US-Austrian former politician, former professional bodybuilder and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger poses with his honorary doctorate at the Hertie School of Governance on September 17, 2024 in Berlin, Germany. Photo: AFP
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Austrian body builder and global action film star turned US politician, was awarded an honorary doctorate on Tuesday (Sept 17) by Berlin's private Hertie School.
Schwarzenegger thanked the packed crowd for the honour and said what has made him happiest in life was not success as a bodybuilder and Hollywood star or having earned millions, but being able to give something back to others.
The former Republican governor of the US state of California said his concern in life is being useful to others – and he added that there was another life lesson he wanted to share.
"Don't listen to the naysayers," he said.
German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck personally awarded Schwarzenegger the degree in recognition of his work on climate change and boosting civil society.
Habeck said in a laudatory speech that the 77-year-old Schwarzenegger had more than earned the honorary doctorate, praising him as an extraordinary person and politician and a role model for all of humanity.
As a politician, Habeck said that Schwarzenegger was guided by what was right and necessary, not by ideological guidelines, including backing renewable energy projects in California.
Schwarzenegger was born in Austria and first became world-famous as a muscle man and actor. At just 20 years of age he was crowned Mr Universe, a major title in the world of bodybuilding, which launched him onto a career in the United States.
He became known in Hollywood with action roles such as Conan The Barbarian but achieved lasting cult status in the 1984 science fiction thriller Terminator.
He also appeared in scores of other action films as well as comedies such as Kindergarten Cop.
He entered politics and served two terms as governor of California from 2003 to 2011. – dpa
