How Much Did Andre the Giant Weigh as a Baby

The Tragic Life And Death Of Andre The Behemothic

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Fewer people are more than instantly recognizable than the legendary André the Giant. He was a living leviathan amidst men who helped transform professional person wrestling with his larger-than-life physicality and commanding demeanor. Like Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson, even those who aren't fans of the sport behind André'south career know who he was — his legacy transcended wrestling and cemented him equally a sort of pop-civilisation fixation. Equally a result, André has been the subject of everything from street art to tee shirts and documentaries. His mass inspired fear, awe, and marvel everywhere he went, along with mythical stories that defy belief.

Even basic facts about André take been muddled, thanks to a combination of pre-internet era documentation, lack of verification from master sources like family unit members, and André himself. He understood the power of a good story, and like all wrestlers in his mean solar day, reinforced his image through the use of embellishment and shock value. As a result, information technology can be challenging to sort the truth from rumor and innuendo — which the pro wrestling manufacture seems to thrive on, and merely spurs the stories on even further. The publication of a biography almost André, The Eighth Wonder of the World, has brought to light fresh facts from family unit members and other previously unheard sources. Considering even the most diehard wrestling fans didn't know this information before, this prompts a fresh examination of the fascinating, inspiring, and tragic life and death of André the Behemothic.

The fable is born

From the moment of birth, André René Roussimoff was notable for his size. He weighed over 13 pounds when he was born on May 19, 1946, at three:10pm — that'due south the boilerplate weight of a four-calendar month old baby! André was so large, in fact, his mother had to get to the hospital to perform labor, rather than evangelize at home every bit she had with her get-go 2 children.

Despite his big size, André was a normal kid who spent his childhood helping his parents manage their subcontract in their pastoral hometown of Molien, France. The Roussimoff family never lacked food, but their humble farming life left niggling room for luxury or extravagance. The children got oranges instead of toys for Christmas, and walked one and a half miles to and from school unless someone in the village was around to bulldoze them.

One of those people was the famous Irish novelist, playwright, and Nobel Prize laureate Samuel Beckett, who moved to France in 1937. Rumor has information technology Beckett went out of his way to bulldoze André, who was said to already be too large for a school omnibus. This is false — the tiny village but didn't have whatever school buses, and so all the resident kids walked otherwise.

André was loved and happy at dwelling, only he wanted something more a farmer's life. Genetics and fate would grant him his wish, transforming the Roussimoff family unit line, forth with the landscape of professional wrestling, in the procedure.

A disorder of massive proportions

The human being body has numerous checks and balances to maintain stasis, but unfortunately they don't always function properly. When a person's pituitary gland produces too much growth hormone, this is known every bit Acromegaly. It'southward incredibly rare, affecting only about 0.0005 percent of the population. The most obvious symptom is Gigantism, which results in backlog height and girth, peculiarly in the hands and anxiety, equally well as enlarged facial features.

Some less obvious symptoms include sleep apnea, carpal tunnel syndrome, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, fatigue, heart enlargement, headaches, impotence, spinal cord pinch, and an increased risk of colon cancer. It sounds like a constant, painful, never-catastrophe fight with gravity, especially as a physical performer.

Precisely when André became aware of his status, and was diagnosed with it, remains unknown. It went disregarded as a kid because he had big relatives, and doctors in Molien claimed information technology was "normal." Information technology's possible he learned about his condition equally early every bit 1970, while wrestling in Nihon with a fellow wrestler who as well had the disorder. Or the diagnosis may have come as late as 1981 in America, when André's torso was starting to succumb to later stages of the illness.

Regardless, André chose to leave his status untreated, fearing it would compromise his career and lifestyle. This decision sealed his fate. Acromegaly has more than a 50 percent success rate via surgery, but when left untreated, it also results in death, often earlier the age of 45.

Two paths cross in rural France

WWE

At age xiv, André took one step closer to destiny when he stopped attention school to get-go working total-time. Rumor has led many to believe he dropped out due to his large size, only zero could be further from the truth — he was never the academic blazon, and left because French children weren't required to attend school past that age.

He spent the next few years lugging 250-pound sacks of grain around the family farm and working odd jobs at factories and delivering goods in neighboring villages. Information technology was during this time André had a chance encounter with the man who would launch his wrestling career, Robert Lageat.

Many don't realize that Greco-Roman style wrestling originated in French republic in the 19th century, nether the moniker "la tutte Française," or "the French struggle." Even the wrestling move known as the Carry Hug originated in French republic, although it was called the "French Hug" at the time. Even then, other countries felt the need to disparage French republic. Out of this long, tenured history of French wrestling came a long line of legendary wrestlers and promoters, one of whom was Robert Lageat.

Taking a behemothic bound of faith

HBO

When Lageat encountered André while working in the minor village of La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, André was simply 18 years-old — yet already over half-dozen and a one-half feet tall and more than than 250 pounds. Lageat saw a hereafter wrestling star in the fellow, and offered to train him at his schoolhouse in Paris.

