How did Arnold Schwarzenegger's brother Meinhard die? 'FUBAR' star didn't attend brother Meinhard's funeral in case he saw his father
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: From Arnold Schwarzenegger's achievements in the bodybuilding arena to the political stage, the actor’s life has been lived in front of the media glare. From scandals to successes, they have all been laid bare for the world to see. Now as the actor makes an exciting debut on Netflix in the series ‘Fubar’, viewers are quite interested in the former politician’s personal life.
The actor himself has been quite forthcoming about the details of his private life — from living with a Nazi father to his own infidelities while he was married — the actor has been open about it all. It is also no secret that the ‘Predator’ star’s relationship with his father Gustav Schwarzenegger was borderline acrimonious. He also had an elder brother, Meinhard who was said to be their father's 'favorite son'. The animosity between the father and the prodigal younger son, Arnold, ran so high that, after leaving his home in Austria when he was 18, ‘The Terminator’ actor did not go back to his home country even when his older brother, Meinhard died in a car accident in 1971.
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Who was Meinhard Schwarzenegger?
The elder son of the Austrian born police chief Gustav Schwarzenegger, Meinhard was the elder brother of ‘The Terminator' star. It has been reported by The Guardian, that their father had a ‘preference’ towards his first born as he was more athletic of the two. According to the Showbiz Cheatsheet, Gustav even encouraged his two sons to fight with each other so that Arnold was repeatedly humiliated.
In his recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Schwarzenegger opened up in one of the very rare instances about his brother. Talking about how his father’s abusive treatment shaped the two brothers’ lives, he said, “Well, look at my brother [Meinhard]”. Highlighting their natures, ‘The Last Stand’ actor said, “We were opposites. He was more fragile.” While the physical and mental torture helped Arnold become a strong individual who conquered not only the world of bodybuilding, but also Hollywood, the same treatment led Meinhard to a life of destruction.
Schwarzenegger narrated, “He got the same treatment and became an alcoholic and died drunk driving.” Since the “fragile” brother could not channel the ill treatment to make him stronger, it indeed drove him to alcoholism and subsequently to his death. As the entrepreneur and the father of five said, “What tore him down built me up.” Quoting Nietzsche, he remarked, “It goes back to Nietzsche: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger — and he got killed.”
How was his relationship with his father?
The book ‘True myths: The life and times of Arnold Schwarzenegger — from pumping iron to governor of California’ opines that Schwarzenegger did not talk much about his estranged father and subsequently his brother in his later life, as per Grunge. In fact, he left Austria (where he was born), and came to the US when he was just 18. Later in his life, he also came to know about his father’s association with the Nazis, which did not help him feel at ease with his father’s memories, who, by then, had been dead for almost twenty years. Due to their famed animosity, Schwarzenegger neither visited Austria in 1971 when Meinhard died, nor did he visited his home country after the death of his father. He, however, had a close relationship with his mother till her death in 1998.