Andre the Giant: Most Famous Professional Wrestler in the World | Full Documentary | Bio

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a giant should be. Grown men feared him. He got so mad he reached down and grabbed the car. And he turned it upside down on the sidewalk with the four guys in it. NARRATOR: Little girls loved him. When he kissed you, he knew he was a giant. He could take up your whole face with his lips. NARRATOR: He grew and grew and grew to become the biggest attraction in professional wrestling or any other sport for that matter. Andr the Giant was the most recognizable sports figure of the 20th century along with, of course, Muhammad Ali. NARRATOR: In the spring of 1987, 92,000 people filled the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan to see Hulk Hogan wrestle Andr the Giant for the Heavyweight Championship. It was the largest audience ever assembled under one roof for a sporting event. Yet there were no sportswriters present since the media didn't consider wrestling to be a sport. Throughout a 20-year career, the Giant had never been defeated. But now he was past his prime and ailing. The crowd sensed an upset in the making. The Giant's best years they knew were behind him. But for Andr , the night had even deeper implications. He was two months past his 40th birthday the age his doctors had said he would not live beyond. COMMENTATOR: That's the first time I think that the Giant-- NARRATOR: Once upon a time, there lived a giant, not at the top of a beanstalk but in a small French village little more than an hour's drive from Paris. Molien, France is a farm community of fertile fields and glistening orchards, not so different from a hundred other French villages that seen little changed since the Middle Ages. It was here on May 19th 1946 that Andr Ren Roussimoff, third child of five to Boris and Marianne Roussimoff, was born. D d , as the boy was called, seen here at the age of 3, weighed five kilos at birth, nearly 11 pounds. His brothers and sisters were normal-sized. And aside from his bigger than average birth weight, D d showed no sign that he would grow to be any larger than his siblings. Andr 's father was Bulgarian. He emigrated to France before the war and found work as a farmer. One of his fellow workers, a Pole, showed Boris a photograph of his sister. Boris saved his money until he had enough to bring his friend's sister to France for a visit. They were married soon afterward. Andr 's paternal grandfather is said to have been 7 feet 8 inches tall. But none of the family living today can confirm that. Young Andr was quiet but fun-loving. He was a good student particularly in math. After school, he divided his time between soccer games and home chores. The Roussimoffs had little in the way of material things. The children were brought up with love and dignity and learned early to accept without complaint whatever may come. [non-english speech] INTERPRETER: My parents were very cool. We had a lot of freedom. Of course, we had to work a lot because at that time, we didn't have a lot of money. So on Thursdays with my brother, we had to cut wood to heat the house. And that was a good way to pass the time. NARRATOR: By the time he was 12 years old, Andr stood over 6 feet tall and weighed 240 pounds. [non-english speech] INTERPRETER: I knew him from school. He was born in Molien like me. And we used to play in the playground together. He used to be the goalie. But the ball would never manage to get in the goal because he was so big. He would dive for the ball everywhere. And he would stop it every time. NARRATOR: At harvest time, the Roussimoff brothers worked beside their father as day labor in the fields. Andr opted to quit school after eighth grade. He felt he did not need a high school education to spend his life working on a farm that was not his own. Andr Roussimoff dreamed often of a future that would take him far from the tedium and near poverty of farm life. But that dream seemed hopelessly out of reach. Andre worked hard for two years to learn the trade before deciding, at the end of his apprenticeship, that woodworking was as unlikely as farm work to bring him success. It was also at the age of 16 that Andre made another discovery. He was getting very big. JACQUES ROUSSIMOFF: [non-english speech] INTERPRETER: My brother really started to grow when he reached 16. Yeah, when he was 16. He was kind of a curiosity. Of course, everybody looked at him. They turned their heads as he passed. NARRATOR: Andr 's parents were not worried about their boy's growth spurt. The teenager was just big. That's all. Andr was not taken to see a doctor. Andre left his woodworking job and went to work in a factory that manufactured hay baling engines. But for the young dreamer, the monotony of the assembly line was worse even than the drudgery of farm labor. In near desperation and with a heavy heart, Andre went back to work alongside his father. In the field, Andr could perform the work of three men. INTERPRETER: He was very strong, that's for sure. We had a flat tire in the back, and we didn't have a jack. So I unscrewed all the lug nuts except for one. Suddenly, he lifted the car, and I would take the spare tire. And we wouldn't need a jack