Ironically, André had never been a wrestling fan growing upward, because his family unit couldn't afford a TV prepare, his illiterate parents didn't subscribe to newspapers, and his rural hometown wasn't an ideal location for wrestling events. But the opportunity to transcend his humble roots appealed to André — and so information technology was that at 18 years of age, he got his driver's license and moved from the farmland of France to the large city of Paris.

This puts to bed yet another André myth — that he moved to Paris to pursue wrestling before being discovered. The opposite is true: Paris was the country's epicenter of professional wrestling, and André immersed himself in training full-time.

The twelvemonth was 1965, and it would be a challenging one for the Behemothic. He didn't earn any money training, and sometimes resorted to sleeping in the metro station. As a way to make ends meet, André took on more jobs that complimented his size, including offering protection to prostitutes in the area's "cherry-red light" commune, Pigalle. It'due south the home of the one and simply Moulin Rouge, which remains the neighborhood's primary attraction to this mean solar day.

From farm boy to mythical lumberjack

HBO

Later on a year of hard work, André had his first official wrestling match on January 25, 1966. He was naturally gifted, thanks to his physical prowess as well as his ability to dispense his epitome. Successful wrestlers are superb method actors in add-on to being skilled athletes, and André was excellent at appearing menacing and even larger than he already was.

People believed he was capable of mass destruction, partly because he wrestled under the name "le Grand Ferré," which was an homage to a mythical French lumberjack who killed 85 adversaries using just his axe. That would be like choosing the wrestling name "Jason the Axe Murderer" hither in the states.

Just 2 weeks after the launch of his wrestling career, André had his showtime televised friction match — during which a lean, milk-drinking Grand Ferré wrestled in a very technical style, full of hip tosses and head scissors, that would be nigh unrecognizable to fans later on in North America.

André's popularity followed him around French republic, then on to other parts of Europe. In 1969, he made his debut in the U.K., followed shortly thereafter past Africa, Nihon, and the Middle Eastward, then moving on to Montreal to expand his career into the Americas.

At the time, he had reached his full height of 7'4", and he weighed 390 pounds. Well, that'south how the story goes anyway. There'southward some debate almost his actual height, as the LA Times claimed he was "almost seven feet." And in photos where he'south standing next to the 7'1" basketball histrion Wilt Chamberlain, André is noticeably shorter. In other words, his height was never properly documented, but what is known is that his career blew up further when he relocated to Canada in 1971. That aforementioned year, his quickly expanding fame brought him to even more than countries for the beginning time, including New Zealand and the Us.

The Giant meets a McMahon

WWE

While André's wrestling career expanded, so too did his ring names. Since Americans didn't take the aforementioned context for a "behemothic fairy" equally the French, information technology was while wrestling there that he earned the moniker "André the Giant." (Whom exactly coined this nickname remains contested.)

In 1973, the Giant wrestled in New York City for the first time, where he crossed paths with the second most of import promoter in his life: Vince McMahon, Sr. This was when the now-global WWE, and so known equally the WWWF, still covered a atypical wrestling territory in the Northeast.

After but one week of viewing André'south alive performances, McMahon Sr. signed him, and on March 24, 1973, André made his World Wide Wrestling Federation debut in Philadelphia.

That relationship would later be passed from father to son, and develop into a legacy. Together, Vince McMahon, Jr. and André the Behemothic would transform pro wrestling — and cable television.

A gentle giant at heart

WWE

Despite his massive size, André always did his all-time to avoid confrontation and maintain harmony effectually him. This was evident from the beginning of his career, when, per The Eighth Wonder of the World, he respectfully queried a veteran opponent, "If I'm clumsy, forgive me, and please, don't hurt me!"

As his reputation grew with his girth, he found himself in a position of leadership in the locker room. Wrestling was a very gruff, crude and tumble sort of manufacture in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, full of cutthroat individuals looking to encroach on each other's territories and promotions. André enjoyed the camaraderie that came with pro wrestling, however, and is remembered for being friendly, caring, and generous. Those close to him as well came to know André as a sensitive young man who tired of the constant, inescapable stares and harassment from strangers.

Different other superstars, André couldn't hibernate under a coat and hat. He was instantly recognizable and stood out easily everywhere he went, leaving him with few places he could seek privacy and confinement.

From wrestling star to movie star

André was pivoted even further into the limelight when he transcended wrestling and launched his picture career. His fairytale size made him idyllic for fantastical roles when special effects technology was more limited.

1 memorable case was when he was cast equally a howling Sasquatch in The 6 One thousand thousand Dollar Man. In the documentaryAndré the Giant, he was dubbed "CGI before there was CGI."

André became most known for his role as the gentle and friendly Fezzik the Giant in The Princess Helpmate in 1987, a part that gave his amiable personality an opportunity to polish alongside his physical prowess. His sweet smile and lightheaded comebacks are a huge reason for the film's status as a perennial favorite among generations of viewers.

