Tale of two marriages *

Reporters Robin Abcarian and Mark Z. Barabak of the L.A. Times called around to talk to friends of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver about the break-up of the couple's 25-year marriage. They found two versions of the story, basically his and hers.

Some close to Schwarzenegger spoke of a loving marriage that slowly broke apart over time. Friends of Shriver portrayed her as trapped for years in an unhappy relationship that reached a breaking point after the deaths of her parents and a difficult transition back to private life.

"Everyone who's shocked by this is reacting to the fairy-tale picture that was promoted," said a friend who has been a frequent visitor to the couple's Brentwood mansion and did not want to be identified as breaching the couple's confidence. The death in August 2009 of Shriver's mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, said this friend, marked a turning point. Her father, Sargent Shriver, the Peace Corps founder, died in January.

"There was such a void," said the friend, "and when she looked around, she realized her husband could never even think of filling it."

When asked why Shriver stayed in the marriage for so long if she was so unhappy, the friend responded: "Part of it is family legacy, part of it is Catholicism. But the most important thing was their four kids."

Left unclear is when Shriver moved out. A former Schwarzenegger administration official said "he had heard about the couple's split in January." The Times broke the news of the couple's separation last night.

* Later Tuesday night: Schwarzenegger said at an Israel Independence event at the Skirball: "I want to take a moment to acknowledge and thank our many friends and family for the tremendous amount of support and love that you have given us in the last 24 hours....We both love each other very much ... and we are taking it one day at a time."