anymore. That's when we could tell he was strong. NARRATOR: Andr was asked to join a local rugby organization but he declined as he didn't care for the sport. As he grew larger, Andre began to attract attention. [non-english speech] INTERPRETER: I have a very clear memory of Andr driving by the Place de la Gare with a [inaudible],, an old clunker [inaudible]. He would drive normally, but with his head coming out of the roof. These things were kind of funny. JACQUES ROUSSIMOFF: [non-english speech] INTERPRETER: When he got out of the car, he used to pretend that he was stuck between the door and inside the car. He used to pick it up by lifting his body. And we used to drive this car without any insurance. The cops never said anything. They never dared to tell him a thing. NARRATOR: By the time he was 18, Andre's fame had spread all the way to Paris. A wrestling promoter turned up at the Roussimoffs' door one day. Andr , the promoter told the Roussimoffs, could make a very nice living as a wrestling attraction. A promoter phoned me one day and said, go and pick this young lad up, 17, a wrestler who is just beginning, they said, and take him to a town-- I forgot the town where it was. I think it was Porte de Versailles, just outside Paris. Porte de Ver-- That was the name of the-- Yes. The bar we were supposed to meet, too. I think it was. So I went there. And here was this young lad of 17. But in fact, he was about 6 foot 10" and weighed about 280 pounds and dwarfed me then. Little did I ever realized he would go grow another almost another foot. NARRATOR: Andre's parents had mixed feelings about their son's becoming a wrestler. But they saw it as his ticket, perhaps, to a better life. Andre's heart leapt at the opportunity. Maybe he would get a chance at his dream after all. Andr Roussimoff was 7 feet tall on the day he left for Paris, an 18-year-old in search of his fortune. During the day, Andr worked as a mover to pay his expenses in Paris. At night, he trained in a wrestling gym. It was slow-going. His size and strength were tremendous assets but he knew nothing of wrestling technique, the basic moves and falls every wrestler knows. And it was difficult for him to learn because his fellow wrestlers were afraid to train with him. Wrestling then, as now, was 90% performance, 10% competition. Promoters had long ago realized that fans were quickly bored with real or Olympic-style wrestling. Pro wrestling offered not really sport but rather sports entertainment and the illusion of violence. But entertainment or not, the wrestlers of Paris were not eager to create the illusion of violence with a teenage giant who didn't know his own strength. On a trip back home in 1965, Andre received a draft notice for France's peacetime army. He was called in for his physical examination. [non-english speech] INTERPRETER: The day of the military physical examinations, he was supposed to go into the army. And the surgeon that was recruiting guys saw him come from far away with another person. And talking about the other person, thinking that he was very short, the surgeon said, that dwarf is never going to pass the test for the army. He's going to be rejected automatically. But as they were coming closer, he looked at Andr and said, well, maybe this is the one that will be rejected. NARRATOR: Andr was deemed unfit for service as there were no shoes big enough, bunks long enough or trenches deep enough to accommodate him. Rejection was nothing new to Andr . Wherever he went, people stared or snickered. As he returned to Paris, his dreams of success in their world seemed more distant than ever. Then one day, in 1964, his luck began to change. douard Carpentier, a popular French Canadian wrestler, came to Paris. Andr approached Carpentier and asked the veteran to train him for the ring. Carpentier saw Andr 's potential immediately and agreed to teach him. During the next two months, Andr learned how to give and take what wrestlers refer to as bumps. Before Carpentier returned to Montreal, he told Andr to get as much ring experience as he could. When he was ready, Carpentier would bring him to North America where wrestling was much bigger than in Europe. One night in Paris, not long afterward. Andr went in as a replacement for an injured wrestler. The crowd loved him. Andr was very happy because he understood at once that he had found his calling. Fate had had a reason for making him so big. His destiny was to entertain the people. He would be a wrestler. of someday leaving the farmmd and seeing the world. His opportunity came in Paris in 1964 when douard Carpentier agreed to train the 18-year-old boy for the ring. Andr was an instant sensation with the fans. Andr was unbelievable as a young man, 16, 17, 18. He had-- I guess he is almost 7 foot by then. And he had like movie star, handsome, good looks, a washboard stomach. I mean, when he walked the midway, he was the man. NARRATOR: Andr 's stature was even more remarkable because unlike other very tall men, he was not lanky like a basketball player. His legs were actually rather short for his frame. His proportions were relative to that of a man of average height. Two things you could never forget about Andr when you saw him. One was just his