Arnold Schwarzenegger is a movie legend with roles in The Terminator saga and Predator but he’s had an impact on TV, too.
Born July 30, 1947, in Thal, Austria, Schwarzenegger—a newly minted Forbes billionaire—came from humble beginnings. Through hard work and dedication Schwarzenegger achieved everything he’s set his mind to in his 76 years to date, from bodybuilding greatness to becoming a movie icon to being elected the governor of California.
Fans worldwide, of course, best know Schwarzenegger for his dozens of movie roles, including the 1977 documentary Pumping Iron. Thanks to early to mid-1980s films like Conan The Barbarian and its sequel, The Terminator and Commando, Schwarzenegger quickly became a bona fide action movie star whose career only got bigger as the decade unfolded.
Schwarzenegger finished out the 1980s with more action films like Predator and The Running Man but added a comedy wrinkle to his acting resume when he paired with longtime pal Danny DeVito on the 1988 classic Twins.
In the 1990s, Schwarzenegger hopped back and forth from action to the comedy space with high-energy films like Total Recall, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and True Lies, which were balanced by such lighthearted fare as Kindergarten Cop (“It’s not a tooma!” he famously yells) and Jingle All the Way.
Continuing with his film career in the 2000s, Schwarzenegger has appeared in more Terminator films and even teamed with his one-time action hero rival Sylvester Stallone in the Rocky legend’s Escape Plan. In the second and third chapters of Stallone’s Expendables movie series, Schwarzenegger even employed his gift for comedy with classic lines like, “Get to the choppa!”
During his busy career as an athlete, actor and politician, Schwarzenegger has made several notable TV appearances that have utilized his skills as both an action and comedy movie star. Here’s a look at 10 of them.
‘The Streets of San Francisco’ – First TV Guest Role (1977)
Arnold Schwarzenegger was seven years into his acting career—which began with the 1970 movie Hercules in New York—before he made his TV acting debut. It came in the May 5, 1977, episode in the final season of the classic police procedural The Streets of San Francisco opposite Karl Malden and Richard Hatch, since Michael Douglas left the series the year before.
In the episode Dead Lift, Schwarzenegger appropriately plays a bodybuilder named Josef Schmitt. Josef, however, uses a performance-enhancing drug that exacerbates his temper problem and leads to a murder.
‘Stop The Madness’ Music Video (1985)
On December 11, 1985, Arnold Schwarzenegger lent his celebrity to a techno jazz-infused music video sponsored by the White House and President Ronald Reagan’s administration to warn people of the dangers of drug use. The We Are the World-type of video featured a wide array of hit entertainers in the day from the singing group New Edition and jazz trumpeter Herb Alpert to LA Lakers legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar and actor David Hasselhoff
Schwarzenegger only appears briefly in the Stop the Madness music video as a hard hat-wearing utility worker who flashes a smile at the camera.
‘Nissin Cup Noodle: Arnold Schwarzenegger’ TV Spot (1991)
While famous actors in recent years have appeared in U.S. TV commercials, many have gladly lent their talents to commercials internationally for decades.
One of them was Arnold Schwarzenegger, who in 1991 appeared in a TV spot in Japan for Nissin Cup Noodle. The spot, naturally, plays up Schwarzenegger’s strongman persona, where he pounds a huge mound of dough into noodle form. Schwarzenegger doesn’t speak in the spot but he ends it by consuming a cup of noodles.
Schwarzenegger Declares Victory In California Governor Recall Election (2003)
Grateful to the opportunities he received after moving to the U.S. in 1968, he made a pledge to serve the citizens of his adopted home state of California and won the governorship over incumbent Governor Gray Davis in an October 7, 2003, recall election.
In a televised speech after his victory, Schwarzenegger said of the tough choices ahead (via The Associated Press), “The first choice is the one that must determine our success. Shall we rebuild our state together or shall we fight amongst ourselves [and] create an even deeper division and fail the people of California? Well, let me tell you something. The answer is clear: ‘For the people to win, politics as usual must lose.”
Schwarzenegger was reelected to his second and mandated final term as governor of California in 2006 and returned to acting in January 2011.
Arnold Makes Impromptu Appearance At Muscle Beach (2018)
People capture celebrities on their cell cameras all of the time, but a video captured by YouTuber Beerdy in 2018 caught Arnold Schwarzenegger in his element at the Muscle Beach Outdoor Gym in Venice, California.
