Franco Columbu

Athletic career With Schwarzenegger, Columbu moved to California in the late 1960s to train and work with Joe Weider. The stipend was not enough to live on, so to support their bodybuilding careers, they began a bricklaying company named European Brick Works in 1969.

Columbu participated in the inaugural edition of the World's Strongest Man in 1977. He placed fifth, behind four men who each outweighed him by around . During the event, he dislocated his left knee while carrying a refrigerator on his back. Columbu returned to win the 1981 Mr. Olympia then retired from competition.

Acting, writing, directing, and producing careers Columbu appeared as himself in the 1977 bodybuilding docudrama Pumping Iron. He was the bodybuilding coach for Sylvester Stallone in the film Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), and had roles in films that starred Schwarzenegger, including Conan the Barbarian (1982), The Terminator (1984), and The Running Man (1987). In addition, Columbu's name appears during the opening credits of Schwarzenegger's Last Action Hero as the director of fictional film Jack Slater IV.

Columbu's later films, also as a writer and producer, included the cult film Beretta's Island, (1993), Doublecross on Costa's Island, which he also directed and Ancient Warriors (2003). These three films were almost entirely shot in his homeland of Sardinia. He was also featured, as an actor, in the low-budget production . Columbu returned to his hometown of Ollolai in Sardinia every year towards the end of August to attend the local festivities. Columbu became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1983.

On August 30, 2019, after feeling unwell while swimming off the coast of San Teodoro, Sardinia, Columbu died during transportation by helicopter to a hospital in Olbia, at age 78. Himself 1980 The Comeback Himself 1982 Conan the Barbarian Franco Armando Beretta Also producer and writer 1994 Taken Alive Enrico Costa Also producer and writer 1997 Doublecross on Costa's Island Enrico Costa Also director, producer, and writer 1998 Hollywood Salutes Arnold Schwarzenegger: A Cinematheque Tribute Himself 2002 Raw Iron: The Making of Pumping Iron Himself 2003 Ancient Warriors Aldo Paccione Also producer 2008 Why We Train Himself 2010 Muscle Beach then and Now Himself 2011 Dreamland La Terra dei Sogni 1975 Mr. Olympia (lightweight)

Powerlifting records Bench press, Squat, Deadlift,