Born 27 September 1997, Christopher Schwarzenegger is the youngest son of actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and ex-wife, journalist Maria Shriver. He has three direct siblings, Kathrine, Patrick, Christina and a half-sibling, Joseph Baena, from his father’s extramarital affair — he and Baena were born five days apart.
Despite his family background and fame, Christopher has chosen to lead a private and quiet life. It is because of this that not much is known about him to the public. And this is the same reason why the ever-inquisitive public is curious and want answers.
We are already too familiar with how an association with a famous person more often than not brings people popularity. While some people may like the attention, some appreciate it a lot less, and Christopher would appear to be one of the latter. To put the questions of many to bed about Chris, who just turned 24, we have gathered as much information about him, and we will divulge in this article.
To whet your appetite, we begin with these ten interesting facts about Christopher Schwarzenegger.
10 facts about Christopher Schwarzenegger
- As earlier mentioned, he is the son of one of Hollywood’s former power couples, and his parents first met in the 80s at a celebrity tennis tournament.
- Christopher Schwarzenneger is the last born of four children and the second son of his family.
- Being the last-born son to rich and famous parents earns you some privileges and the best things in life. Christopher had the privilege of studying at the prestigious Brentwood School for his high school education.
- Not long after his parents’ marriage started having problems, Christopher himself ran into some problems of his own. He had a terrible surfing accident that left him with broken ribs and a collapsed lung.
- The 25-year long marriage between Chris’ parents ended on a rather sad note. His mom found out that Arnold Schwarzenneger had fathered another son after an affair with their housekeeper, who lived with them for 15 years.
- Christopher is only five days older than his half-brother Joseph Baena. He, of course, would only get to know about his half-brother when the secret about the affair came out years later.
- Contrary to almost customary expectations, Christopher Schwarzenegger has shown no interest in acting thus far. He remained focused on his education till he graduated in 2020.
- Christopher is a brother-in-law to Guardians of The Galaxy lead actor, Chris Pratt, who is married to Katherine Schwarzenegger.
- His mom, Maria Shriver, is former American President John F. Kennedy’s niece.
- Unlike his siblings, Christopher is more of a recluse who enjoy the spotlight and engage with the public. He is, in fact, not active on social media.
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Christopher Schwarzenegger family
The influential Schwarzenegger family consists of Arnold, Maria Shriver, five children, and Mildred Baena. Four of the Schwarzenegger children are of Irish and German descent through their maternal grandparents Eunice and Sargent Shriver. Their grandmother was a younger sister to President John F. Kennedy, while their grandfather was a US Ambassador to France and the Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States in the 1972 election.
Apart from their parents’ fame, some of the Schwarzenegger kids have also become famous in their own rights. Let’s meet the family.
Katherine Schwarzenegger – sister
Born 13 December 1989, Katherine Schwarzenegger is an American author. She is the eldest child of actor and former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger and broadcast journalist Maria Shriver. In 2010, Schwarzenegger wrote a book entitled Rock What You’ve Got: Secrets to Loving Your Inner and Outer Beauty from Someone Who’s Been There and Back.
Upon graduating from the university, she sought career advice from a variety of people, including athletes, singers, entrepreneurs and actors. She compiled their wisdom into her second book — I Just Graduated . . . Now What? She has published other books since then, including a children’s book titled Maverick and Me.
Katherine is an American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ambassador and supports the Best Friends Animal Society. She is married to actor Chris Pratt, with whom she has a daughter.
Christina Schwarzenegger – sister
Born 23 July 1991, Christina is the second child of Arnold and Maria. She is a graduate of Georgetown, which is also her mother’s alma mater. Christina is the executive producer of the Take Your Pills franchise at Netflix, a series of documentaries that examine America’s dependence upon and obsession with various prescription pills. She was formerly an editor for three years at Goop, where she covered health and wellness topics.
At the age of five, Christina was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Disorder. She admitted that later in life, she began taking the prescription drug Adderall for a few months during her freshman year of high school to treat her ADD. She battled an addiction to the drug on and off before eventually breaking free from it. This explains why she chose a career in advocacy for mental health and against drug addiction.