Schwarzenegger—then 70—makes a surprise appearance in the video not only chatting with bodybuilders but pumping iron with them. Although the clip is less than a minute long a lot of YouTube users invested their time in it as the video was viewed 23 million times.
Schwarzenegger And Hayek Play Zeus And Hera In BMW Super Bowl Spot (2022)
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Salma Hayek brought some electricity to the commercial lineup for the 2022 Super Bowl with a super-charged spot for BMW.
The spot follows Schwarzenegger’s Thunder Zeus and Hayek’s Goddess Hera as the Greek power couple leaves Mount Olympus for a life of retirement in Palm Springs, California. Zeus becomes frustrated when his powers are trivialized by residents in the community but Hera raises his spirits by buying him a BMW electric car.
The spot concludes with a shot of Zeus and Hera riding in the BMW iX with the Eddie Grant hit Electric Avenue playing over the speakers in their new ride.
Debut of ‘FUBAR’ Series On Netflix (2023)
May 25, 2023, marked a big first for Arnold Schwarzenegger with the debut of the Netflix original streaming series FUBAR, which holds the distinction of being the actor’s first TV series.
FUBAR utilizes Schwarzenegger’s two biggest strengths—his action star acumen and humor—playing Luke Brenner, a CIA Agent pulled back from retirement to rescue a fellow CIA Agent in another country who happens to be his daughter, Emma Brunner (Monica Barbaro).
The inaugural season’s eighth and final episode left viewers with the promise of more FUBAR to come, but there was another Schwarzenegger project waiting in the wings at Netflix.
Debut Of ‘Arnold’ Docuseries On Netflix (2023)
A mere two weeks after the debut of his TV debut with FUBAR, Arnold Schwarzenegger teamed with Netflix once again for Arnold, a three-part docuseries on the amazing life and career of the global celebrity.
Making its debut on Netflix on June 7, 2023, the Arnold docuseries chronicles three key elements of Schwarzenegger’s life. The first episode, Part 1: Athlete, is a deep dive into Schwarzenegger’s early life and rise as a bodybuilder, while Part 2: Actor delves into his transition into acting and also keys in on his business acumen. Part 3: American, showcases Schwarzenegger’s political career and life and career after.
Several of Schwarzenegger’s notable colleagues and former co-stars appear in Arnold, including James Cameron, Jamie Lee Curtis, Linda Hamilton and Danny DeVito.
Schwarzenegger And DeVito Team Up For ‘Agent State Farm’ Super Bowl Ad (2024)
In arguably one of the best commerical spots to play during the 2024 Super Bowl, State Farm Insurance recruits Arnold Schwarzenegger to star in the action movie Agent State Farm.
The production, however, keeps suffering hiccups because Schwarzenegger with his thick Austrian accent pronunciation of “neighbor” comes out as “neighbaaa.” This, of course, is a problem because the company’s slogan is “Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is There.”
The Agent State Farm Super Bowl spot not only allows Schwarzenegger to jump back into the action and comedy realm, but it also teams with his longtime friend and colleague Danny DeVito—which leads to a very funny conclusion to the commercial.
Schwarzenegger And DeVito Taunt Michael Keaton’s Batman (2024)
The producers of the 2024 Oscars must have been reminded of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito’s magical chemistry with the Agent State Farm ad because they recruited the dynamic duo as a pair of presenters at the Academy Awards.
Schwarzenegger and DeVito engaged in some very entertaining banter before handing out a couple of Oscars, though, as they reminisced how the Dark Knight defeated their villain characters—Mr. Freeze and the Penguin—in a pair of Batman movies.
Before too long, DeVito spotted Michael Keaton in the audience, who immediately snapped into his Bruce Wayne-Batman mode to give the stink-eye to the two movie villains. Schwarzenegger responded to Keaton by calling him an SOB—twice.
FUBAR Season 2 Teaser Teams Arnold With His Action Figure (2024)
Fulfilling fans’ wishes, Netflix is bringing back FUBAR for a second season—and Arnold Schwarzenegger teased how the series is coming back bigger and better than the first time around with a promotional spot from the streamer.
Schwarzenegger isn’t alone in the promo, though. Apart from a shoutout about FUBAR Season 2 from co-star Fortune Feimster, Schwarzenegger is accompanied through the spot by his own 5 ½-inch tall action figure. In the spirit of the spot’s bigger season promise, the production assembles a massive version of the Schwarzenegger action figure, which stands over 22 feet tall.
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