from CNN

Franco Columbu, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ‘best friend,’ dies at 78

By Lauren M. Johnson

Arnold Schwarzenegger stands next to Franco Columbu, hanging upside down, in this image from 1977.
Arnold Schwarzenegger stands next to Franco Columbu, hanging upside down, in this image from 1977.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is mourning the loss of the man he called his best friend — Italian bodybuilder Franco Columbu.

The 78-year-old Columbu was the best man at the wedding of Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver in 1986. He was also an actor.”

From the minute we met in Munich, you were my partner in crime. We pushed each other, we competed with each other, and we laughed at every moment along the way,” Schwarzenegger wrote in his tribute Friday. “I am devastated today. But I am also so, so grateful for the 54 years of friendship and joy we shared.”

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