Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (German pronunciation (IPA): [ˈaɐ̯nɔlt ˈaloɪ̯s ˈʃvaɐ̯ʦənˌʔɛɡɐ]) (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, and politician, currently serving as the 38th Governor of the U.S. state of California. As a young man, Schwarzenegger gained widespread attention as a highly successful bodybuilder. He later gained worldwide fame as a Hollywood action film icon. Perhaps his most famous role is in the The Terminator series.Schwarzenegger was nicknamed "The Austrian Oak" in his body-building days, "Arnold Strong" and "Arnie" during his acting career, and more recently "The Governator" (a portmanteau of Governor and Terminator, referring to his internationally popular film role). Schwarzenegger is a Republican, and was first elected on October 7, 2003, in a special recall election to replace then-Governor Gray Davis. Schwarzenegger was sworn in on November 17, 2003, to serve the remainder of Davis' term. Schwarzenegger was then reelected on November 7, 2006, in California's 2006 gubernatorial election to serve a full term as governor by defeating Democrat Phil Angelides, who was California State Treasurer at the time. Schwarzenegger was sworn in for a second term on January 5, 2007. In May 2007, he was named as one of the Time 100 people who help shape the world.
In 1977, Schwarzenegger's autobiography/weight-training guide Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder was published and became a huge success. He earned a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Superior Schwarzenegger became a U.S. citizen in 1983,, where he graduated Business and International Economics in 1979. although he also retains his Austrian citizenship. In 1978 Arnold was dating Susan Moray, a hairdresser at Wm & Donald Salon on Main Street, Santa Monica, California. Both Arnold and Wm & Donald had omelettes named for them at The Omelette Parlor, also on Main Street. On April 26, 1986, Schwarzenegger married television journalist Maria Shriver, niece of the past President of the United States John F. Kennedy in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The Rev. John Baptist Riordan performed the ceremony at St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church.
The couple have four children:
- Katherine Eunice Schwarzenegger, born December 13, 1989 in Los Angeles, California (Her middle name, Eunice, is the first name of her maternal grandmother.)
- Christina Maria Aurelia Schwarzenegger, born July 23, 1991 in Los Angeles, California (Her first middle name, Maria, is the first name of her mother. Her second middle name, Aurelia, was the first name of her paternal grandmother.)
- Patrick Arnold Schwarzenegger, born September 18, 1993 in Los Angeles, California (His middle name, Arnold, is the first name of his father. His first name, Patrick, is named after his great-grandfather Joseph Patrick Kennedy.)
- Christopher Sargent Shriver Schwarzenegger born September 27, 1997 in Los Angeles, California (His middle name, Sargent, is the first name of his maternal grandfather.)
His eldest daughter Katherine graduated from Brentwood School (Class of 2007) and second daughter Christina is currently attending the Archer School for Girls. Schwarzenegger and his family currently live in their 11,000-square-foot home in Brentwood. He owns a home in the Pacific Palisades and in Sun Valley, Idaho. Schwarzenegger does not have a home in Sacramento. However, whenever he is in the state capitol, he lives in the Hyatt Regency hotel suite. The suite costs about $65,000 a year.
On Sundays, the family attends mass at St. Monica's Catholic Church. Schwarzenegger has said he believes the secret of a good marriage is love and respect. "If you have the ultimate love for your wife and she has it for you, I think you have a great head start … That's not to say it won't be difficult sometimes. You go through your ups and downs but you work through it."Schwarzenegger has talked about parenthood in 2000: "One of the best things you can do with your children is play with them. At the same time, I act very silly. Many times I do a lot of sports with them. I play games with them. Act out parts. We do little plays, sometimes." His official height of 6'2"has been brought into question by several articles. In 1988 both the Daily Mail and Time Out magazine mentioned that Schwarzenegger appeared noticeably shorter than this publicised figure. More recently, before running for Governor, Schwarzenegger's height was once again questioned in an article by the Chicago Reader. As Governor, Schwarzenegger engaged in a light-hearted exchange with Assemblyman Herb Wesson over their heights. At one point Wesson made an unsuccessful attempt to, in his own words, "settle this once and for all and find out how tall he is." by using a tailor's tape measure on the Governor. Schwarzenegger later retaliated by placing a pillow stitched with the words "Need a lift?" on the five foot five Wesson’s chair before a negotiating session in his office. His page remains one of the most active on CelebHeights.com, a website which discusses the heights of celebrities. [this source's reliability may need verification] In 2005 Peter Pilz from the Austrian Green Party in parliament demanded to revoke Schwarzenegger's Austrian citizenship. This demand was based on article 33 of the Austrian citizenship act that states: A citizen, who is in the public service of a foreign country, shall be deprived of his citizenship, if he heavily damages the reputation or the interests of the Austrian Republic. Pilz claimed that Schwarzenegger's actions in support of the death penalty (prohibited in Austria under Protocol 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights) had indeed done heavy damage to Austria's reputation. Schwarzenegger justified his actions by referring to the fact that his only duty as Governor of California was to prevent an error in the judicial system. "Schwarzenegger has a lot of muscles, but apparently not much heart," said Julien Dray, spokesman for the Socialist Party in France, where the death penalty was abolished in 1981.
In honor of its most famous son, Schwarzenegger's home town of Graz had named its soccer stadium after him. The Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium, now officially titled UPC-Arena, is the home of both Grazer AK and Sturm Graz. Following the Stanley Tookie Williams execution and after street protests in his home town, several local politicians began a campaign to remove Schwarzenegger's name from the stadium. Schwarzenegger responded, saying that "to spare the responsible politicians of the city of Graz further concern, I withdraw from them as of this day the right to use my name in association with the Liebenauer Stadium", and set a tight deadline of just a couple of days to remove his name. Graz officials removed Schwarzenegger's name from the stadium in December 2005. The Sun Valley Resort has a short ski trail called Arnold's Run, named after Schwarzenegger. The trail is categorized as a black diamond, or most difficult, for its terrain. He bought the first Hummer manufactured for civilian use in 1992, a model so large, 6,300 lb (2900 kg) and 7 feet (2.1 m) wide, that it is classified as a large truck and U.S. fuel economy regulations do not apply to it. During the Gubernatorial Recall campaign he announced that he would convert one of his Hummers to burn hydrogen. The conversion was reported to have cost about US$21,000. After the election, he signed an executive order to jump-start the building of hydrogen refueling plants called the "California Hydrogen Highway Network", and gained a United States Department of Energy grant to help pay for its projected US$91,000,000 cost. California took delivery of the first H2H (Hydrogen Hummer) in October 2004.
