Megastar Arnold Schwarzenegger talks of how Leeds inspired his career in Netflix documentary

The Austrian-born bodybuilder, who became one of the world’s leading film stars and famous celebrities, discusses his early life in the three-part series and particularly his admiration for his hero, Reg Park, the Leeds-born 6ft 1” bodybuilder who also became a movie actor.

Known as ‘Arnie’ to billions, as a youngster he had posters of Park above his bed and compares the city of Graz, close to where he grew up, to Leeds. In more recent years he visited the city twice.

The 76-year-old said he would lie on his bed “dreaming” of success and stardom, and added: “I would see Reg Park and his body and then remember the story of him growing up in Leeds in England.

"The town (sic) was like Graz, it was a factory town and the people worked hard.”

Born in 1928, Reg Park was a former Leeds United reserve player before he developed an interest in bodybuilding. He later landed the title of Mr Universe in 1951, 1958 and 1965 and also starred in five films, playing Hercules in each.

Schwarzenegger said it was watching Park in those films at the cinema in Austria that triggered his passion for bodybuilding. The pair later met and Park mentored the young European while he trained at a gym in London in the 1960s. They even went head-to-head in the 1970 Mr Universe competition, with Schwarzenegger coming out on top. Schwarzenegger would eventually be crowned Mr Universe three times, and Mr Olympia seven times.

He then found silver-screen stardom with a string of successful action films through the 80s, 90s and 2000s, including The Terminator series, Predator, Total Recall, True Lies and The Expendables franchise.

The Netflix documentary series, called ‘Arnold’, chronicles his life as a bodybuilder, as a movie star, and finally as the Governor of California in 2003.

In 2014, he travelled to Leeds for a sold-out show, An Evening with Arnold Schwarzenegger, in which he spoke of his admiration for Reg Park who became the “blueprint” for his own life. He returned in 2017 for a second similar event.