Although he achieved fame and success Roussimoff did endure a fair amount of tragedy in his life. To find out the tragic life story of Andre The Giant, watch this video!
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00:00Back in the 80s, the World Wrestling Federation, now known as World Wrestling Entertainment,
00:05was a grab-tastic slam-stravaganza crammed with classic characters and legendary storylines,
00:11and Andre the Giant was the atlas holding it all up.
00:14The 500-plus-pound Andre dwarfed even the most enormous of his fellow athletes.
00:19According to Sports Illustrated, one of his hands could engulf a 12-ounce beer can, and
00:23his wrists were thicker than most men's ankles.
00:26The Giant dominated wrestling for decades, but he also battled perpetually-gained body
00:31mass and debilitating health problems.
00:34Meanwhile, the strain of fame destroyed him mentally.
00:37Here's the tragic real-life story of Andre the Giant.
00:40He is said to be the largest and highest-paid and best-known wrestler in the entire world.
00:46Please welcome Andre the Giant.
00:50By every measure, Andre the Giant was a whole lot of man.
00:53Besides size, he possessed unfathomable strength and a voice deeper than the ocean.
00:58I'm not supernatural, I'm just myself.
01:01Born Andre Roussimoff on a farm in the French Alps in 1946, Andre grew to be 7-foot-4, according
01:08to the WWE, though he was likely closer to 6-foot-11.
01:13Andre never lifted weights, yet acquaintances alleged he could lift trees and overpower
01:17thousand-pound cows.
01:19For fun, he would occasionally wedge his friends' cars in between buildings.
01:24Andre left home at age 14 and dove into wrestling at 16.
01:27By the 70s, he was the most renowned wrestler on Earth, according to the Los Angeles Times.
01:32Then, in 1973, the father of current WWE owner Vince McMahon branded him Andre the Giant.
01:40Sports Illustrated's Terry Todd, who traveled with Andre, observed,
01:43Going through a revolving door, he had to bend and take tiny shuffling steps to make
01:48the door revolve.
01:49He bent himself like a contortionist to fit in taxis, and hotel bathrooms left him with
01:54no room to bathe.
01:55Andre wasn't just larger than life, he was larger than daily life.
02:00Though the WWF dubbed him the eighth wonder of the world, the world orbited Andre like
02:05a planet.
02:06The Giant revealed in one interview,
02:08I would give much money to be able to spend one day per week as a man of regular size."
02:14Acromegaly, the cause of his size, gave him an unusual visage, and made him the perfect
02:19target for bullying.
02:21Hall of Famer Bret Hart witnessed grannies curse Andre out for declining to sign autographs,
02:27and Mean Gene Okerlund said the Giant would cry because of all the teasing he endured.
02:32Andre eventually found refuge in the QVC channel.
02:35For CBS Sports, it allowed him to shop without attracting unwanted audiences.
02:41According to co-workers, Andre's liver swam in an ocean of booze.
02:45USA Today reported that ex-wrestler Gerald Briscoe claimed the Giant downed six bottles
02:51of wine before matches, and Modern Drunkard magazine reported he racked up a $40,000 hotel
02:57bar tab while filming The Princess Bride.
03:00In an interview with David Letterman, Andre admitted,
03:03Is it true that you, in one sitting, drank 117 beers?"
03:07Yes."
03:08But as CBS Sports revealed, Andre was living in pain.
03:12Years of wrestling and arduous travel ravaged his body, and his disorder caused his bones
03:17and joints to thicken, inflicting further stress.
03:20Pharmaceutical solutions existed, but he refused to take them.
03:24As filming for The Princess Bride began, Andre transformed into the lovable Fezzik.
03:30William Goldman, who authored both the screenplay and the book that inspired it, told CNN it
03:35was the only casting choice he specifically envisioned while writing the script.
03:39It's not my fault being the biggest and the strongest.
03:42I don't even exercise."
03:44Andre was so good in the role, it seemed inconceivable that he wasn't already a Hollywood heavyweight.
03:50No Small Parts reported Andre had previously played monsters, but The Princess Bride emphasized
03:56his humanity and allowed his personality to shine.
04:00Director Cary Elwes, who played Wesley, called him a
04:02"...a real gentle giant who would give you the shirt off his back."
04:07During his incredible career, Andre battled many beasts.
04:10He knocked out the great Gorilla Monsoon, nearly flattened Harley Race, and defeated
04:15Hulk Hogan, but the giant's biggest opponent was time.
04:19At age 23, Andre learned he could die by age 40, according to friend Jackie McCullough.
04:25She told CBS Sports that Japanese doctors offered to operate on him before time ran
04:30out, but the giant declined.
04:32Twenty years later, Andre's knees were buckling, and he was becoming entombed in his body.
04:38As the Los Angeles Times detailed, by the early 90s, he was immobile.
04:42Once a titan who carried the wrestling world, Andre now needed others to do the heavy lifting.
04:48In January 1993, Andre returned to France to attend his father's funeral, and on January
04:5427th, the giant's gentle heart stopped beating.
04:57He was 46.
04:59The Los Angeles Times reported Andre wanted to be cremated and for his ashes to be spread
05:04over his North Carolina ranch.
05:06But no crematorium in France could handle a man of his magnitude.
05:11So best friends Jackie McCauley and Frenchie Bernard flew his body to the States, where
05:16it was reduced to 17 pounds of ashes, according to Bleacher Report.
05:20When you got one true friend like him, that's all you need in this world, a true friend."
05:25Andre named three people in his will, Jackie, Frenchie, and his daughter Robin.
05:30He signed it not as Andre, but as A. Roussimoff, a man who caught everyone's eye, but who few
05:36people really saw.