Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision to run for governor of California in the historic 2003 election when voters recalled Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and replaced him with a Republican action movie superstar , credited Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton.

The revelation comes in a new mini-documentary about Skelton, a prominent columnist who has chronicled California politics for more than half a century.

“What most people don't know is that George Skelton is, in some ways, the person who is actually responsible for me running for governor,” Schwarzenegger said in the LA-produced mini-documentary. He spoke in “Bold Ink: The Life of a Columnist.'' The Times Studio is commemorating Mr. Skelton's 50th anniversary with the Times.

“I was on a movie set, minding my own business, doing Terminator 3. Then I read an article about the recall and called him,” Schwarzenegger told senior producer Karen. -Told in Foshay's film. “And he said, 'Well, you'd be perfect, you'd be a great candidate.'”

Schwarzenegger said Skelton continued the interview and later wrote a column about their conversation.

“From that point on, all of a sudden people started attacking me and saying, 'This is a great idea, you should run for governor,'” Schwarzenegger said. “I said, 'Look, I'm making a movie and I don't have time to do this.' But that ended up dragging me into everything. .”

The documentary about Skelton's journalism career captures his unflinching style and includes interviews with several politicians he has covered over the years. The episode will be broadcast on Spectrum News 1 in the LA Times on January 24th at 7pm and 10pm.