Andre the Giant Biography

Andre The Giant had an oversized appearance, which helped him to become a superstar wrestler. 'The Princess Bride’ was a movie that also made him more popular. Andre was one of the dominant persons in the sport of wrestling during the 1970s and ‘80s. He spent more than 300 days traveling to attend the competition. He travelled to various parts of the world and placed his foot as Wrestler. Andre also participated in more than 5000 matches during his lifetime. He became world-famous and earned millions with his physical appearance. People around the world started considering Andre as an “Eighth Wonder of the world” and he also received honour by WWE Hall of Fame.

Andre The Giant: Early Life 

On 19th May 1946, Andre the Giant was born in Coulommiers, France. The full name of Andre The Giant was André René Roussimoff. According to Andre The Giant Biography, at the time of his birth, he was a weight of 13 pounds. Andre spent his childhood in the small town of Molien, which was located forty miles east of Paris. Andre had four siblings, two elder, and two younger ones. Sometimes, Andre was accompanied by his neighbour Samuel Beckett (the famous playwright) while going to school. 

While Andre attained the age of 14, he left his school and began his work. While Andre was at the age of 15, he was nearly 6-foot-6 by time. His family also noticed the changes in his physical appearance. They also thought that it was because of acromegaly. 

What is Acromegaly? 

Acromegaly was a serious hormonal disorder, which was caused due to the excessive secretion of growth hormone by the pituitary gland. This hormonal imbalance can cause gigantism in children. Andre The Giant was also affected by such disorder. This resulted in his enlarged head, hands, feet, and chest. The size of the shoe that was suitable for Andre was 22. The hands of the normal people look like miniatures of the hands of Andre. 

The size of Andre brought more difficulties to lead his normal life. Even for making a telephone call, he needs a pencil to dial a number and to make the call. He also travelled 300 days in a year for wrestling. Even for getting into the aeroplane, he required special care. Sometimes he couldn't squeeze into the aeroplane lavatory. So, he needs to stay in the same place. He also requires a customized van for travel, which is difficult to drive. He felt more pain while travelling in the car or van. 

Since Andre had a giant physical appearance, he received unwanted attention from the public. This also affected his personal relationships. He said that people won’t even want to be friends with overweight people. 

As Andre has a giant appearance, he used to drink heavily. As per the information from Andre The Giant Wife, he will consume 100 beers or 20 bottles of wine in a sit.  Actor Cary Elwes, a Princess Bride co-star, has addressed Andre that he won’t prefer to consume alcohol as they provide a lot of pain to his body. The back of Andre was severely injured, as it was carrying his whole body weight. So, other wrestlers always target his back to attack him. 

Doctors in France could not diagnose the hormonal disorder of Andre, during his young age. In 1970, doctors from Japan provided the diagnosis for Andre. After 1981, while his ankle was broken, he came to know about his hormonal disorder.  But at that time, his life treatment could not reverse him to normal life, but that could increase his life expectancy. According to the documentation released by the doctor’s of Andre in 2018, he decided to not get treatment, because the treatment might interfere with his wrestler’s career growth. 

Height and Weight of Andre The Giant 

The exact height of Andre remained unknown. Throughout his wrestling career, he was described as 7-foot-4. But this was not his exact weight. According to the data in the French passport, the height of Andre was measured at 7-foot-2. Many people believed that he must be shorter than 7 feet. The weight of Andre was often said as 520 lbs. This may be another lie from a wrestling company. Many of them described his weight from 380 lbs to 555 lbs during his death. 

Andre The Giant’s Wrestling Career

Andre strongly agreed that he was utilizing the physical appearance, what the god gave to him. His giant appearance helped him to conquer the whole world of wrestling. He began his wrestling journey in 1966 in France under the name Jean Ferré. In 1971, he wrestled in Japan with the name of Monster Roussimoff. Later he moved to Quebec, a place in Canada. 

In 1973, Andre was named "Andre the Giant" and started working with  Vincent McMahon Sr for the  World Wide Wrestling Federation.  The fame of Andre gradually grew and became known as "Eighth Wonder of the World."  During his career, he placed his foot in wrestling around the world. He travelled to Mexico, Europe, South Africa, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

In 1987, Andre turned into an evil opponent for other wrestlers. In this event, he found victory against Hogan and emerged as an undefeated wrestler. A large crowd, who body shamed, addressed Andre’s victory against Hogan. 

After Wrestlemania III, Andre became ill and had back surgery. In 1991, he worked with McMohan with an increasingly limited capacity. Andre noticed that his health declined on a large scale, so he turned aways from wrestling before his death. On 4th December 1992, Andre participated in his last match in Japan. In Andre’s wrestling career, he faced more than 5000 matches. Also, he was the first person who got WWE Hall of Fame.

Andre The Giant Role in 'The Princess Bride'

Rob Reiner, the director of the movie, and William Goldman, the writer of the movie, were to portray the giant Fezzik of Andre in 1987.  The Director of The Princess Bride explained the scene to Andre and made him understand the concept of the movie. Even though creating a movie with Andre was not such an easy task they did. Even his back injury created trouble during his films. Stunts also made him more difficult. Sometimes, Andre faced difficulties catching the actress Robin Wright in his arms. So they used cables to hold her tight. 

The Princess Bride was not the first movie of Andre. In 1967, he also appeared in a French film. In 1976, he played a role in television series such as Six Million Dollar Man. In 1982, he acted in The Fall Guy. After The Princess Bride Andre, In 1994 he played a cameo role in the film Trading Mom. 

Death of Andre The Giant

On 28th January 1993, Andre was at the age of 46, he died in a hotel room in Paris. While Andre was in France, he attended his father’s funeral and visited his family. Most often the Death Of Andre The Giant was listed as 27th January 1993. Before his death, Andre suffered from serious congestive heart failure, which was mainly due to his untreated acromegaly. No crematorium in France was sufficient for Andre to bury him. So, they took from the United States. The ashes of Andre were later scattered at his ranch in North Carolina.

Robin Christensen-Roussimoff was the daughter of Andre The Giant and she was born in 1979. Jean Christensen, was the mother of Andre’s daughter, but she was not Andre The Giant’s Wife.  They entered into a co-parenting relationship. All his travel schedule for wrestling occupied his whole time. So, he could not find enough time to spend with his daughter. The documentary, which was released in 2018 provided a deep look at Andre’s life. In 2014, the appearance of Andre was mentioned in the book graphic tale Andre the Giant: Life and Legend and the 2020 biography The Eighth Wonder of the World: The True Story of André the Giant.