‘André’ lived large, in and out of ring
André Roussimoff has left a giant legacy.
Better known by his wrestling name, André the Giant, his life is examined in a new HBO documentary, André the Giant (Tuesday, 10 ET/PT). André had a prolific career in professional wrestling and came to be known for his size, caused by acromegaly, sometimes called gigantism, which made his limbs and organs grow too large. Andre went on to a role in 1987’s The Princess Bride and helped move wrestling from its low-tech regional TV days to the supercharged Hulk Hogan era. He died in 1993.
The revealing, fast-paced documentary includes interviews with his family, friends and fellow wrestlers, including Hulk Hogan, Jerry Lawler and Arnold Schwarzenegger. We rounded up five of the biggest things we learned.
He wasn’t always called “André the Giant.”
André started wrestling in France as a young adult, and his first persona was “Jean Ferre,” a lumberjack character. After he came to North America, the name was dropped because it sounded too much like “fairy.” He was first called André the Giant at a match in Chicago in the 1970s.
André decided how his opponents fared in the ring.
André spent much of his professional wrestling career as a hero and undefeated champion, but even in victory he had the power in the ring to make his opponents look good or bad. The documentary highlights his disdain for wrestlers Big John Studd and Randy Savage, the “Macho Man,” whose time in the ring was less than pleasant.
He didn’t know he had gigantism until later in his life.
André’s friends and family say he didn’t know about his diagnosis until well into adulthood, after an ankle injury when a doctor noted he had symptoms of acromegaly. They also say he refused treatment for it, fearing it could harm his wrestling career.
He was ailing during filming of The Princess Bride.
The Princess Bride author and screenwriter William Goldman wrote the part of friendly giant Fezzik for André, and while director Rob Reiner “didn’t understand a single word he said” during his audition, André landed the role anyway. Reiner says filmmakers had to be creative: André was too heavy to ride a horse, so he had to be supported by wires.
Reiner and cast members Billy Crystal, Robin Wright and Cary Elwes recall that André was in pain during the production. He struggled during his fight scene with Elwes early in the film, and he couldn’t catch Wright during a scene in which she jumps into his arms toward the end. She had to be suspended from wires so he wasn’t carrying her weight.
His famous match with Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania III was built around his body’s limitations.
When André fought in Wrestlemania III in 1987, the year The Princess Bride actually hit theaters, he was still not in great shape. He had had back surgery, and his fight with Hogan was choreographed around his limitations. André does very little in the fight, and Hogan has most of the physical activity.
Hogan says in the documentary that André refused to decide how to finish the match ahead of time and that he called out the final move, a body slam, as they were wrestling.