The 14 Saddest Things About Andre The Giant's Life

If ever an individual embodied the term "gentle giant," it was the late Frenchman André René Roussimoff. You will, of course, know him better as André the Giant, the professional wrestler who after dominating the ring for the best part of the 1980s made an unlikely, albeit successful, pivot into acting when he was cast in "The Princess Bride."

Indeed, in contrast to his frame — he stood at 7 feet, 4 inches and weighed 520 pounds — the man known as the Eighth Wonder of the World was considered by those who knew him to be one of the sweetest, kindest, and most generous personalities outside the ring. As his "The Princess Bride" co-star Mandy Patinkin remembered in a video shared on Twitter, "He was beyond a gentle giant. He was just so wonderful. He was the spirit of the movie."

While the wrestling great had a career many would dream of, the road he took was far from easy. Throughout his life, which was cut short in 1993, André the Giant faced a number of hardships, obstacles, and tragedies.

We can't be sure whether André the Giant himself would have been hugely saddened or mightily relieved about this particular form of discrimination. But for many wannabe soldiers, being rejected from the military on the grounds of your height would be life-ruining.

Back in the Swinging Sixties, 75 percent of eligible Frenchmen aged 18 or over served for a year in the national army. And when André received a draft notice in 1965, he no doubt expected for it to be his turn. However, as noted in the documentary "André the Giant: Most Famous Professional Wrestler in the World," his height rendered him ineligible for service. Not only was he too tall to fit in trenches, but the equipment would be too small for him. So, rather than pack up and head to basic training, André got back to training for his professional wrestling career in Paris. 

André the Giant may have been hailed as one of the wrestling world's sweetest men by those who worked with him. But he was never going to win a Father of the Year award. Indeed, you can count on one hand the number of times that the star made the effort to see his only child. Robin Christensen-Roussimoff, whose mother Jean Christensen had an on/off relationship with the wrestler in the 1970s, only saw André on five occasions before his death. And as she later told CBS Sports, they weren't always during the most relaxed circumstances, either: "I can recall two or three times at arenas. Unfortunately, other times, they were in court."

Jackie McAuley, a longtime friend of André, claimed to the same network that the wrestler was left heartbroken by his lack of father-daughter time. So what exactly was it that kept them apart? Well, an understanding Christensen-Roussimoff later explained to "Wrestle Zone Radio Podcast," "We, unfortunately, did not have that great of a relationship. Mostly because he was on the road so much. I think it came to like 298 days out of the year in his prime."

However, Christensen-Roussimoff does not resent her late dad. Per "The Eighth Wonder of the World," she shared she believes he would've liked to have been in her life. "I fully understand that he couldn't be the father he probably wanted to be," she said.

The body slam heard around the world is one of the defining moments in the history of the WWE (née WWF). It refers to, of course, the moment that Hulk Hogan stormed to victory at 1987's WrestleMania III after body-slamming André the Giant (and then finishing with a running leg drop).

André was 520 pounds at the time; Hogan said he ended up tearing his latissimus dorsi muscle during the iconic move. Unsurprisingly, André had put a significant strain on his bones and joints and therefore spent the entirety of the match in excruciating pain. To make things worse, André had only just undergone surgery to his back, too.

As viewers could see for themselves during the famous bout, André struggled to walk around the ring, let alone execute any moves. In fact, he had to hold on to the ropes just to steady himself. But determined to put on a show, the star gave Hogan the green light to pull off the bodyslam toward the end of their encounter. "I tried so hard to give people something they'd never forget," the mustachioed muscleman later told Sports Illustrated. "André passed the torch to me, but he made me earn it."

André the Giant was reportedly first officially diagnosed with acromegaly while wrestling in Japan in the 1970s, and then again on homegrown soil in the 1980s. As recalled by Dr. Harris Yett in the 2018 HBO documentary about the wrestler, the pituitary gland disorder which causes a dangerous increase in hormone growth could have been treated. However, the patient refused any kind of medical help on both occasions for two reasons. The first concern was that he had built his reputation as the Eighth Wonder of the World, and André didn't want to risk impacting his career. And second, he feared it would interfere with his faith. 

On a 2020 episode of "Talk is Jericho," "The Eighth Wonder of the World" author Pat Laprade also dug into André's unwillingness to  go under the knife to treat his acromegaly diagnosis. "He said God made him this way and he didn't want to change it. And he was also scared that his dimensions were going to change if he was getting the surgery ... he felt he would lose what made him special," Laprade said. "I have to think he was misinformed because he would not have changed that much."

In an interview with Playboy (via Dvaita), the Frenchman explained how his connection to a higher power had positively influenced him throughout his life. "I believe in God," he said. "I don't go to church every Sunday, but I believe in Him. I think He's helped me a lot."

Despite the fact he could barely even walk during his iconic 1987 Wrestlemania III encounter with Hulk Hogan, André the Giant continued to persevere with his wrestling career for another five years. Indeed, he competed in several other WWF flagship events, formed a tag team with Haku, and did some stints with All Japan Pro Wrestling and Mexico's Universal Wrestling Association.

Of course, by this point, the Frenchman was a shell of his former self, as his size and the array of injuries he'd picked up throughout his decades in the ring had taken a tremendous toll. Still, André was determined not to disappoint the fans who'd traveled to see him, even when he was in severe pain.

In a chat with CBS Sports, fellow wrestler Jake 'The Snake' Roberts recalled, "Toward the end, he probably shouldn't have been out there, but he was so amazing to see. He still put butts in seats. He carried himself well even though he couldn't walk fast. Him walking slow just made him look that much bigger." Hacksaw Jim Duggan concurred, adding, "Even towards the end, when he wasn't physically able to do too much, he would still get to the ring and let his tag team partner do most of the work, but at least let the fans get a look at André in the ring."

There seems to be some confusion over whether André the Giant officially wed Jean Christensen, the mother of his only child, back in the 1970s. According to Herald Net, they didn't register their marriage in the United States, but they did so in Canada. Whether they were legally tied together or not, their relationship sadly didn't last the distance.

In fact, Christensen, who met the Frenchmen while working as a seamstress in the wrestling world, and André separated shortly after they became parents. And daughter Robin Christensen-Roussimoff suspected her father's world was to blame. "There were too many other people surrounding him," she said, per Herald Net. "It was a common law marriage, they were together forever until she had me." 

Although Christensen-Roussimoff and André barely saw each other in the years up to the wrestler's death, the former was still able to pay her late ex a compliment, even if it was a backhanded one. Per Herald Net, she said, "He was a huge man, I was making his clothes. It was the only time he looked good."

André the Giant was once told that he'd be lucky to live to the age of 40 after being diagnosed with the pituitary gland disorder known as acromegaly. The wrestler did, in fact, make it to 46. But his untimely death still saddened the millions of wrestling and "The Princess Bride" fans across the world.

André's body was discovered in a Parisian hotel room in January 1993 by his chauffeur. Even more tragically, the Frenchman had only been in the capital to attend the funeral of his father, Boris Roussimoff. The cause of death was congestive heart failure. "He was lying in his bed when they found him," friend Frenchie Bernard told the Los Angeles Times. "He just went to sleep and never woke up."

Although his family initially planned to bury André next to his dad, they later learned of his wish to be cremated. His body was subsequently flown to America where his ashes were scattered at his North Carolina ranch. His daughter, Robin Christensen-Roussimoff, was later named as the sole beneficiary of his estate.