Dang man, the mighty giant with the heart of gold, Andre the Giant, died on this date back in 1993.
Andre was born in France to a Polish mother and a Bulgarian father, who had immigrated to France to become farmers. By age 12 Andre was already documented to be 6ft 3ins tall, and weighing in at 208lb. On top of that, it is claimed that he was able to handle the jobs of three men at once whilst working on his father's farm.
Eventually becoming dissatisfied with farm work and labouring, he was picked up (not literally, thank Christ) by a wrestling promoter in Paris who took note of his colossal size. His career would lead him all over Europe, to Japan, and finally to the United States, where he eventually became a wrestling icon whilst under the WWF banner. Andre was the highest paid wrestler of his time, and frequently clashed with his arch nemesis Hulk Hogan, a feud that continued outside of the ring due to Andre being unappreciative of Hogan's generally douchey behaviour.
During his time in the US Andre also gained infamy for his drinking talents, with some of his most documented feats being the consumption of 72 beers in 6 hours, another 126 pints in a single sitting, 14 bottles of wine before his Wrestlemania III match, and famously 127 beers in a Pennsylvanian hotel before passing out in the lobby. Staff were unable to move him due to his sheer size, so that is where he spent the night. In another incident, Andre fell on a dude while drinking in New York, and so the NYPD sent an undercover cop to keep track of him, to ensure he didn't fall on anyone else.
As we've documented time and time again when giving our love to wrastlin's biggest stars, Andre also had a pop at acting when he wasn't in the ring. He started out fairly low key playing a Sasquatch in Six Million Dollar Man, before bagging some film roles in Conan the Destroyer and most famously The Princess Bride. Andre was so proud of the latter role, that he carried a copy of the film wherever he went so that he could watch it whenever he wanted. It is also claimed that during the filming of Princess Bride, Andre ripped a 16-second fart that brought the entire production to a standstill, and upon being asked if everything was alright, he simply replied "I am now, boss."
Sadly, Andre passed away in his sleep on the 27th January 1993 of heart failure, not long after flying home to France for his father's funeral. As requested in his will, his ashes were scattered over the land on his ranch, where he used to tend to his cattle and play with his dogs on his down days.
Andre the Giant shall live on in legends though, not only for his monstrous size and power, but also for his polite and gentle manner. He was highly respectful to all he met, and would never allow anyone else to pay for drinks or meals - in one instance he lifted a still seated Arnold Schwarzenegger up out of a restaurant and placed him on top of his car when he discovered he intended to sneak off to pay the bill.
Andre also lives on in spirit through the OBEY clothing line, which all stemmed from creator Shepard Fairey's "Andre the Giant has a Posse" street art that was hugely popular with the skate scene in the late 80s, before evolving into an entire industry of stuff that has "OBEY" written on it.
Rest well Andre - may you sleep well forever, you gentle giant.
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