Arnold Schwarzenegger has paid a warm tribute to "comedy royalty" Ivan Reitman.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has paid tribute to Ivan Reitman

Arnold Schwarzenegger has paid tribute to Ivan Reitman

The 'Terminator' legend took to social media to reflect on the life of the 'Ghostbusters' director - who he worked with on movies such as 'Twins' and 'Kindergarten Cop' - following his passing at the age of 75 over the weekend.

Arnie described Ivan as a "mensch" - a term meaning a person of honour and integrity - and recalled how the filmmaker had a way of "making himself a part of your story".

Schwarzenegger wrote: "Ivan Reitman is a legend. In Hollywood, he was bigger than life. He was comedy royalty.

"In life, he was a mensch - a wonderful father and husband, a fantastic friend, a great human being. He was kind, he was generous, he was smart as hell, and he was always there for you.

"If you knew him, Ivan had a way of making himself a part of your story, and he certainly wrote a chunk of mine."

Arnie, 74, also explained that he owed the director a lot for giving him the chance to prove his worth as a comedy actor in Hollywood movies.

He said: "I'll always be grateful that he took a chance on this Austrian action-hero in a comedy during a time when the studios just wanted me to focus on finding new ways to kill bad guys, blow things up, and show off some muscles.

"I knew I could make it in comedy, but I needed someone else to know it to make it a reality."

The 'Total Recall' star concluded: "I can't believe I won't work with him again or hang out with him again or just schmooze about life again.

"But I also know that Ivan isn't gone, he's still with us. He's here, in so many pages of my story."