The Italian bodybuilder and actor Franco Columbu, whom Arnold Schwarzenegger called his “best friend” in a moving tribute on social media, has died aged 78.
A two-time Mr Olympia, Columbu appeared alongside Schwarzenegger in The Terminator, the Running Man and Conan the Barbarian. He died in hospital in his native Sardinia on Friday afternoon after taking ill while swimming in the ocean, the Associated Press reported.
Columbu was best known for his decades-long friendship with Schwarzenegger. In a heartfelt tribute posted to Instagram, the actor and former governor of California said his life was “more fun, more colourful, and more complete” thanks to Columbu.
“From the minute we met in Munich, you were my partner in crime,” Schwarzenegger wrote about Columbu.
“We pushed each other, we competed with each other, and we laughed at every moment along the way.”
The two met in Germany in the 1960s where they were rivals in bodybuilding competitions. They later worked together as bricklayers after moving to the US to pursue a career in Hollywood at the behest of the Canadian bodybuilder Joe Weider.
“When I finally got to America, I was alone,” Schwarzenegger writes.
“I’d left my family, my country, my whole life behind. So when I asked Joe Weider to bring you to train with me, it was because I knew I wasn’t the same without my best friend. I could thrive without money, without my parents, but I couldn’t thrive without you.”
Columbu was Schwarzenegger’s best man at his marriage to Maria Shriver in 1986 and was the godfather of their daughter Christina. Shriver also paid tribute to Columbu, calling him family.