Many may not realize that André started earning his acting chops during the dawn of his wrestling career. In 1967, André landed his commencement role on the big screen in the French spy thrillerCasse-tête chinois pour le judoka, or "Chinese Puzzle for the Judoka." One can only imagine how many other films he'd have gone on to star in if things had gone differently.

The bigger they are, the harder they party

WWE

While André's career blossomed, so too did the many legends that would follow him the rest of his brusque life. Countless tales abound regarding his unfathomable capacities and appetites, many of which are true.

Although he started his career as a calorie-free drinker, by the fourth dimension he reached his superlative, his drinking chapters was specially noteworthy. On ESPN's Dan Le Batard Show, Ric Flair recounted a 14-hour flight from Chicago to Tokyo when André drank their commercial flying dry of vodka. He reportedly wracked upward a $40,000 bar tab while working on prepare of The Princess Bride. Hulk Hogan claimed he saw André eat a instance of wine in three hours. He was likewise known for his pranks, many of which involved tall-tale amounts of mischievously shared flatulence.

Sadly, every bit the years wore on, André'southward extreme drinking habits were driven more than past his deteriorating condition rather than his desire to party. At his heaviest, André was billed at a whopping 550 pounds — a far cry from the slim, technical-way wrestler who preferred dairy to alcohol.

As his hurting grew more unbearable, André sought ways to escape it. Still, subsequently seeing other wrestlers succumb to addiction, he avoided using prescription painkillers and compensated with what he felt was the bottom of evils, pushing onward through a brume of agony and booze.

The cost of becoming a fable in your own fourth dimension

HBO

André's unusual size too severely express his mobility in ways few e'er accept to consider.

Unless it was custom made to his dimensions, nothing ever fit. Everyday items, like chairs, beds, toilets, plane seats, shoes, cars... imagine the discomfort André experienced throughout his life, everywhere he went.

He often had to excrete into buckets or bathtubs, and have upward at to the lowest degree two seats while traveling, because he merely couldn't fit on standard-sized ones. On top of the inconveniences he experienced due to Acromegaly, it also caused Andre continuous and ever-worsening hurting, particularly in his knees, back, and cervix. His joints only couldn't handle the weight of all that mass, and his fatigue and other symptoms got worse along with the hurting. Things were so bad, he required the assistance of cables to catch Robin Wright during a pivotal scene in The Princess Helpmate.

In 1981, he broke his ankle, and he saw the writing on the wall. His wrestling days were numbered, and he knew it. He didn't fifty-fifty know how long he had to live. He shared the information with Vince McMahon, Jr., with whom he'd developed a relationship over the years; taking his conviction sincerely, McMahon offered André an opportunity for the perfect culmination to his legendary career.

The Immovable Object vs. the Irresistible Forcefulness

WWE

While André was busy developing his wrestling career, the industry was also undergoing major evolution. This was thanks in big function to Vince McMahon, Jr. — a legend in his own correct, not in just pro wrestling, merely cable television and business in general.

He was the first wrestling owner to see across local territories and envision a world united nether one brand. After an ambitious and controversial takeover of surrounding territories, McMahon succeeded in launching the Globe Wrestling Federation. Non merely was he kickoff to unite American territories, he too revolutionized the concept of pay-per-view television through featured purchase-ins similar WrestleMania. At just a few years of functioning, McMahon was adamant to solidify the WWF's staying power. He conceived of a main event for the upcoming WrestleMania III that would do that very matter — Hulk Hogan vs. André the Giant.

Prior to that point, André had always played a good guy, or "babyface," in wrestling colloquial, and was longtime friends with Hogan. It would be the first time in André's WWF career that he was scripted to lose a match, as well as play a bad guy, otherwise known as a "heel." Hogan successfully defended his belt, and in a single stroke, André helped cement Hulk's legacy even farther, and he solidified the WWF every bit the time to come of wrestling amusement.

Succumbing to gravity

WWE

Throughout the form of his career, André's public paradigm was protected, and he rarely discussed his health candidly, so his visible deterioration was shocking. In fact, to make WrestleMania feasible, the human being had to go and have back surgery.

This only compounded André'south poor wellness. Past the time the big solar day rolled around, he had to ride to the WrestleMania 3 ring in a cart because he couldn't walk the length of Michigan's Pontiac Silverdome. Blob Hogan fifty-fifty choreographed every move of their history-making match to complement André's remaining force and limit stress on his back and joints.

Post-WrestleMania, André's status continued to worsen rapidly. After attempting to go along his wrestling career as a guest commentator, André officially retired in 1992. He returned to his roots, living a quiet life on a ranch in a village in Richmond Canton, Due north Carolina, until he passed away on Jan 27, 1993. In a sad twist, he was visiting Paris to attend his begetter'due south funeral when he passed.

Later that year, André became the first inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame, where his legacy will continue to inspire fans for generations to come.

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Source: https://www.looper.com/219903/the-tragic-life-and-death-of-andre-the-giant/

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