enormous mass. He was big all over. The other thing was, if you actually had a chance to shake hands with Andr the Giant, there's something you would never forget. Because it was literally impossible to shake hands with him. His hand was just so huge. Your hand would be just like a small child's next to his. MAN: Oh, he would make two of me. I have big hands for an ordinary fellow but his hands would be about like that, you know, and longer fingers. It looked like bananas, his fingers. And pretty big feet. He could have made a fortune stomping out fires. [laughs] You couldn't ask for a better person, gentle. You shake your hand, you didn't even know you had it, it was so big. You know what I mean? And he would grab your hand. It was almost scary because he had this big palm at you, you know. And he's just a real gentleman. I mean, easy, easy-going, never-- always the same mood, morning or night, you know. NARRATOR: The promoters build Andr as Geant Ferre, the name of a legendary French lumberjack. Performance or not, wrestling was a rough contact sport. And the giant Geant Ferre soon became the most feared man in wrestling. [non-english speech] INTERPRETER: He was famous because his first fights took place around here, quite a lot actually. News got spread pretty quickly. And he quickly became famous. He was working during the week. And he was wrestling in the evenings and almost every Sunday. NARRATOR: For the next few years, Andr traveled throughout Europe and Africa, wrestling in arenas as well as carnivals. Most of his matches were performances. But occasionally, he would take challengers from the audience, singly or in groups, taking on all comers. The only way you could beat the Giant was if he allowed you to. MAN: On any given night, no one could beat Andr . Andr 's strength was immeasurable. He didn't even know how strong he was. I've seen him do some awesome things inside the ring, especially if he got angry, got the adrenaline flowing. And if he didn't like you, you pay the price. Those chops were brutal. NARRATOR: By the time he was 21, the poor farm boy from Molien was living a dream. He was well-paid. He traveled, ate and drank in the best restaurants. He was the center of attention everywhere he went. Family and friends traveled to Paris for Andr 's matches or they watched on television. [non-english speech] INTERPRETER: I saw him wrestle in France at the Palais de la Mutualite a Saturday night. It was a two-round match. It was very impressive, especially when there was such a weight falling on the floor. It echoed. I think he was hurt. I felt this hurt as him, especially when the opponent would pull his hair. He had a mane, and the opponent would pull it to throw him off balance. But he was never really nasty as far as the fight. Otherwise, he would have crushed him from the first hit. I just think he was trying to make the fight last, to make the people happy that had come to see the show so it would last a little more. Otherwise, the fight would have been very short. Andre's visits home were always an eagerly-anticipated occasion. MAN: He lived in a little town, Molien. They'd put a sign that population was 27, and it was 30 if Andr came home. [non-english speech] INTERPRETER: Well, of course, he was an event when he was coming back in the village to see his friends. When we saw the car, we knew right away that the 'big one" was here, as we used to call him. NARRATOR: Whenever Andr came home, he'd spend hours playing cards with his friends. JACQUES ROUSSIMOFF: [non-english speech] INTERPRETER: His card friends are people that knew him since he was a little kid. Because they are people that always lived in the village. One was a cement layer, the one that used to fix my mother's house. The other was a mechanic. And the other one was a small cultivator. They knew us all. They knew all the family, and they remained very good friends. [non-english speech] INTERPRETER: We used to play here all the time. That was his seat. Sometimes he would lose but it didn't matter. Losing or winning, he would always pay. He never wanted us to pay. He used to say, Jerry, and Jerry would serve. NARRATOR: By 1969, douard Carpentier believed Andr was ready for the American market. But now, it was Carpentier who would have to wait. Andr had signed a contract to wrestle in Japan under the name Monster Roussimoff. The Monster was the biggest thing to hit Japan since Godzilla. He'd come out of the hotel, walked down the street and when he's-- they'd all run away, you know. They're smaller than-- they run away from him but they'd walk on the other side of the street. And they'd just follow him wherever he went. There's mobs following around, just looking at him. Sometimes we'd duck in a store. And then the whole store would fill up. ANDRE ROUSSIMOFF: I just thought everybody was so small. And they can't believe it to see a big person like myself. I didn't want to shoot me all time. They shoot me 26 hours a day. You couldn't believe it. NARRATOR: In Japan, Andr was examined for the first time by a prominent doctor. He diagnosed Andr as having a rare glandular disorder called acromegaly or giantism, a condition that causes a constant secretion of growth hormone. Andr 's body could not stop