Arnold Schwarzenegger had already been a successful bodybuilding athlete by his 20s in Austria. In fact, he was the youngest competitor to win Mr. Universe. Website biography. He was undoubtedly successful in Europe but he wanted to go to America to compete and get his chance in Hollywood.
Arnold met Barbara Outland in college shortly after moving to the U.S.A in 1968. The two began dating in 1969. According to reports, the couple lived in Santa Monica together during their relationship. They enjoyed a casual lifestyle together, barbecuing together and spending time on the beach together when Schwarzenegger wasn’t training. The Telegraph.
The pair began to fall apart as he became more serious about his bodybuilding career. Barbara Outland Baker spoke to The Telegraph. “I was in his shadow… I just wanted to get married and have children. But he was someone with so much focus, nothing could get in his way.”After six years together, they split up in 1975. According to Schwarzenegger, it was because of differences in their lifestyles.
He wrote in his memoir about their split: “Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder,” “Basically it came down to this: she was a well-balanced woman who wanted an ordinary, solid life, and I was not a well-balanced man and hated the very idea of ordinary life.”