Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (German IPA: [ˌaɐnɔlt aloʏs ˈʃvaɐtsənɛɡɐ]; born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, businessman, and politician, currently serving as the 38th governor of the state of California.Schwarzenegger has gained worldwide fame as a Hollywood action movie icon. He was nicknamed "The Austrian Oak" and "The Styrian Oak" in his bodybuilding days, "Arnold Strong" and "Arnie" during his acting career, and more recently "The Governor" (a combination of Governor and Terminator, one of his film roles).[1]As a Republican, he was first elected on October 7, 2003, in a special recall election to replace then-Governor Gray Davis. Schwarzenegger was sworn in on November 17, 2003, to serve the remainder of Davis' term. Schwarzenegger was then re-elected on November 7, 2006, in the 2006 California gubernatorial election, to serve a full term as governor, defeating Democrat Phil Angelides, who was California state treasurer at the time. Schwarzenegger was sworn in for a second term on January 5, 2007.[2] In May 2004 and 2007, he was named one of Time's 100 People Who Help Shape the World.[3][4]Schwarzenegger is married to Maria Shriver and has four children. Schwarzenegger was born in Thal, Austria (German: Thal bei Graz), a small village bordering the Styrian capital Graz, and was christened Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger.[5] His parents were local police chief Gustav Schwarzenegger (1907 – 1972) and his wife, the former Aurelia Jadrny (1922 – 1998). They married on October 20, 1945: Gustav was 38 years old and Aurelia was a 23-year-old widow with a son named Meinhard. According to Schwarzenegger, both of his parents were "very strict": "Back then in Austria it was a very different world, if we did something bad or disobeyed our parents, the rod was not spared."[6] in a Roman Catholic family who he attended church services every Sunday.[7]Gustav had a preference for Meinhard, the eldest of the two sons.[8] His favoritism was "strong and overt", which stemmed from the unfounded suspicion "that Arnold was not his son". wall."[7] Schwarzenegger had a good relationship with his mother and remained in contact with her until her death.[10] Later in his life, Schwarzenegger commissioned the Simon Wiesenthal Center to research his father's war record, who found no evidence of atrocities.[8] At school Schwarzenegger was apparently "half-baked", but was notable for his "cheerful, good-humoured and exuberant" nature".