Arnold Schwarzenegger has 5 kids, including the son he fathered with his housekeeper while still married to Maria Shriver. Here's everything you need to know about them.
Eve Crosbie
- Arnold Schwarzenegger has five children.
- He has four kids with his ex-wife Maria Shriver — Katherine, Christina, Patrick, and Christopher.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has five children. The actor-turned-politician, 75, shares daughters Katherine, 33, and Christina, 31, and sons Patrick, 29, and Christopher, 25, with his ex-wife, television journalist Maria Shriver.
The pair were married in 1986 but Shriver, who is the niece of President John F. Kennedy, filed for divorce in 2011 after she confronted Schwarzenegger in a marriage counseling session about the secret son he fathered with a member of their household staff. However, the pair did not finalize their divorce until a decade later in December 2021.
Schwarzenegger had an affair in 1996 with Mildred Baena, the family's housekeeper, which resulted in the birth of his fifth child, Joseph Baena, 25, who was born less than a week after his and Shriver's youngest son.
Speaking in the new Netflix docuseries, "Arnold," the former governor of California said that did not know for sure that Baena was his for many years, but as the years went by, their resemblance could not be denied.
"In the beginning, I really didn't know, I just started kind of feeling. The older he got the more it became clear to me," he said. "And it was then just really a matter of, how do you keep this quiet? How do you keep this a secret?"
Schwarzenegger went public with the news shortly after he and Shriver told their kids, and today "The Terminator" star's relationship with all five of his offspring is "fantastic," per a 2015 appearance on "The Howard Stern Show."
Keep reading for everything you need to know about Schwarzenegger's five children.
Schwarzenegger and Shriver's eldest daughter Katherine, 33, is a bestselling author and is married to movie star Chris Pratt.
Katherine Eunice Schwarzenegger was born on December 13, 1989. Her middle name was chosen to honor her maternal grandmother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who died in 2009 at age 88.
Katherine has made a name for herself in the self-help sphere, having authored several books since she was 21 years old on different topics, including positive self-image, navigating life after graduating college, and forgiveness. She has also written two children's books.
Since 2019, she has been married to "Guardians of the Galaxy" star Chris Pratt, who she began dating a year prior. Together they share two daughters, Lyla, 2, and 1-year-old Eloise.
During an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in 2022, Schwarzenegger opened up about his growing family, saying it was "the easiest thing to be a grandfather."
The former governor of California also praised Pratt, 43, describing him as a "fantastic guy" and "a great son-in-law."
Christina, 31, previously worked as an editor at Goop but has more recently turned her attention to producing documentaries.
Christina Maria Aurelia Schwarzenegger was born on July 23, 1991. Like her older sister, her middle names have significance as Aurelia is the name of Schwarzenegger's late mom and Maria is obviously her own mom's name.
Christina honored her mom in another way by attending her alma mater, Georgetown University, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in English. She also studied interior architecture at Parsons School of Design, per Hola, and has pursued several different creative jobs.
She was an editor at Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle brand Goop for three years, according to People, and has also worked at interior design startups.
Most recently, she has turned her attention to documentaries and is credited as an executive producer on Netflix's 2018 documentary "Take Your Pills" and its 2022 followup, "Take Your Pills: Xanax."
She also serves on the council for the Special Olympics, a sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities that was founded by her maternal grandmother in 1968.
Patrick, 29, is the only one of Schwarzenegger and Shriver's children who has pursued a career in Hollywood.
Patrick Arnold Schwarzenegger was born on September 18, 1993. His middle name honors his father and he shares his first name with his cousin. His uncle, Meinhard Schwarzenegger, sadly passed away at the age of 24 in 1971, leaving behind a 3-year-old son — who now goes by Patrick Knapp — who Schwarzenegger helped financially while he was growing up.
Patrick is the only of Schwarzenegger's children with Shriver who has pursued a career in Hollywood. Since the age of 10, he has been appearing in movies and working as a model.
Patrick is perhaps best known for starring in the 2022 HBO true crime series, "The Staircase," alongside Colin Firth, Toni Collette, and Sophie Turner.
While still studying at the University of Southern California in 2015, Patrick had a brief but high-profile relationship with singer Miley Cyrus. They called it quits after five months due to differences in their lifestyles, according to People.
The same year, he began a relationship with model Abby Champion and the couple are still together.
Schwarzenegger's youngest son with Shriver, Christopher, 25, largely stays out of the spotlight.
Christopher Sargent Schwarzenegger is the youngest of Shriver and Schwarzenegger's children together and was born on September 27, 1997. His middle name honors his maternal grandfather, Sargent Shriver, who was an American diplomat, politician, and activist.
Christopher largely remains out of the spotlight, and having only graduated from the University of Michigan in a virtual ceremony in 2020, appears to have not settled on a career just yet.
However, while celebrating Christopher's 24th birthday in 2021, Schwarzenegger shared in a social media post that his son has an interest in a variety of sports.
"Between your boxing classes, your weightlifting classes, your stretching classes, your cycling classes, and on and on, I can't even keep up with you!" he wrote. "I love you and I'm proud of you every day!"
Joseph Baena, 25, the son Schwarzenegger shares with his former housekeeper, was born just five days after Christopher.
Joseph Baena is the son of Schwarzenegger and Mildred Baena, his housekeeper who worked for the family for more than 15 years. He was born on October 2, 1997, five days after Schwarzenegger and Shriver's youngest son was born.
On his mother's side, Joseph has Guatemalan heritage and also has four siblings who are all now in their thirties and forties.
Joseph has followed in his father's footsteps and is an aspiring bodybuilder and actor as well as a real estate agent.
In an interview with Men's Health in 2022, the "Dancing With the Stars" contestant said he doesn't use his dad's last name while auditioning because "he doesn't believe in handouts."
"He believes hard work pays off, and so do I," he said. "I love the word honor, and I'm very prideful in the sense that if I use my dad's contacts or ask him for favors, I wonder what honor is that gonna bring me?"
Elsewhere in the interview, Joseph said he "very vividly" recalls the day his father's identity was made public when he was just 13 years old.
"I was in the eighth grade," Joseph said. "And I get called out of class to leave. And my mom's there, and she's like, 'We gotta go — everyone is finding out about you and who your father is.'"
Joseph shared on the podcast "Unwaxed" in 2022 that it "took a little while" for him and Schwarzenegger to become "close" in the aftermath of the scandal.
In "Arnold," which is now streaming on Netflix, Baena makes a brief appearance with his father although he does not speak on camera.
"It was wrong what I did," the former governor said of his affair in the docuseries. "But I don't want to make Joseph feel that he is not welcomed in this world — because he is very much welcomed in this world. I love him and he has turned out to be an extraordinary young man."
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