Schwarzenegger ‘drops plans to visit Austria’
Arnold Schwarzenegger has cancelled a trip to his homeland following the death of his father-in-law, it has been claimed.Austrian newspapers have it that the former governor of California decided to stay in the United States to support and console his wife Maria Shriver as her dad Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. passed away at the age of 95 earlier this week.A statement issued by his family yesterday (Tues) said Shriver “went to heaven to join the love of his life”. His death comes less than two years after his wife Eunice Kennedy Shriver passed away in August 2009. Shriver Jr. suffered from Alzheimers disease.Now Austrian dailies are claiming that Schwarzenegger will not return to the country he was born in for the weekend. The “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” star said only last week that he will visit the province of Tyrol to attend the Skiing World Cup events in Kitzbühel.The 63-year-old was due to speak at a fair about eco-friendly initiatives and recycling projects in Salzburg and he was tipped to attend the Audi Night in Kitzbühel, one of the weekends top society get-togethers.It would have been Schwarzeneggers first visit to Austria since November 2009.The five-time winner of international bodybuilding competition Mr Universe recently revealed he is currently reading three scripts. Schwarzenegger who is in permanent touch with old schoolmate Peter Urdl over the creation of a museum on his life in Thal near Graz where he was born stressed it will not matter how much he will earn in a possible comeback on the big screen.”Its not about the money at all for me in this possible second Hollywood career. I proved that I can rake in top salaries. I want to participate in smaller, more sophisticated movies with less budget but excellent scripts and the best directors at the helm,” he told the Kronen Zeitung newspaper earlier this week.The father-of-four also made clear he will not invest any money into films he stars in. He said: “I wont participate that way. I did so for Terminator 2 when I poured millions into the project. My part will be to promote the films.””Arnie” also said he is currently very busy writing his autobiography, and added that the end of his second gubernatorial term does not mean that his political career is over. Schwarzenegger made clear that the post he was most interested in the US presidency is “out of reach” for him since he was not born in the country. He did however present plans to hold various events to remind people of his previous appeals to them to protect the environment and live more eco-conscious lifestyles.