Arnold Schwarzenegger currently stars in Netflix’s Fubar, and fans have been delighted with his performance. The TV show marks the actor’s first series after a long and successful film career, but how much do you know about the star when cameras aren’t rolling?
The actor has had a complicated past, including a 15-year relationship with an English teacher, Barbara Outland Baker, which took place between 1969 and 1974. Discussing their romance in his 1977 memoir, he wrote: “She was a good – balanced woman who wanted an ordinary, solid life, and I was not a well-balanced man, and I hated the very idea of ordinary life.”
However, Barbara had other thoughts on the matter and opened up about their relationship in her 2006 memoir Arnold and Me: In the Shadow of the Austrian Oak. She explained that by the end of their relationship, he had become “unbearable” and “classically cocky”. Despite this, she added, “He just had this great determination to prove himself, and that was very attractive… I’ll go to my grave knowing that Arnold loved me.”
After the split, Arnold began dating Sue Moray, a hairdressing assistant, before meeting Maria Shriver. He dated both at the same time in open relationships until settling down with Maria. The couple married in 1986 and share four children, Patrick, Katherine, Christopher, and Christina.
However, after 25 years of marriage, Arnold and Maria announced their divorce in 2011. Around the same time, it was revealed that the Terminator actor had a 14-year-old son, Joseph, with a maid, Patty Baena.
Referencing the situation in 2014, when asked what he was least proud of, he replied: “I am least proud of the mistakes I made that caused my family pain and tore us apart.”
Arnold is set to open up about the situation in his new documentary Arnold, where he revealed that a marriage counselor asked him about Joseph’s paternity and said: “I thought my heart stopped. And then I told the truth. ‘Yes, Maria. Joseph he’s my son.’ She was obviously crushed by it.
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“At first, I didn’t really know, but as I got older, it became more clear to me… It was just a matter of, ‘How do you keep this a secret?'”
He added: “I have already caused enough pain to my family, for my [expletive] above. They all had to suffer. María had to suffer, the children had to suffer, José, his mother, everyone. I’m going to have to live with that for the rest of my life.”
The actor’s new three-part documentary, Arnold, is coming to Netflix on June 7 and chronicles his journey from Austria to stardom in the United States. The synopsis reads: “In a series of candid interviews, Schwarzenegger, his friends, enemies, co-stars and observers cover everything from his days as a firefighter to his triumphs in Hollywood, his time in California state government and the joys and turmoil of his family life in a story that matches his larger-than-life personality.”
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