I’ll never forget when I saw the side
chest pose of Arnold on the July 1968 cover of Muscle
Builder. He was a giant barely out of his teens! Who
would have thought, though, that Arnold would eventually
become the greatest bodybuilder of all time? In fact,
he would be beaten by only two men: Frank
Zane in the 1968 IFBB Mr. Universe, and Sergio Oliva in the
1969 Mr. Olympia. From 1970 until his final retirement from
bodybuilding in 1980 Arnold would remain unbeaten with an
unheard of 7 Mr. Olympia titles!
I first met Arnold in 1975 when the
casting director for the movie Stay Hungry told me that Arnold
had seen me in the magazines and told her to call me to see if I
wanted to be in the movie. I hopped a plane and had an
adventure of a lifetime with a number of other bodybuilders
from around the country. I roomed
with a friend of Arnold’s named Roger Callard and had a lot
of fun. During those
weeks I was able to spend some time enjoying Arnold's
company as groups of us often went to dinner and afterwards to some bars. Needless to say, Arnold was always the life of
the party. A few months later, Arnold would be
a judge of the Mr. Southeastern USA which I won.
In 1978 Gold’s gym sponsored me to train
there in California, and even though Arnold was busy and out of
town a lot building up his movie career, I often saw him
on Sundays at Venice beach. Even though only being an
acquaintance of Arnold’s, I was able to make some
observations. He was the most ambitious, driven, and focused
man I have ever met. I dated a few of his girlfriends (after
he was no longer dating them of course) and none of them had
anything but positive things to say about the man.
I must say that Californians have done
themselves a favor by electing him governor because if anyone
can straighten the mess out there, it is Arnold.
We wish Arnold and his family all the
best as they enter still another phase of their lives
together!
Arnold's fans will want to check out his great Web site by
clicking here.
