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Thread: Andre The Giant

  1. #1
    Rev.josh Guest

    Andre The Giant

    He had to be one of the most fasinating guys in the world. He was 7'4" and 500 pounds....

    For those who think this is the wrong area...He made his acting debut in 1975 as "Big Foot" in The Six Million Dollar Man. Andre enjoyed the experience and went on to appear in television shows including B.J. and the Bear, The Fall Guy and The Greatest American Hero, and movies such as Conan the Destroyer, Micki and Maude, and Trading Mom. His favorite role, and the one for which he is best remembered, was the lovable giant "Fezzik" in Rob Reiner's classic The Princess Bride.

    He died Jan 27th 1993. I have had serious trouble finding the details of his funeral and final resting place.

    His casket must have been HUGE at 7'4" 500 lbs.

  2. #2
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    Burial: Cremated
    Specifically: His ashes where buried under his favorite garden in his North Carolina ranch.

  3. #3
    Rev.josh Guest
    I couldnt find any info...he was an interesting guy though.

  4. #4
    different kind of girl Guest
    Where in NC? anyone know?

  5. #5
    GODDESS6 Guest
    we loved watching him wrestle~

  6. #6
    erin Guest
    i thought andre was such a great guy. the loveable giant. and in princess bride, he was so great. it is one of my all-time favorite movies, partly becasue of him.

  7. #7
    Danny62 Guest
    "The Giant" Roussimoff was one of the largest athelete sto participate in any sport. At his peak, he stood 7' 4" tall and weighed over 500 lbs. He was the first wrestler to gain national fame and was largely responsible for the immense popularity of wrestling in the 1970s and 80s. Andre was born Andre Rene Roussimoff in the village of Grenoble, France on May 19, 1946. Andre suffered from acromegaly, a disease that results in an over abundance of growth hormones. Also known as Giantism, this disease caused Andre's body to continue growing his whole life, and by the time he was 17 he stood 6'7". Due to his immense stature it seemed inevitable that Andre would excel in the wrestling world. He had just started to make a name for himself in the ring as "Monster Eiffel Tower" or "Monster Roussimoff" when French-Canadian wrestler Edouard Carpentier first laid eyes on him. Carpentier was impressed with Andre's raw talent and decided to bring him to North America. Andre began wrestling under the name Jean Ferre in Canada for Grand Prix Promotions. In a short time Andre went from the undercard to being a headlining name. Inspired by the movie King Kong he acquired the nickname, "The 8th Wonder of the World," which stayed with him for the rest of his career. By the time Andre had performed in front of 20,000 wrestling fans in Montreal, his legend had reached Vince McMahon, Sr. at the World Wide Wrestling Federation's (WWWF) headquarters. McMahon would forever alter Andre's life. In 1972, McMahon signed Andre to wrestle for the WWWF and changed his name to capitalize on his enormity. "Andre the Giant" became one of the most recognizable names in wrestling. Andre performed under his new name at Madison Square Garden, where he easily defeated his opponent Buddy Wolfe without breaking a sweat. Before long, Andre's venues were sold out and wrestlers lined up to perform in his shadow. As Andre's fame grew to stardom, he was featured in Sports Illustrated in the largest feature they had ever published. In 1987 Andre drew the biggest crowd in WWF (formerly WWWF) history thus far. A record 90,000 fans packed the Pontiac Silver Dome in Detroit, Michigan, to watch Andre wrestle fellow legend Hulk Hogan in the main event of WrestleMania III. In all, Andre participated at six WrestleManias and faced some of the toughest opponents in the business. For many years he was known as the "Uncrowned Champion," until he found his place in infamy and held the WWF title for the shortest reign in history. This wasn't the only championship Andre captured - he also won titles in the (NWA), (IWA) and the WWF Tag Team Championship. Andre's fame also opened the door to Hollywood. He made his acting debut in 1975 as "Big Foot" in The Six Million Dollar Man. Andre enjoyed the experience and went on to appear in television shows including B.J. and the Bear, The Fall Guy and The Greatest American Hero, and movies such as Conan the Destroyer, Micki and Maude, and Trading Mom. His favorite role, and the one for which he is best remembered, was the lovable giant "Fezzik" in Rob Reiner's classic The Princess Bride.Andre's last television appearance was on a celebration of 20 years of NWA/WCW wrestling on TBS. Sadly, over the years the effects of acromegaly had continued to wear down his body. Eventually his immense size was just too much for his heart, and Andre the Giant died in Paris, France in his hotel room on January 27, 1993. His ashes were later taken home and spread over his North Carolina ranch.

