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Copyright 1982 Time Inc. All Rights Reserved People June 7, 1982
As the hero of the $20 million prehistoric fantasy Conan the Barbarian, body-building champ Arnold Schwarzenegger lops and chops his way through a thicket of snakes, spirits and fur-clad evildoers. Some critics say he was born to the epic role; others compare him to Francis the Talking Mule. To the latter, Atlas shrugs, "Look, I always appreciate opinions and I don't feel personally attacked. And if they are witty, I really enjoy it."
Schwarzenegger can afford to be relaxed -- and not only because Conan grossed $9.6 million its first weekend, the best movie opening this year. At 34, Schwarzenegger has parlayed unparalleled success as a body builder (he won more than 10 major championships before retiring in 1976) into a career in acting, real estate and international celebrity. The last brought him an invitation to the 1977 Robert F. Kennedy Pro-Celebrity Tennis Tournament, where he met Maria Shriver, now 26, daughter of former Peace Corps Director Sargent Shriver and Kennedy sister Eunice. Says Schwarzenegger: "Ten years ago a friend asked me what kind of woman I'd like for a wife. I said, 'Dark-haired, pretty, intelligent, witty and very challenging. Otherwise I would walk all over her.' When my friend met Maria he said, 'That's the woman you dreamed about.'"
Maria, an on-camera reporter for the syndicated PM program in L.A., has been Arnold's steady since that first meeting, and marriage seems likely, though neither will say when. Maria, who grew up with four brothers, happily discloses that on bringing Arnold home for dinner with Sarge and Eunice, "My little brothers all sat there with their jaws wide open." (Perhaps not coincidentally, JFK's son, John Jr., has reportedly taken up body building.)
In deference to mother Eunice's firm Catholic views, Maria maintains a separate Santa Monica apartment with her law clerk brother Bobby, 28. Arnold's home is 10 blocks away. Though Maria is not self-conscious about cuddling Arnold in public, she won't discuss their feelings. "That belongs to us," she says. "I have made a relationship with Arnold I'll have to live with my whole life." Her dad gave his potential son-in-law a Labrador retriever pup, dubbed Conan. "Dad said to pay attention to how Arnold treats the dog," reports Maria, "because that way I'll know how he'll treat children."
Schwarzenegger is secure enough not to be threatened by a strong woman. "Maria is the only person I know who will stand up to him," says a mutual friend. "She made him realize that there is more to the world than body building and the movies. It's nonsense to think that the Kennedys don't like him. Everybody enjoys Arnold; he's so much more than you might expect."
Schwarzenegger was born in Graz, Austria, son of a policeman. Early on, Arnold decided that "my father was one of the people I never wanted to be -- you know, just working for the government, then retiring. That was the Austrian principle of having a good time." A natural athlete, Arnold instead sought an outlet in sports, trying swimming and soccer before settling on body building. At 18, he went AWOL from the Austrian Army to enter the Mr. Europe Jr. contest in Stuttgart. He won the title and a week in the brig. At 19, he bought a nearly bankrupt gym in Munich and put it on the map -- and in the black -- by winning the Mr. Universe contest in London at 20. At 21, he came to the U.S. and simultaneously wrote for a muscle magazine, managed a successful bricklaying business with body-building pal Franco Columbu, and sculpted his body with legendary 50-ton-per-day workouts at Gold's Gym in Venice, Calif. Later Schwarzenegger reaped a fortune writing three books, starring in two muscleman movies, Stay Hungry and Pumping Iron, and promoting body-building tournaments.
Arnold is fascinated by finance. "I came over here like a dried-out sponge trying to absorb everything that I could about business," says Arnold, who took classes at UCLA and received a business B.A. from the University of Wisconsin. When a guest lecturer at UCLA told him big salesmen sold more, "I thought, well, goddam it, here I am. At 240 pounds, you don't find anything better." Real estate investments also swelled his bundle -- he's currently negotiating to sell a square block he owns in downtown Denver for more than $10 million. "It's so easy to make money here," says Schwarzenegger. "You know, Franco [who's Sardinian] and I were always laughing at the American people because they never knew how to use the system -- they complain and complain. I'm always seeing Europeans coming over making money and investing."
Nowadays, down to 210 pounds and his hair flecked with gray, Arnold is devoting his considerable energy to becoming a Hollywood success, eschewing bare-chested beefcake poses to model conservative suits specially tailored to fit his outsize muscles. "I see Conan as a step closer to getting me where I want to go -- the top, the same category as Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, Dustin Hoffman," says Schwarzenegger. "I know that for each actor there is one project that is the project, like Sylvester Stallone and Rocky. I always had the feeling that Conan is the film for me, the kind of thing people would like to see me in." Pumping iron has given way to acting and speech lessons, to counter his still-strong Austrian accent.
Meanwhile Arnold lives handsomely. He drives a Mercedes, fancies Cuban cigars and American Western art, and owns a $300,000 Spanish-style Santa Monica home. Conan director John Milius is a buddy, and there's talk of as many as four sequels. While awaiting the final figures on Conan to make their decision, the two men trap shoot or, clad in black leather, cruise on their customized Harley-Davidsons.
Still, Maria remains Arnold's main attraction. The couple avoid the Hollywood crowd and stick mostly with family and friends. Arnold's already proved he can hack it in Hyannis Port -- he's Catholic, athletic and a self-made millionaire like grandpapa Joe. He can work a boardroom of Morgan Stanley investment bankers as smoothly as any vice-president. The only hitch is his pro-Reagan Republican politics. Arnold says this makes life more interesting for Maria and him. "It's very stimulating when you have opposite opinions. My biggest challenge now," he cracks, "is turning Teddy around."