He told us that he’d be back – but, after nearly 60 years in the public eye, Arnold Schwarzenegger has never gone away. Ever since his first trip to the US from Graz, Austria, in 1966, the Terminator has taken on a remarkable number of guises: bodybuilder, action hero, villain and even – in a move that seemed ludicrous in 2003, but in fact foretold decades of politics to come – the elected governor of California.
Arnie’s latest step-change is something more predictable: a “self-help guy”, as he puts it. Twelve years since leaving office, Schwarzenegger has just published his seventh book, Be Useful, sharing his “seven tools for life” and lessons learned in each of his various incarnations. What it does not include, beyond a passing reference to “rock bottom” and an allusion to hurting his family, is his 1996 infidelity when married to Maria Shriver; fathering a love child with his housekeeper; and the more recent allegations of his groping several women, that he apologised for earlier this year. Still, there is plenty in it for anyone keen to match his $450m estimated net worth or enormous biceps.
