He's "Arnold" to millions of fans around the world. Bodybuilding legend. Box-office superstar. Kennedy family member. But until now the real story of Arnold Schwarzenegger has never been told.
At the time of his fairy-tale marriage to Maria Shriver, his fans believed they knew all there was to know about this phenomenally successful self-made man. At twenty-one, he'd come to America from an obscure village in Austria, armed with little more than a perfectly muscled body and a fierce ambition. Nevertheless, he'd gone on to win the Mr. Olympia crown an unprecedented seven times, transforming bodybuilding into an internationally recognized sport.
Then, despite a thick accent and little acting experience, he'd tackled Hollywood and emerged a major hit in such movies as Conan the Barbarian, The Terminator, Preda-tor, and, later, Twins, becoming a millionaire many times over along the way. And, of course, he'd been linked with numerous beautiful women. Now his dazzling alliance with the Kennedy clan seemed to be the ultimate prize in a stunning rags-to-riches tale.
But what the public knows is only part of the truth. Arnold: An Unauthorized Biography tells the whole story. Based on two years of research on both sides of the Atlantic and scores of personal interviews with Arnold's colleagues, lovers, relatives, childhood com-panions, friends, and rivals, the portrait that emerges is often startling. Complex, intelligent, driven, sometimes ruthless, often manipulative, Arnold is a man who has allowed little to stand in the way of his meteoric rise to success.