of Smallness”. Dealing with body-fat
percentages, it’s a passage almost as brief
as the trunks that used to adorn his nether
regions during the time when he captured
seven Mr. Olympia titles. Arnold has never
really done small. Or, for that matter, fear.
Schwarzenegger has always preached the
power of visualisation, but what has separated
him from others subscribing to the same
philosophy is the vast scale of his ambition
and his ability – undaunted by the obstacles in
his path – to see himself achieving greatness.
Seemingly, the only thing bigger than his body
has been the size of his dreams. Thus in the
three acts that have comprised his life so far he
has all but invented the sport of bodybuilding,
become the biggest movie star in the world
and governed an economy bigger than
Russia’s for seven years. Who else on Earth
has achieved so much in three such discrete
disciplines? It’s like Usain Bolt also becoming
a chess grandmaster and head chef at Noma.
While speaking Mandarin.
Now, he’s embarked on an unlikely fourth
act, a return to the big screen, first with last
year’s return to his most famou
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