Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Movie That Changed Bodybuilding
Before he became the Terminator, Schwarzenegger starred in a documentary that brought bodybuilding into the spotlight and revealed his larger-than-life personality.
Athletes World
• ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER in PUMPING IRON (1977), directed by GEORGE BUTLER and ROBERT FIORE.
• Licensed Photo: Album / Alamy
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In 1976, Arnold Schwarzenegger stood inside New York's Whitney Museum of American Art, flexing his muscles for a crowd that had come to see bodybuilding presented as art.
It was an unusual setting for a six-time Mr. Olympia champion. But Schwarzenegger wasn't there just to show off his physique. He was helping raise money to finish a documentary that would change his career.
That film was Pumping Iron.
Released in 1977, it introduced movie audiences to the competitive world of bodybuilding, a sport that rarely attracted much attention outside gyms and fitness magazines.
And Schwarzenegger knew how to put on a show.
It was an unusual setting for a six-time Mr. Olympia champion. But Schwarzenegger wasn't there just to show off his physique. He was helping raise money to finish a documentary that would change his career.
That film was Pumping Iron.
Released in 1977, it introduced movie audiences to the competitive world of bodybuilding, a sport that rarely attracted much attention outside gyms and fitness magazines.
And Schwarzenegger knew how to put on a show.
