Recommendations of the Editorial team
In the Netflix documentary “Arnold” there is the unlikely moment in which his former competitor and now friend Sylvester Stallone says: “He was number one.” The Sly of 1985 would probably never have said that, and apologists still argue to this day which of the two actors was the bigger action star of the decade.
Undoubtedly, Arnold Schwarzenegger had to overcome the bigger hurdles: born in 1947 in Styria as the son of a staunch member of the SA and NSDAP, a beaten child who built up body armor through bodybuilding. Finally the move to the USA. Some people still make fun of his accent today, but his career from the late 1960s onwards was unique: four times “Mr. Universe”, seven times “Mr. Olympia”. In 1982 the first major leading role as “Conan the Barbarian”, in 1984 “The Terminator” and worldwide fame as an action icon of the 1980s; finally the anti-hero variation in the Clinton years of the 1990s.
From 2003 to 2011, he finally took on the job of “governor” of California, a role that the Republican filled with many surprisingly green issues. To this day, Schwarzenegger is Donald Trump’s biggest critic. His video is also legendary, in which he directly addresses the Russian people after the invasion of Ukraine: Remember who you are – you are better than this.
From muscle hero to cigar-smoking celebrity
Schwarzenegger’s appeal to his Russian friends can also be found in the new, revised edition of the illustrated book “Arnold” by Dian Hanson, which traces his life path, including some famous photographs by photographers such as Richard Avedon, Annie Leibovitz and Herb Ritts.
The early years of bodybuilding, also documented with private photos, show this body that one could hardly imagine in 1967 because bodybuilding was not yet a popular sport and was still assumed to be in musty training halls. Schwarzenegger radiated an innocence and at the same time fascination for an (American) audience, which in turn admired him for his physical work. This was his home, these were his people.
His breakthrough in Hollywood came relatively late, at 35, mind you, in a role as “Conan” in which he was not yet an “invincible muscle man” – Conan is beaten badly, cut, even dies and has to be resurrected from the dead.
His marriage to Maria Shriver in 1986 introduced him not only to the Kennedy clan, but also to politics. From then on, the image of the cigar-smoking celebrity shaped his image.
It was almost overlooked how subversively he defined his roles in the 1990s, when the type of muscle hero as an action star became less and less important, in which he revealed many weaknesses, whether as the “Kindergarten Cop”, the “Last Action Hero” or the easily unsettled Harry Tasker in “True Lies”. Even in his most significant role as “Terminator,” he proved in “Last Judgment” that he can lose.
Next year Arnold Schwarzenegger will be 80 years old. He is no longer allowed to be governor after two terms in office; he has been making films again for a long time. “King Conan”, part three of the Sword and Sorcery saga, is also coming. He has long been King Arnold.
- BAGS
- Arnold
- Dian Hanson
- German, hardcover with fold-out page, 26.7 x 37.4 cm, 4.30 kg, 528 pages
- €125