growing. MAN: He had that disease that the-- all these giants. Of course, he had-- his head was getting larger every year. He could notice it, you know, because we come back there several times. And he told me that this kind of disease that he had, guys are lucky if they make their 40s. But Andr -- I try to tell Andr to go have-- you know, go down and see this guy. This guy doesn't know anything. NARRATOR: Andr refused to accept the doctor's diagnosis. And he never mentioned it to anyone in his family. He knew, you know, that he didn't have long to live. So I think he-- that was in the back of his mind, you know, all the time. That's why he drank and just did whatever he wanted to do, just to enjoy what time he had. NARRATOR: Andre's unique physical condition had brought him far from his humble origins and close to the realization of all his dreams. But now, he was finding that success came with a hefty price tag. MAN: I think that Andr was lonely. Because I think that's the reason why he drank like he did or he went night-clubbing like he did. He didn't want to be by himself. When you're big as he was, people look at you like a freak and everything. And you resent that eventually. And I'm sure he did. Because man had feelings just like you and I. NARRATOR: Every day of Andr 's life had involved a painful effort to shoehorn himself into an undersized world. And now, the final most bitter irony, to be told at the age of 22 that he had already lived half his life. ur wa, Andr traveled to Montreal. As douard Carpentier had predicted, the Giant was an immediate hit with Canadian fans. Andr , at that time, was like, what, maybe the 24 years old probably and all that. I mean, he was very-- I mean, impressive, you know. I mean, he's so big, and you just knowing all that. And he was not 500 pound then. He was must have been about like 375, you know. And he really looked good. NARRATOR: But the novelty soon wore off when the promoters couldn't find a plausible opponent for him. It was obvious to the fans that Andr couldn't be beaten. Gate receipts for his matches dwindled. Out of desperation, Carpentier consulted Vince McMahon and his son Vince Jr, a pair of successful American wrestling promoters. The McMahons saw problems with the way Andr was being presented to the fans. After you see a giant over and over and over it's almost-- well you can become accustomed to-- you know to seeing a giant. That's not good. NARRATOR: The McMahons proposed a schedule where Andre would stay perpetually on the road. VINCE MCMAHON, JR. : Andre would just literally travel all over the world, never wearing out his welcome in any one area. And when he came once a year, you really look forward to seeing Andre. NARRATOR: The McMahons also knew that the name Geant Ferre, the French lumberjack, meant little to North American fans. Henceforth, Andre would be billed simply and appropriately as Andre the Giant. Ever the showman Vince McMahon Jr's promotional ideas included standing Andre on a box for a TV interview. That's why I'm partying like this all year long. I just want to make everybody happy. Indeed, that was your primary goal to make people happy. There should be more people-- NARRATOR: McMahons called their promotion the Worldwide Wrestling Federation and Andre the Giant would soon be their most popular export. The world traveler developed sophisticated tastes for fine wine and food. His appetite for all life had to offer exhausted even the most dauntless of his traveling companions. Like we say in French, he was a bon viveur. [laughter] TIM WHITE: When you have dinner with Andre, that was not a half an hour a deal. No, that was a five-course meal. The legend that travels Andre around-- the food, the drink. He could do this, he could do that, he ate 16 steaks, 12 lobsters, drank a case of beer and 10 bottles of wine and finished off with a bottle of Jack Daniels. Well, I'm here to tell you it's all true. NARRATOR: Yet that sort of indulgence was not common for Andre. TIM WHITE: He'd do it more for fun, he had a normal appetite. It was a decent appetite-- believe me, a lot more than I could eat. But for his size it was normal, it was normal as could be. NARRATOR: Less normal was his capacity for drink. Andre's drinking is the stuff of legend. Most of the stories, the times he drank over 100 beers at a sitting, the occasions on which he imbibed multiple bottles of blended whiskey before dinner, several bottles of wine with dinner and then cognac for dessert are hard to substantiate because his drinking partners were seldom conscious of the finish. GORILLA MONSOON: It's amazing the amount of capacity that Andre had for beverages. He was a fine connoisseur of wine but when the good wine wasn't available, Andre would drink any wine or beer. Andre with a beer can in his hand-- you didn't know what he was drinking because you couldn't see it. It would be like you holding a thimble. I took his ring and I had a silver dollar and I passed the silver dollar right through the ring. That's how big his fingers were. NARRATOR: Even when he was drinking, Andre was the designated driver. [speaking french] INTERPRETER: When we were partying it was better not to compete with him or try to keep up with him because his friends