He was hesitant to play a villain so early on, fearing it was “career suicide” and that his dearth of lines in the script would make people think he was avoiding speaking roles.

Becoming the TerminatorWith his acting career beginning to take off after the success of Conan the Barbarian, Schwarzenegger was offered the role of a lifetime-although that’s not what he thought at first. The setup was his idea: “It would be a traditional beer hall, but instead of hefty German woman serving the beer steins … it would be young sexy girls with bare tits.” Shriver, whom he had had just started dating, hated the idea and convinced him to pay $7,000 to have the story killed.Ħ. The Playgirl Shoot That Never WasIn 1978 Schwarzenegger agreed to pose for a photo essay to appear in Playgirl magazine. The stunt earned him 24 hours in military detention, but when officers discovered he had won, they duly released him.ĥ. Europe competition, Schwarzenegger said “fuck it” and decided to go anyway. After his drill sergeant refused to excuse him from basic training to compete in the Junior Mr. Joining as a tank driver because he loved “big things,” he writes that he would often sneak to the bathroom to refine his poses and even set up a workout room in the barracks. Such was the case in the early 1960s, when Schwarzenegger’s bodybuilding ambitions overlapped with his military service. Workout WarriorIf the thought of Arnold Schwarzenegger in a tank isn’t scary enough, imagine walking into an army latrine to find him practicing his poses. The occupying forces are there, so you’re not even in charge of your country anymore.”Ģ. Although never excusing his actions, Schwarzenegger does sympathize in some ways: “Think about it: you are promised you will be a citizen of a great new empire … Instead, you come home to a land in ruins, there’s very little money, food is scarce, everything needs to be rebuilt.

Daddy IssuesAware of his father’s previous involvement with the Nazi Party from a young age, Schwarzenegger describes him as “angry … frightened” and “bitter.” He writes that his father would come home drunk once a week and begin yelling at his wife before sometimes coming after young Arnold with a belt.

His publishers call it “the greatest immigrant success story of our time.” We’ll let you decide.ġ. The actor, former California governor, and former bodybuilding champion takes a cold, hard look at the mind-set that brought him from a small town in Austria to the top of three careers and ultimately the scandalous affair that destroyed his marriage. In his memoir, Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger lays it all on the table.

Total recall autobiography