As Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announce their separation, here are top ten bits of trivia about the Austrian bodybuilder-turned-politician.

1. His middle name is Alois.

2. He first picked up a barbell at the age of 13 and chose bodybuilding as a career at the age of 14. He was so dedicated that he would break into his local gym at the weekend, when it was closed, in order to train.

3. During a year of national service in the Austrian army he went AWOL during basic training in order to attend a bodybuilding competition. He spent a week in an army jail.

4. In 1966 he came second in the Mr Universe competition to Chester Yorton.

5. He learned English in London’s East End while staying with his coach, Charles Bennett, in Forest Gate.

6. He moved to the United States at the age of 21 but Siskind and Susser, a firm of immigration lawyers, have claimed that he may have violated his visa and been an illegal immigrant.

7. In his early years in the United States, he had a relationship with Barbara Outland, an English teacher.

8. His first film appearance was as Hercules in the 1970 movie Hercules in New York. He was credited as “Arnold Strong”.

9. He had a brief career as a director, taking the helm for a 1990 television episode of Tales from the Crypt and then for the 1992 television movie Christmas in Connecticut.

10. In March, he revealed he is being courted for 15 films, including another installment of the Terminator franchise.