LOS ANGELES -- Actor-body builder Arnold Schwarzenegger became a naturalized American citizen Friday, realizing a childhood dream along with 2,000 other people in a ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium.
'I really am convinced, after traveling all over the world and having seen all the places there are to see, that this country is the No. 1 in the world,' the Austrian-born Schwarzenegger said in an interview following the hour and a half ceremony.
'It's like joining a winning team.'
Schwarzenegger arrived in the United States in 1968 from Graz, Austria, by way of Munich, West Germany. He came to the United States to study weight training and body building and has since appeared in more than half a dozen films, most recently 'Conan, The Barbarian.' pickup4th graf: '
'This is the realization of the dream I have had ever since my childhood, to come to America and become an American,' Schwarzenegger said.
Schwarzenegger and his girlfriend, network news reporter Maria Shriver, gathered with friends at the actor's Santa Monica home Friday to toast his naturalization with champagne and a party.
