English Project BodyBuilding

Trivia

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  He bought the first Hummer manufactured for civilian use in 1992, a model so large, 6,300 lb (2900 kg) and 7 feet (2.1 m) wide that it is classified as a large truck and U.S. fuel economy regulations do not apply to it. During the Gubernatorial Recall campaign he announced that he would convert one of his Hummers to burn hydrogen. The conversion was reported to have cost about $21,000 (USD). After the election, he signed an executive order to jump-start the building of hydrogen refueling plants called the "California Hydrogen Highway Network", and gained a DOE grant to help pay for its projected $91,000,000 (USD) cost.California took delivery of the first H2H (Hydrogen Hummer) in October 2004.
  

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  He saved a drowning man's life in 2004 while on vacation in Hawaii by swimming out and bringing him back to shore.
  

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  He has appeared alongside his fellow actor from Around the World in 80 Days, Jackie Chan, in a government advert to combat piracy.
  

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  His Official height of 6'2" has been brought into question by several articles. In 1988 both the British 'Daily Mail' and 'Time Out' magazine mentioned that Schwarzenegger appeared noticably shorter than this publicised figure. More recently, before running for Governor, Schwarzenegger's height was once again questioned in an article by the Chicago Reader. As Governor, Schwarzenegger engaged in a light hearted exchange with Assemblyman Herb Wesson over their heights. At one point Wesson made an unsuccessful attempt to, in his own words, "settle this once and for all and find out how tall he is." by using a tailor's tape measure on the Governor. Schwarzenegger later retaliated by placing a pillow stitched with the words "Need a lift?" on the five foot five Wesson’s chair before a negotiating session in his office. To date, there is at least one website dedicated to Schwarzenegger's height and his page remains one of the most active on a website which discusses the heights of celebrities.
  

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  In 1983 Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in the promotional video "Carnival in Rio".
  

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  Appeared on the cover of "High Times" Magazine dressed as "Conan The Barbarian."
  

Franco Columbu (August 7, 1941, Ollolai, Sardinia) is an Italian actor and bodybuilder.

Starting out his athletic career as a boxer, Columbu progressed into the sport of powerlifting and later bodybuilding, winning the title of Mr. Olympia in 1976 and 1981. At one time he was considered to be one of the world's strongest men and held a number of powerlifting and weightlifting world records. At 5 feet and 5 inches in height, Columbu is shorter than most of his bodybuilding competitors, but that has not prevented him from achieving widespread success.

Franco Columbu is also famous for being a long time friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom he met in Munich in 1965 and competed against in several international-level bodybuilding competitions. For the Mr. Olympia competitions however, he competed in the under 200 lb (90.7 kg) category, whereas Schwarzenegger was in the over 200 lb category. The final champion was determined by a pose down between the two class winners. The IFBB has since abandoned weight classes.

In addition to his athletic accomplishments, Columbu has also made intermittent minor forays into acting. Appearing alongside Arnold in Pumping Iron, he has also appeared in cameo roles in Conan the Barbarian, The Terminator, The Running Man and starred in his own films, notably, Beretta's Island.

He holds doctorates in chiropractic and nutrition.

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  In the movie Pumping Iron Columbu is shown to lift an awkwardly parked Fiat car out of its park.
  
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  Columbu was the best man at Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver's 1986 wedding.
  
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  One of Columbu's feats of strength was to blow up a hot water bottle until it burst.
  
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  In the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Last Action Hero, the words "A Franco Columbu film" appear on the screen at the beginning of Jack Slater IV (a film within the film) as a tribute to Columbu.
  
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  In the opening scenes of Conan the Barbarian, Columbu plays a 'pictish scout', complete with mustache, wig and blue body-paint.
  
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  In The Terminator, Columbu plays the infiltrating Terminator in Reese's flashback/dream in which the picture of Sarah Connor is destroyed by fire.
  
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  Columbu competed in the 1977 World's Strongest Man competition and finished fifth, despite not being able to complete all the events having dislocated his knee in the 'Refrigerator Carry' event.