would end up sick whereas he would always end up fine. So when we would go out he was always the one taking us home. He was like our chauffeur. He was a lonely man, you know. Like-- the only place he could really go and pass time it was in the bar. And maybe that's why he drank a lot sometimes. ARNOLD SKAALAND: He used to tell me sometimes-- he says you know Arnie, I'd like to see a play. You know I heard so much about these plays and Broadway and stuff. He said I'd like to go. I said well, I'll get some tickets and we'll go. He said no-- he said I can't. I couldn't go to a place. First of all, I can't fit in the seats. If I was sitting in the seats I'd be blocking everyone-- if I could find a seat I'd be blocking everybody off. And he says everybody would be looking at me. So-- he really felt bad because he couldn't go see a play. NARRATOR: Andre didn't feel he needed to keep himself in shape. There was no man or even three or four men who could match up to him in a wrestling ring. FRENCH BERNARD: He didn't jog, he didn't run, he bought all that equipment for lifting weight and all that treadmill and he never used it. Never, never got on it-- maybe one time and never sit there, that was it. Sloppy he was not. He was exceptionally good in that ring. The way he moved around that ring they were amazed. NARRATOR: For the most part, Andre was a gentle giant. He didn't know his own strength. But he took pains not to inflict harm on others. FRENCH BERNARD: I would never know of him even hurting a wrestler. He would win a match but he didn't have to cripple him. He'd be that the kind of guy that-- he would look after the other guy more than himself. [music playing] life required a giant's portion of patience. He couldn't fit into automobiles or movie theater seats, even a first-class seat in a plane was too small for him. On short hops when there was no first-class he had to sit on the floor. All my clothes came from Japan except my boots. [inaudible] said everything is big. It's come from Texas. NARRATOR: Though Andre made light of his inconveniences, he struggled daily with discomfort and indignities. You've just going to be in his shoes for a second to understand what he went through day in, day out. He couldn't hide from anybody. Wherever he went he was public, people swarmed to him. When he got into a hotel room the bed was too small, the shower came up to his waistline, his fingers were too big to dial the phone. I mean the guy went through heck every day and not once did he ever complain. Sometimes he was in private in his room because people would chase you up the elevator and find out what room and call your room all night. We've had it-- we used to have to check out of hotel sometimes because it got to be too much. It was incredible to me the patience that he had. NARRATOR: But even Andre's patience had limits. ARNOLD SKAALAND: One night he was in a bar in Montreal and these guys come up and they were bothering him-- you know. You're not-- you're big but you're not strong. So Andre says, look I just come in to drink. I don't want-- you know no problems or anything. Well these guys kept on-- they were you know feeling pretty good. Andre-- Andre couldn't take it anyway. He finally got up and he went for them. They ran out and their car was parked on a sidewalk, right in front of the place. They jumped in the car and locked it. And Andre ran around to the side-- to the driver's side trying to open the door, he couldn't. And he got so mad he reached down and grabbed the car and he turned it upside down on the sidewalk with the four guys in it. NARRATOR: Andre was gone by the time the authorities arrived leaving his four drunken victims to explain to skeptical police officers how an angry giant had come along and turned their car over. As he approached the age of 30 Andre the Giant transcended his sport. SHELDON GOLDBERG: Andre was really the only wrestler who at that time in the 1970s was booked on a national basis. So when pro-wrestling was a regional enterprise, Andre was a national figure, which was totally unheard of in professional wrestling and actually the forerunner to what pro-wrestling is today. In the 70s, it was very unusual for professional wrestlers to get mainstream publicity. Because of his size, Andre became sort of an instant celebrity. VINCE MCMAHON, JR. : Most people are fascinated by giants. You know we grow up reading about Jack and the beanstalk and to be able to go see a real live giant who had this effusive personality and who had so much charisma and to see him in action, it was truly a treat. NARRATOR: Although Andre was very much a man's man, women too were drawn to the giant. Andre had lots of girlfriends. Andre had a girlfriend in every town. And when he came back to that town he could have a different girlfriend. ARNOLD SKAALAND: He had all kinds of women because everybody wanted to be with him-- you know how big he was and everything. Outstanding for the rest of the crowds so they wanted to be around you know, so they could be seen with him. He was such a lovable person. Anybody could fall in love with him because he was good to everybody. He didn't dance, of course, except when we were in Hawaii he couldn't dance sometimes because there was