Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Austrian Oak

Arnold Schwarzenegger is without any doubt one of the biggest stars Hollywood has ever known. And then we aren't only speaking about size. He's also the prove that everybody with a dream and a lot of perseverance can once reach his point. Arnold is born on 30 July 1947 in Thal (4 miles from Graz), Austria. He grew up on the second floor of the 300-year-old home at 145 Thal-Linak with his parents Gustav and Aurelia and his older brother Meinhard. Although the Schwarzenegger house came with Gustav's job as a police commandant, it had absolutely no modern amenities (no plumbing, no central heating, no phone, no carpeting and just a few lights. For many years they didn't even had a refrigerator. Arnold and Meinhard would have to fetch water from a well 150 yards away from their house). He started his career in Graz, Austria, with only one thing in view: the Mr. Universe title. The costs to be a member of a sports school were to high, so he equipped his own sports room in the basement of his parental home. But in 1961 he met Kurt Marnul, the former Mr. Austria. Marnul was impressed of Arnold's body and asked him to train in the Athletic Union in Graz. And of course he wanted that. In 1965 he enlisted in the Austrian army (where he served as a thank driver at the Graz Tank Unit Panzerbataillon from October 1, 1965 until the end of September 1966), but to compete in Stuttgart, Arnold had to go A.W.O.L and for that he's jailed when he came back. But he won the competition and he's awarded the title Jr. Mr. Europe. By the age of twenty he's named Mr. Europe and he also was the youngest Mr. Universe in history. Later he won many other titles and he decided to try his luck somewhere else. The obtaining of the Mr. Universe title seemed to be a good reason to go to Hollywood.