The Incredible Life of Andre the Giant
A look back at the 8th Wonder of the World
Like many other kids during the golden age of professional wrestling, I was obsessed with what was then the WWF.
Every week, here in Canada, we had the show, Superstars of Wrestling. Even before we had a VCR, my dad would record the audio onto a cassette of Saturday Nights’ Main Event. I was too young to stay up, but this still allowed me to keep up with everything.
I loved Hulk Hogan and all the characters that seemed like they were out of the pages of a comic book. They were all larger than life. And one, in particular, was literally and figuratively larger than life-Andre the Giant. I was equal parts astonished and genuinely frightened of him. I couldn’t believe a human being like this actually existed.
His career spanned decades, but it was in the 80s when he really shined.
The Origins of Andre the Giant
But let’s go back to the origins of this mythical person. Andre Rene Roussimoff was born on May 19, 1946, in Grenoble, France. He was the son of Boris and Mariann Roussimoff, who owned a farm in the small village of Molien. Andre was born with a rare condition called gigantism, which caused his body to continue growing throughout his life.
