Schwarzenegger denies Hitler allegations ahead of governor recall election

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER has begun damage limitation apologising for "bad behaviour" towards women and claiming not to remember ever expressing admiration for Adolf Hitler.

ABC News and The New York Times said the actor told an interviewer during filming of the bodybuilding documentary, Pumping Iron, in 1975 that he admired Adolf Hitler's rise to power from humble beginnings.

"I don't remember any of those comments because I always despised everything that Hitler stood for," Schwarzenegger said, calling the Nazi leader a "disgusting villain".