Hasta la vista: Arnold Schwarzenegger makes unexpected trip to Belfast to receive honorary doctorate
Arnold Schwarzenegger has swapped Hollywood, California, for the less glamorous Hollywood in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to receive an honorary doctorate from Ulster University.
The university said it was handing the honour to the actor at a ceremony on March 30th for his contributions to public service, environmental advocacy, and the arts.
However, for Schwarzenegger himself, it represented a more symbolic homecoming of sorts, after he credited his visit to Belfast in 1966 as a “breakthrough” moment, according to BBC News.
Being invited to give a public speech at the time as part of a bodybuilding competition, despite the fact he knew very little English, was an experience in which the actor said he ended up “nearly fainting”.
He continued: “What happened that day in Belfast was so important to me because every single time afterwards when I won a competition I went to the microphone.”
Speaking of the effect this had on the rest of his career, Schwarzenegger added: “Each time I said more and more and more, and eventually they couldn’t shut me up, I love talking so much in public.”
As such, the former California governor subsequently jokingly claimed he was “tricked” into receiving the honorary doctorate by the university after they asked him if he still believed in free speech.
After bestowing the doctorate on Schwarzenegger, Ulster University’s vice-chancellor, Professor Paul Bartholomew, said: “Few individuals have shaped global culture across sport, film and public life in the way that Dr Arnold Schwarzenegger has.”
“He built a name for himself in professional bodybuilding and acting and he used that platform for ultimate good,” he continued, adding that the Hollywood star has used his status “for the environment, for the people of California and for the philanthropic causes he champions”.
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