no room on the floor for nobody else. So you know-- there's a good thing you didn't do the shake I'm telling you. NARRATOR: Although Andre kept such personal things to himself there were, aside from his mother, at least two special women in his life. RENE GOULET: I remember one time he was not with the ladies. I think that if Andre would've married a woman it would be that one there. You know I don't want to mention any name or anything like that or where's she from. But it was very tough for a woman to have a really close relation with Andre because he was gone all the time and his life is not like a regular person. You know-- you're going to go shopping, you're going to go to the grocery and things like that. It's nightlife and that's it for Andre. NARRATOR: The other special woman in Andre's life was the daughter he never spoke about. VINCE MCMAHON, JR. : Andre was a very quiet man in terms of subjects that he didn't want to talk about. And he was a very private man and if he didn't offer to talk about a certain subject matter he didn't bring it up. TIM WHITE: Andre has a daughter and I believe she still lives out around the Seattle, Washington area. I'm not sure that-- she maybe even 20-years-old today. He certainly cared for her and took care of her but because of the situation with the mother, she was never able to come to his ranch or come with him on the road and he really, really wanted that to happen-- to get to know her. And that didn't happen and that hurt him quite a bit. NARRATOR: In the mid-70s Andre was much in demand. VINCE MCMAHON, JR. (ON TV): But you've been on so many shows, Andre. You've been on-- you've been on the Johnny Carson show so many times. ANDRE THE GIANT: Merv Griffin. VINCE MCMAHON, JR. (ON TV): Merv Griffin. ANDRE THE GIANT: "Six Million Dollar Man"-- All of the movies. You've been in so many-- "BJ and the Bear," [inaudible],, "The Fall Guy." NARRATOR: By the end of the '70s, Andre the Giant was the most famous wrestler-- perhaps the most famous athlete in the world. He was well over 400 pounds and still, his body continued to grow. How about getting your foot off my shoulder? [inaudible] comd with Andre's indulgent lifestyle were taking their toll on the Giants health. By 1980, in his mid-30s now, Andre became increasingly aware of his own mortality. The doctors had told him he wouldn't reach 40. Some men would have taken this as a death sentence, Andre took it as a reminder to enjoy the time he had. TIM WHITE: When I would ask Andre about the condition that he had, he would just-- kind of like a big brother, put it to the side. Don't worry about loss everything's fine. Don't worry about it. But on the other side, I'd hear from doctors and people that I would speak to and they'd say he is a miracle. He's amazing that with the condition he has-- that he's a professional wrestler. I think deep down Andre always knew-- why he was tipped-- which a lot of us never get a tip like this-- that you're not going to be a senior citizen. You have so many days on Earth so use the best of them. Andre was the only man that ever did it. NARRATOR: Just as Andre and professional wrestling were peaking in terms of popularity, Andre's body began to turn on him. Andre broke his ankle allegedly in a match with Killer Khan, but he actually did it while getting out of bed. The recuperation was long and painful and there were no crutches long enough or strong enough to support a giant. During the next two years, Andre was able to perform some of his best matches but by 1983 the disease he had ignored for years began to take hold. SHELDON GOLDBERG: When the body physically can't grow anymore, changes start to take place, bodies start to age rapidly. Andre's weight increased to the point that his joints weren't really able to handle the stress of his body weight very, very well. So his look started to physically change. He started to look older. He started to move slower. NARRATOR: Still the giant refused to modify his schedule or curtail his drinking. TIM WHITE: When you live on the road you have two choices. You can go out and have a good time or you can sit in your room like it's a cell. And we went out and had a good time. As he got older and-- that way is down and there were days when I left him and I was in tears. His back, his knees, everything was hurting. And I would say to him, boss is there anything I can do. And he would just tap me on the shoulder and say don't worry about it, Tim. FRENCHY BERNARD: Lots of times he said to me I wish I was your size. And I said man, I wish I was your size. He said, man, I wish I was small, man-- just a regular sized man you know. Because it had to be hard on him. You sit at a table, your knee hitting the edge of the table. You pick up a little fork-- I mean you know, that big hand-- it was only a little piece of it sticking out. You know what I mean-- it's hard to work with. NARRATOR: In 1986 Andre traveled to England to perform in the movie The Princess Bride. He played a character very close to himself, Fezzik the gentle giant. The movie was very popular and Andre received praise for his performance. GORILLA MONSOON: Andre loved doing the movie. Never really spoke a lot about it, but I knew inside it-- it was one of the