    I think he had the same infliction that Rondo Hatton had!?

  8. #8
    Guest Guest
    His ranch was in Ellerbe, NC in Richmond County. Also by the way he was never 7'4. As in most pro wrestling bios they over exaggerated the guys weights and heights. He was at the most 6'9 or 6'10. He was told by Vince McMahon Sr to stand beside basketball players of the era as this would be evident. I have a book somewhere written by Dave Meltzer on alot of the recent pro wrestlers deaths and their stories.

  9. #9
    Guest Guest
    More about Andre when he died.....he weighed 555 lbs at his death, a 300 lb custom casket was built to take his body back to NC from France. When his coffin arrived at the Charlotte airport his casket wouldn't fit in a hearse. The funeral home brought a forklift to get the roughly 860 lbs of casket and body out. His mahagony case built for his ashes weighed about 19 lbs or about double that of a normal human being.

  10. #10
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  11. #11
    Kathyf Guest
    He wa fun to watch. I still have his wrestling figure I bought my boys.

  12. #12
    ScottyMonger Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by JefeStone View Post

    "Think about it: 119 beers in six hours. Thatâ??s a beer every three minutes, non stop. Thatâ??s beyond epic. Itâ??s beyond the ken of mortal men. Itâ??s god-like."

  13. #13
    Rudy's Girl Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by ScottyMonger View Post
    "Think about it: 119 beers in six hours. Thatâ??s a beer every three minutes, non stop. Thatâ??s beyond epic. Itâ??s beyond the ken of mortal men. Itâ??s god-like."
    Damn! I think the closest think I read about that, was Oliver Reed. He drank 106 pints of beer in a little over 24 hours. I guess thats pretty shocking for a regular sized man.

  14. #14
    ScottyMonger Guest
    shocking indeed!

    I have new-found respect for Oliver now!

  15. #15
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    106 pints is insane. I bow my head in reverence.

  16. #16
    Bidmor Guest
    Regarding Andre's on-screen height, during an early tv wrestling "interview" between Andre and McMahon in a studio ring, the story goes that McMahon had Andre stand on a box to make him appear taller. Of course it was shot from McMahon's waist up.

  17. #17
    TobbeJ Guest
    One wonders if Giantism made "everything" grow extremely large. he must've had a huge "Swanschtucker"

  18. #18
    bluebear71 Guest
    I thought he was great in the princess bride

  19. #19
    djdeath-hag Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by JefeStone View Post
    Cool linkage, Jefe! As Fezzik, Andre was at his best, in my opinion.

  20. #20
    Batmama Guest
    I once saw a t.v. show about Andre.One of his friends said his fingers were the size of bananas.They also said it was nothing for him to drink a case or 2 of wine in one sitting.

  21. #21
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    Or walk up to the bar and order 40 vodka tonics!

  22. #22
    Bidmor Guest
    It was either on a Biography channel show about Andre or that 2-hour history of wrestling, the narrator stated one could pass an egg thru one of Andre's rings and he had half-again as many teeth as the average human.

  23. #23
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    You guys seen "The great Kali" in the WWE? I think this is the latest attempt to find a new Andre. The same guy was in the crap re-make of the Longest Yard.

  24. #24
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    Andre The Giant Wrestler/part Time Actor

    He Was In The 1987 Movie "the Princess Bride" Played The Original Bigfoot/sasqutach On "the Six Million Dollar Man" For 2 Episodes His Wrestling Schedule Wouldn't Allow Andre To Reprise The Role On The Bionic Woman So They Recasted The Bigfoot Role With Ted Cassidy. Andre Also Guest Starred On Lee Majors' Other Series The Fall Guy. I Saw Him Once At A Wrestling Event In Person. Andre Is Most Remembered As A Wrestler Feuding With Hulk Hogan. The Promoters Billed Him As 7'4 But His Real Height Was Around 6'10 Or 6'11. But Still A Huge Massive Man. Died In January 1993 At 46.picture Below
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  25. #25
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    My hometown

    Andre is from my hometown here in NC. I honestly don't know that much about him, but for those who are interested, I am sure I could dig up some local facts on him. His ranch is about 15 miles from my house.

