Italian Bodybuilder, Actor Franco Columbu Dies at 78

Maid of Honor Caroline Kennedy and Best Man Franco Columbu, leave St. Francis Xavier Church after the wedding of Caroline's cousin Maria Shriver to Arnold Schwarzenegger in Hyannis, Mass.. Italian ,on April 26, 1986 .Mike Kullen, AP Photo/file

ROME—Italian bodybuilder, boxer and actor Franco Columbu, one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s closest friends, has died aged 78.

Columbu died in a hospital in his native Sardinia on Friday afternoon after being taken ill while he was swimming in the sea.