Circumstances

“Call me Arnold” is an interview Studs Terkel conducted with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The interview was included in Terkel’s book, American Dreams: Lost and Found. The book, which was published in 1980, is one of Terkel’s  collections of oral histories and it focuses on stories told by different Americans – famous and unknown – who comment on their own version of the American dream. 

At the time when the interview was conducted, Schwarzenegger was 33 years old. By that time, he was already known for his bodybuilding career, as he had won the Mr. Universe title five times consecutively and the Mr. Olympia title six times, setting a new record. He was also a millionaire businessman, as a result of wise investments in several businesses and real estate. He had already acted in a few movies alongside better-known actors at the time, such as Kirk Douglas and Ann Margret. However, his worldwide f...