  26. #26
    magblax Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by findadeathaddict View Post
    Andre is from my hometown here in NC. I honestly don't know that much about him, but for those who are interested, I am sure I could dig up some local facts on him. His ranch is about 15 miles from my house.

    Speaking of digging up I was going to ask if he was buried there..then I read Danny's post which said he was cremated and scattered at his ranch. Would be cool to get a shot of the ranch (with a death hag sticker of course).

  27. #27
    Danny62 Guest
    In the Match where Hulk Hogan defeated him I guess Hulk had no Idea how sick Andre was during the match! I guess Andre asked Hulk to really make it look real and not hold back and Hulk felt bad later when he found out!

    If you ever see the match Andre doesn't look well at all!!

  28. #28
    Bidmor Guest
    Going back to that history of pro wrestling show, McMahon said that Andre had agreed to let Hogan beat him but between then and the match, Hogan kept asking McMahon "are you sure Andre's onboard?". After all, Andre could pin anyone at anytime he wanted. Now whether or not Hogan was aware of Andre's ailments before the match wasn't made clear.

  29. #29
    Danny62 Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Bidmor View Post
    Going back to that history of pro wrestling show, McMahon said that Andre had agreed to let Hogan beat him but between then and the match, Hogan kept asking McMahon "are you sure Andre's onboard?". After all, Andre could pin anyone at anytime he wanted. Now whether or not Hogan was aware of Andre's ailments before the match wasn't made clear.
    I think it was on biography Channel when they did a segment on Andre. Hogan Had no Idea how sick Andre was during the match!

    Like I said I think it was more Hogan tried to not to go easy on Andre figuring Andre could take it at the time! And this was at Andres request!!

    Your right though, Even being sick I am sure Andre could have pinned Hogan, I am sure Hogan was a bit nervous in the ring with him!

  30. #30
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    I will work on this..sorry it took me so long to respond..... i teach high school...been really busy
    Quote Originally Posted by magblax View Post
    Speaking of digging up I was going to ask if he was buried there..then I read Danny's post which said he was cremated and scattered at his ranch. Would be cool to get a shot of the ranch (with a death hag sticker of course).

  31. #31
    BooMom Guest
    As a wrestling FANATIC since the age of 4 ( my Nanny and her BFF would take me to the matches here in SA ) I always LOOOVED it when Andre came to town! I had the RARE privilege of picking him up/driving him back to the airport one night ! Altho the shocks/suspension were *never* quite the same on mom's car after that...and my neck hurt for days ( I'm only 5' ) He had the most fascinating accent !

    We had to stop 3x on the way from the Coliseum to the airport to pick up more beer - it's only about a 12-15 mile trip ! I drank one, the rest were his. Oh, and we stopped in the airport bar for a few, too

    Anyone see his appearance on Carson where he shows off his new Cowboy boots? Hysterical !!! I can't link to it, YOUTube blocked @ work.

  32. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by Danny62 View Post
    In the Match where Hulk Hogan defeated him I guess Hulk had no Idea how sick Andre was during the match! I guess Andre asked Hulk to really make it look real and not hold back and Hulk felt bad later when he found out!

    If you ever see the match Andre doesn't look well at all!!
    I saw his Biography just the other night, and yes, he did not look too good. Poor guy, he seemed like a really nice person.

  33. #33
    Morbid1 Guest
    My dad was a HUGE fan of WWF wrestling..though I never really
    got it. Andre was great tossing around two or three guys in the
    ring.I think he had a size 22" or 24" shoe?? Wow..what a big man.

    Sounded like he lived his life the way he wanted..and had fun!

    RIP Andre!


    -Morbid1

  34. #34
    SenorMuerto Guest
    I was backstage at Wrestlemania 2 at the Rosemont Horizon(now Allstate Areana)in Rosemont, IL. I literally bumped into Andre going around a corner. The bump knocked me into a wall. Andre apologized and shook my hand. My hand looked like a newborn baby's hand compared to his. The guy was just huge.