Patrick Schwarzenegger – brother
Born 18 September 1993, Patrick is the third child and first son of Arnold and Maria. He is an actor, model, and entrepreneur. Throughout his childhood, he practised acting with his father. At the age of ten, Schwarzenegger had a small role in the film The Benchwarmers. His first leading role was opposite Bella Thorne in 2018’s Midnight Sun, a romantic drama about a teenage girl with a rare medical condition.
At age 15, he started a clothing line. In 2014, Patrick franchised his own Blaze Pizza at The Grove in Los Angeles. He has since opened up other locations at USC, where he attended school and Staples Center.
Patrick dated actress and singer Miley Cyrus from October 2014 to April 2015 and has been in a relationship with model Abby Champion since 2016.
Joseph Baena – half brother
Born 2 October 1997, Joseph is Arnold’s fifth and last child. He is Arnold’s only child who was not birthed by Shriver. His mother is the Schwarzeneggers’ former housekeeper, Mildred Patricia Baena, who lived with the family for 15 years. A Los Angeles native, Joseph graduated from Pepperdine in 2019 and spent a lot of time in the gym. He has called his father “the best training partner in the world.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger – father
Born 30 July 1947, Arnold Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American actor, filmmaker, politician, and former professional bodybuilder and powerlifter. His father, a police chief, did not approve of him being an athlete and rather supported his brother. Undeterred, he kept playing sports and maintained his fitness. Eventually, he developed an interest in body-building and chased his dream of becoming the best bodybuilder in the world. He realised this dream when he won the Mr. Olympia title.
Arnold also dreamt of becoming an actor, and this dream too was fulfilled as he went on to become a big Hollywood star. That wasn’t enough, he had to conquer in other fields too, and thus came politics. He served as the Governor of California for two terms. Arnold also has a philanthropic side and has helped many charitable organisations in their cause.
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In 2011, after completing his second term as the Governor of California, he decided to make a comeback in Hollywood. The same year, he founded the NGO named R20 Regions of Climate Action.
He married Maria Shriver, a niece of President John F. Kennedy, in 1986. They separated in 2011 after he admitted fathering a child with their housemaid in 1997, and their divorce was finalised in 2017.
Maria Shriver – mother
Born 6 November 1955, Maria Shriver is a famous American journalist and activist known for her long association with NBC. She was also the First Lady of California for seven years as the then-wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger, former governor of California. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Shriver is the daughter of American diplomat Sargent Shriver and the niece of former US President John F. Kennedy.
She began her career as a journalist after graduating from Georgetown University in Washington. After completing her studies, Maria started working as a news writer and producer for KYW-TV, a TV station based in Philadelphia. Later, she started working at WJZ-TV, where she wrote and produced the show Evening Magazine. She eventually moved on to work for CBS News, where she co-anchored the popular show CBS Morning News.
While working as a journalist, she wrote a book titled Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Went Out Into The Real World. Shriver was also a co-anchor for NBC’s coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics, which won an Emmy Award. She hosted and co-produced a TV program named The Alzheimer’s Project — it earned her two Emmy Awards. After her divorce from Schwarzenegger, she returned to NBC and currently works as a special anchor and correspondent for NBC News.
In the year 2009, she launched The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything. Her study showed that American women make up half the workforce of the United States, revealing how this fact impacts families, businesses, and government.
As first lady of California
Maria helped The Women’s Conference grow and become the nation’s premier forum for women. Her initiatives helped bring focus on the needs of women, the poor, and the disabled. She launched the Minerva Awards in 2004 to reward those women of California who worked hard to bring about a change to society.
As the chairperson of California Volunteers, Shriver promoted service and volunteerism. To help women start or grow their businesses, she started the WE Invest Program. Later, she also started a project to plant the first edible garden at a state capitol.
Conclusion
Christopher just completed his university education during the pandemic in 2020. His dad took to Instagram to share a congratulatory message. It read, “I know your graduation from Michigan wasn’t the big celebration you dreamed about for years, but walking across a stage isn’t what makes me so proud of you: it’s your compassion, your hard work, your vision, your critical thinking, and your selflessness that make me burst with pride. I can’t wait to watch you keep climbing and succeeding.”
It is yet unknown what path Christopher wishes to tread, but if his dad’s message is anything to go by, he will do just fine in whatever route he chooses to go.
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