“Had to Go Back and Remove It All”: Arnold Schwarzenegger Recounts an Illegal Act by His Closest Friend Franco Columbu During Their Brick-Laying Days

Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of the greatest to have graced the sport of bodybuilding, only had a few hundred dollars when he first came to the USA. Knowing that his career would not be as prosperous in Austria, Schwarzenegger had to make a living in the USA and that’s when he started a bricklaying business with one of his friends and training partners, Franco Columbu. Years later, when a fan asked him how to lay bricks perfectly, the Austrian Oak revisited an old memory where Columbu had added shards of glass to the brick walls they were laying.

After Schwarzenegger immigrated to America in 1968, he met Franco Columbu shortly after. The bond between both fitness enthusiasts was extremely close. Franco, whom Schwarzenegger complimented to be a great bricklayer, joined forces with the bodybuilding legend, Arnie, in his earlier days to make a living, as bricklayers.

Arnold Schwarzenegger talks about “intense focus” for brick-laying

When a fan asked mighty Schwarzenegger about the secrets of laying a great brick wall, the former bodybuilder recalled his days as a bricklayer alongside Columbu. Arnie wrote, “The real secret is just intense focus. When I go and look at one of our walls in Venice, I’m still impressed at how seamless it is. That’s where the focus comes in. You cannot overdo it.”

Furthermore, Schwarzenegger also pointed out that at the very beginning of their bricklaying stint, Arnie and Franco had done something that might be considered by many as being borderline illegal. “I don’t recommend embedding broken glass in walls like Franco did in one of our first projects though. That is only legal in Sardinia probably so we had to go back and remove it all,” Arnie explained with a tinge of humor.

Schwarzenegger did not consider Franco’s friendship as fleeting. Years after his demise, Arnie still recollects memories of his old partner with much emotions. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger continues to remember his old friend

Franco Columbu was a competent chess player and both Schwarzenegger and Columbu used to play chess in their free time. In fact, years after the latter’s demise, Arnie continues to remember how his friend would be around the chess board. He had recently confessed, “Every Day I come into my living room in the morning and I see Franco sitting at the chess table and I smile.”

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It is certainly difficult to forget a friend who has been there for one during the hardest periods of their life. Hence, whenever the Austrian Oak reminisces about the loved ones he lost, Franco Columbu always finds mention.

That being said, what do you think about Columbu’s act during brick laying? Let us know in the comments below.

READ MORE: “Pumping Bricks”: How Arnold Schwarzenegger Made His First Million With Franco Columbu in America