The Life and Times of Andre the Giant

I just read HBO is going to air a documentary about larger than life former wrestler Andre the Giant in April. That got me thinking about my days as a kid watching the behemoth "wrastle" - that's how you say it if you're a real fan 😛

I don't really watch wrestling anymore, it's gone a bit too wierd for me, but I do have fond memories of watching it as a child. Everyone knows it's scripted but it's still entertaining as hell to observe.

Andre the Giant was the biggest of the big men, he was 7 foot 4 and weighed a scale breaking 540 lbs. The Frenchman had gigantism which is a condition where the body keeps growing and eventually kills it's subject.

Andre's real name was Andre Renee Rousimoff. He was born in a town called Coulommiers, France on May 19, 1954. It was apparent early that he had a condition that made him different than other kids his age. At 16 he stood 6 foot 3 and weighed 220 pounds.

His neighbor Samuel Beckett, heard Andre was having a hard time getting to school because he was too large to sit on the bus, so the Nobel prize winning writer offered to drive him in the back of his truck.

Andre was a good student and excelled at math, but he later dropped of highschool because he didn't see how his education would serve him as he was destined to be a farm hand. His father had a ranch that he worked on as a labourer with his brother Jacques. He also took a course in woodworking and was skilled at making haybailing equipment. None of these jobs brought Andre satisfaction however and so he decided to move to Paris to study wrestling.

At the age of 17 a French promoter recognized the potential for such a larger than life figure and offered to take Andre under his wing. He taught Andre how to wrestle and gave him the name "Geant Ferre" which loosely translates to Big Brother.

During local stops as a semi professional wrestler another wrestler and promoter named Frank Vallois was amazed at Andre's size. The Canadian from Montreal decided to offer Andre a job and began managing him. Andre wrestled in front of larger audiences and quickly developed a name for himself. After making the rounds throughout Europe Andre moved with Frank to Montreal Canada and began selling out the legendary Montreal Forum.

In 1972, WWF owner Vince McMahon was impressed by Andre's wrestling ability and gargantuan size so he offered him a contract. Vince suggested Andre change his name to something more easily recognizable and they began calling him "Andre the Giant." This is when the Frenchman's career began to skyrocket. Andre the Giant began headlining matches all across the globe and people started calling him the "8th Wonder of the World" who casted the biggest shadow in all of sports due to his size.

Throughout his career he faced all the best and most well-known wrestlers including Bam Bam Bigelow and Hulk Hogan. From 1973-1987 he went undefeated and retained the championship belt. Andre became a household name during the golden area of professional wrestling. One of the most iconic moments in WWF history is when the now world famous Hulk Hogan body slammed Andre the Giant during WrestleMania in 1980. Up to that point noone could lift or even feign performing the act due to the Giants size.

Throughout his career Andre wowed fans with his wrestling ability and ofcourse his massive stature. His health began to decline in the early 90's and he left the WWF to wrestle in Japan for a short time. It's said that during his career that he was the top paid performer and earned on average 400k a year in a sport managed by the notoriously cheap Vince McMahon.

Some feats Andre was popular for outside of the ring were his eating and drinking. The big man was labelled "the greatest drunk on earth" for his ability to consume over 100 beer in one sitting. While this may be a bit of lore it's confirmed by many of his friends. Due to his size alcohol didn't have the same affect on him as a normal human and with dinner he'd often down 2 bottles of wine and then start drinking beer towards the end of his meal.

Andre the giant had surgery once and the anesthesiologist wasn't sure how to sedate such a large man, so he used the fact the Giant could consume so much alcohol without getting drunk into his calculations. The surgery went fine.

Despite his pension for drinking so much everyone that knew him said that Andre was the most gentle and friendly person you could ever meet. He was known for paying for everyone's bills at all the restaurants he frequented.

There's so many stories that can't be confirmed as true surrounding the almost mythical being that is Andre the Giant. One report says that while in New York the police sent an undercover officer to follow Andre around to make sure he didn't fall on anybody. 😂

Acromegaly, the condition Andre suffered from, meant his body secreted growth hormones that lead his body and organs to continue to grow in size. It's a rare but deadly condition that finally took the life of the legendary wrestler. Andre passed away in his sleep on January 27th, 1993 of congenital heart failure at a hotel in Paris. He was only 47 years old. His remains were sprinkled atop his ranch in North Carolina.

If you enjoyed this be sure to watch when HBO drops it's Andre the Giant documentary rumoured to be released in April 2018.

Thanks for reading,

@goldenarms