great things that he did in his lifetime. NARRATOR: During his time in England Andre's back pain increased to the point where he decided to undergo surgery to relieve the stress on his back. To facilitate the surgery, an oversize operating table and special tools had to be constructed. Perhaps the most apprehensive participant in the surgery was not Andre but his anesthesiologist. VINCE MCMAHON, JR.: How do you sedate a man who is 500 pounds? Jim Troy who was a friend of Andre was there when he had the operation. The anesthesiologist would come over and say, well give me some idea how much of this should I give him. The only thing they could possibly equate it to was Andre's consumption of alcohol. And Andre said, well it takes two quarts-- you know two liters of vodka for me to get a buzz on. And they couldn't believe that and Jimmy Troy confirmed it. That would be about right, I've seen it happen with a bottle and a half. You know-- but-- so in essence that was the trickiest part of the entire operation was the anesthesiology. She you can't give him too much, you're killing. If you don't give him enough he's going to wake up and that won't be nice to wake up an angry giant when you have his back laid open. NARRATOR: The operation was termed a success. But to those who observed Andre close up, it provided little, if any relief for his overburdened frame. FRENCHY BERNARD: You know-- he couldn't bend down. His back was really hurting him all the time, you know. And the only time he was really comfortable is sitting in a big recliner. I would say after he had a surgery on his back he was never the same-- as far as I'm concerned, myself. It's a tough time but I got a surprise for my wrestling fans. And believe me, I've got a great surprise for you. I'll be back, all the way, just like I used to compete before. COMMENTATOR: He weighs 520 pounds, Andre the Giant. NARRATOR: Promoter Vince McMahon Jr was counting on Andre's enormous popularity to create excitement for Wrestle Mania 3, a spectacular wrestling program to be held at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. SHELDON GOLDBERG: Andre was hurting around the time of Wrestle Mania 3 he was well past his prime physically the wrestling business, on the other hand, was just reaching its crescendo. Wrestle Mania 3, unlike the first two Wrestle Manias, was sold strictly on the strength of the main event. The main event being Hulk Hogan, who was at the time the WWF champion, facing Andre for the title. Andre was billed as being undefeated at that time so the story line went-- could Hulk Hogan defeat the heretofore unbeatable Andre the Giant? It was the strength of that main event that caused the show to become the biggest wrestling event in the history of the business. NARRATOR: Andre had agreed by pre-arrangement with McMahon to allow Hogan to beat him that night. Still, Hogan was understandably nervous. This, after all, was a giant he was wrestling. What if Andre changed his mind about losing? VINCE MCMAHON, JR.: Hogan and was extremely worried about the outcome of the match. Have you talked with Andre? Have you talked-- I said it'll be just fine. It'll be fine. Hogan couldn't believe what Andre was going to do for him and do for the business. And it was a classic example of giving back Andre knew that this was a tremendous opportunity not only a set of record that probably will never be broken but to give back to the business, to be the performer that he-- he always was. But to show other wrestlers this is what you do. You know you pass that torch and that's what he did. NARRATOR: 92,000 people filled the Silverdome that night to watch Andre battle Hulk Hogan for the championship. Wrestle Mania 3 set the all-time attendance record for an indoor event and it still stands. Only months after major back surgery, Andre allowed Hogan to defeat him with a body slam. Andre the Giant's reign as the biggest attraction in wrestling was over. He passed his 41st birthday well aware that he was living on borrowed time. l sports events in history and Andre the Giant was known all over the world. But his success provided little compensation for his pain. The giant was buckling under his own weight. [speaking french] INTERPRETER: After his operation, he went on wrestling for several years. It was hard, of course, because it was difficult to get around but he always wrestled. He had said he would never stop. He wanted to go until the end. [speaking french] NARRATOR: During the late '80s, Andre appeared in several rematches with Hulk Hogan but the fans soon caught on to the fact that his skills were greatly diminished. In truth the once agile giant could scarcely move. Back in the '70s, Andre had purchased a ranch in Ellerbee, North Carolina. Throughout his wrestling career, it provided peace and refuge from the spotlight. FRENCHY BERNARD: He loved it here. He loved it here because it was quiet for him. It was a place that he could relax. People didn't bother him, most of them we stayed home and ate here. We'd barbecue outside, he loved to barbecue. Then we sit on the deck and drink a few beers and play cards most of the time. NARRATOR: Here Andre could be himself, free from stares. Only his closest friends were invited to visit him on