Over the last two decades, this charismatic Austrian bodybuilder has become one of the world's leading box-office attractions, married into one of America's foremost families and built a thriving business and real estate empire. Schwarzenegger played forgettable roles in several 1970s movies, first gaining attention as the subject of George Butler's fine documentary, Pumping Iron (1976). He earned a Golden Globe Award as Most Promising Male Newcomer for his role in Bob Rafelson's Stay Hungry (1977) and starred in two sword-and-sorcery sagas, Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Conan the Destroyer (1984), each of which grossed over $100 million worldwide.

Schwarzenegger's screen persona - a physique that strains the imagination combined with a thick Austrian accent - received a major credibility boost with The Terminator (1984), which cast him as an alien ubermensch and established his trademark, automaton-like delivery of minimal lines such as