    He, of course, had a hard time finding clothing that fit. Everytime I saw him out of the ring, he was wearing the same sportcoat and pants.

  35. #35
    Jazbabee Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by TobbeJ View Post
    One wonders if Giantism made "everything" grow extremely large. he must've had a huge "Swanschtucker"
    Ummmmm......that was exactly my same thought !!

  36. #36
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    I wonder if he has any nude pics? LOL

  37. #37
    spoiledkitty Guest
    When I was a the guard supervisor at the outlets in Smithfield NC I worked with an older guy that wrestled with andre' and a few others for a short time big bear of a guy named Earl , (don't know what his wrestling name was) Anywho he's a smithfield local and native to the area he can tell you someinteresting things about Andre and also about Ms Gardner, Yuppers he was friends with Ava'a brother there in Smithfield so If ever you are passing by on I-95 and happen to be near exit 95 stop off over at the outlets and ask the guards where Mr. Earl is. He'd be more than happy to tell you what he knows..
    Last edited by spoiledkitty; 01-31-2008 at 10:06 AM.

  38. #38
    Jack Raines Guest
    I was reading an old interview with Bobby Heenan with a funny Andre story: one time they were on a plane and the flight attendant asked Andre if she could get him anything...

    Andre asked for a screwdriver, and the girl brought him a real Black & Decker screwdriver. Andre then said "I'd like to see what you would've brought if I asked for a Bloody Mary."

  39. #39
    leevancleef Guest
    Thanks for that link Jefe, i cant believe i had missed this thread
    i think that the top 5 drinkers of all time are Andre, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, Hank Williams and Keith Moon.

  40. #40
    Boxofpandoraz Guest
    Vizzini: No more rhyming now, I mean it!
    Fezzik: Anybody want a peanut?
    Best. Line. Ever.

    RIP, Andre!

  41. #41
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    Andre is on the Bravo channel

  42. #42
    the corpse bride Guest
    The Great Khali was NOT in "The Longest Yard" remake. This is the wrestler known as El Gigante. And I beg to differ since my Fiance is a former wrestler that knows quite a few.

  43. #43
    carebearsluv Guest
    I love this quote from wiki:

    In the A&E Biography episode, Arnold Skaaland tells the story of when André was in a bar one night, four men came up to him and began harassing him about his size. At first, André attempted to avoid confrontation, but eventually he proceeded to chase the hecklers until they locked themselves in their car. André then grabbed the car and turned the car over with the four people trapped inside. André was never arrested for the incident, presumably since local police officers had a hard time believing four inebriated men's story about an angry giant having overturned their car.
    I would love to have witnessed that! tee hee

  44. #44
    c l p Guest
    i loved andre he was fantastic....may he rest in peace. wrestling is not the same

  45. #45
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  46. #46
    jay Guest
    I was watching an interview with Curt Henning and he was telling about when he first started wrestling and offered to give Andre a ride to arena for his match. Curt said his car was a junker and on the way he got a flat tire.

    Curt started to change the tire only to find he had no jack, he told Andre who replied no problem boss and reached down and grabbed the car's rear bumper and lifted the car up so Curt could change the flat.

  47. #47
    keith1529 Guest

    Know your facts

    Dalip Singh, who plays The Great Khali, does appear in The Longest Yard remake at Turley. Jorge Gonzalez was the person who played El Gigante and also as Giant Gonzalez.

    Dalip Singh from the Internet Movie Database
    http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1724637/

    Jorge Gonzalez from Wikipedia
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Gonzales

    Quote Originally Posted by the corpse bride View Post
    The Great Khali was NOT in "The Longest Yard" remake. This is the wrestler known as El Gigante. And I beg to differ since my Fiance is a former wrestler that knows quite a few.

  48. #48
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    bump

    watching Andre in The Princess Bride

  49. #49
    Forever-27 Guest
    The most memoriable moment I have of him is Wrestlemania 2 I think it was. Hulk Hogan picked him up and literally threw him across the ring. THAT was not fake. The Giant got airborn. That had to be around 1981 / 1982 sometime

  50. #50
    My_Smiling_Skull Guest
    I remember wathcing the making of the Princess Bride, when Robin Wright-Penn said Andre was in such bad shape that the scene where he catches her from the window, she had to be suspended on wires because his body was too fragile to catch her weight

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