the ranch. His favorite recreation was riding around on an ATV, checking out the Longhorn cattle he raised. Evenings were spent watching TV from his specially constructed recliner or playing cards with Frenchy. FRENCHY BERNARD: And as soon as he had one day off he'd come here. Some days he was only sleep overnight and we'd bring him back to the airport. That's the only time he really had peace, you know? And he enjoyed it-- my wife would cook him some home-cooked meal and that's what he like, you know? Quiet-- and he would watch that TV all night long and sleep half the day. NARRATOR: By late 1992 Andre's wrestling days were over. His weight swelled to 550 pounds. Every movement required painful effort. FRENCHY BERNARD: We're sitting at the table one night and he said well, French if I die, I want to be cremated and put my ashes on the farm. I said Andre I will do it no matter what. He said that's what I want. I don't-- I don't want to go nowhere else, I don't want people to see me after I'm dead. They want to--see me now. You know what I'm saying? When I'm alive. NARRATOR: Friends were worried that Andre was dying, not from the affliction that had shaped his life but from a broken heart. He missed wrestling that much. The end was like the way he lived it. He never ever complained. I had stopped at the ranch-- it was just before New Year's. Andre, at that time now was on crutches and his condition had taken over on him. I was in tears because he was hurting so bad. Yet he was so happy that I stopped through that he was telling jokes and-- matter of fact I told him, boss I'm going to leave at about 8:00 tomorrow morning. This is something he never did when we're on the ranch. He goes what time? I said at eight o'clock. He goes well I'm going to get up, we'll have something for breakfast and then you can go. He never would do that. When I drove away I knew something was wrong and it just killed me because he was-- you know he was just the greatest and it really hurt. That was the last time I saw him. NARRATOR: Just after New Year's, 1993, Andre got a call to come back to France. His father had passed away. For days after the funeral, Andre hung around in his village playing cards with his old friends. At night he drove back to Paris to sleep in a hotel. On the night of January 27, Andre went to sleep and never woke up. His chauffeur found him in the morning. Death was attributed to congestive heart failure, from a buildup of fluid in the body. Andre Roussimoff weighed 530 pounds when he died. He was 46 years old. [speaking french] INTERPRETER: The last card game I remember is the last one we played together. We were on the same team that day and the next day he never woke up. That's what hurts me. I was kind of the last one to play cards with him. He was a very simple person, a person who loved his village, loved the people he was around. He died too quickly. He deserved a better destiny. NARRATOR: As Andre had requested, his body was returned to North Carolina where it was cremated two weeks after his death. More than 200 of Andre's friends attended the funeral held at his home. After a short ceremony, Frenchy rode a horse to spread his friend's ashes on the ranch. Andre the Giant was modern wrestling's first and only international attraction. On his broad shoulders, wrestling rose from its status as a questionable sport to become big business and some might argue performance art. Andre Roussimoff, the man, was born with an affliction that threatened to physically and socially ostracize him from society. A lesser man might have gone through life a recluse hidden from the world's mocking eyes. Andre chose to live his life the way he was raised, with pride and dignity and without complaint. He lived every single day like it was the last and I was the luckiest guy in the world. I was with him so every day was a happy new year. NARRATOR: Andre Roussimoff the man of immeasurable strength made his living as a wrestler but never harmed a living soul in his short, gentle life. He brought pleasure to millions and the friends that he made were devoted to him. FRENCHY BERNARD: When you got one true friend like him, that's all you need in this world, a true friend. [music playing] [speaking french] INTERPRETER: The kindness that he had towards me, his friends it is engraved. It will remain engraved I think for a while. There are a lot of things that he did for my parents and everything-- he was someone great that nobody can forget. I don't think someone would ever forget him. [cheering] NARRATOR: Andre Rene Roussimoff lived according to his size, larger than life.
Info
Channel: Biography
Views: 743,998
Rating: 4.8696074 out of 5
Keywords: history, bio, biography, andre the giant, wwe, wrestling, andre, giant, big man, andre the giant bio, andre the giant doc, andre the giant biography, andre the giant documentary, andre the giant wrestler, wrestle, wrestler, world wrestling entertainment, André René Roussimoff, ring, wrestling match, wrestling in the ring, wrestling show, wrestling biography, espn, sports, fitness
Id: UmKv0Y-aLM0
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 43min 57sec (2637 seconds)
Published: Wed Jul 07 2021
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