Andre the Giant was truly a one of a kind performer. Although his monolithic proportions were sometimes over-exagerated by promoters who billed him as standing 7'4, and later, 7'5, he was without a doubt the overall largest professional athlete ever to compete in any sport. Although he passed away on Jan. 29,1993, his legacy and influence will be felt in this sport forever.

He was born Andre Rousimoff in a small farming community in France on May 19, 1946. Although born of "normal" sized parents, he reportedly reached 6`3 and weighed 200 lbs. by the time he was twelve.

As a youth, he worked out in a gym that was frequented by wrestlers, and eventually made his way into the sport a few years later at a very young age. The slender but well muscled seven-footer made a big splash (no pun) throughout Europe, and especially in "French" Canada (Montreal, Quebec, etc.) where he wrestled as Jean Ferre'. It was as Jean Ferre' that he first made a name for himself throughout Canada. Although he was inexperienced and raw, it didn't take a seasoned pro to spot the potential in the seven-footer. Soon after his rookie year, the young giant (who soon changed his name to reflect his immense stature) steadily made his way through virtually every regional promotion in the country, working in major cities and small towns alike. After a short time paying his dues on the undercard, Andre the Giant -- the biggest wrestler, or athlete, the world had ever seen -- quickly became the largest box-office attraction in the world of professional wrestling.

Andre also became a mainstream celebrity throughout the seventies, the eighties and up until his death in the early nineties.  Already the most famous wrestler in the world, his first big Hollywood break came when he was perfectly cast as "Bigfoot" for 2 highly rated episodes of The Six Million-Dollar Man in 1976. He also landed a starring role in the very successful film The Princess Bride, in which he, along with the film, was given rave reviews. In what was a accomplishment at the time, Andre was featured in Sports Illustrated. Fittingly, Andre's S.I. profile was the largest featured article up to that point in time for the publication. And, of course, in 1987 he and Hulk Hogan performed in front of 93,000+ fans (plus millions more watching on PPV) at Wrestlemania III, the largest card ever held in the United States.

Despite his never-ending schedule of appearances (often within several different promotions in a short span of time) Andre did manage to collect a few titles during his career. We won the IWA Tag Team titles w/Michael Nador in 1970, the Austral-Asian Tag Team title w/ Ron Miller in Australia, to name a couple. He also teamed with "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes to win 2 championships -- the N.W.A. US (Tri-State) Tag Team title in New Orleans, and the Florida Tag Team title on February 15, 1981. Of course there was the WWF title fiasco, in which Andre defeated Hogan after one of two twin referees made an illegal count on the Hulk. Andre then "sold" the WWF World title belt to "The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase, meaning his "reign" lasted a matter of minutes. Several years later, he also had a 4-month long WWF World Tag team title reign in 1989 w/Haku (Meng). This would end up being the last title Andre would hold, and his career soon ended forever. He died soon after his last public appearance, which was at the celebration for 20 years of NWA/WCW wrestling on TBS.  Despite his rapidly deteriorating health at the time of his death, the giant was said to have been gearing up for another run with the WWF when he passed away.

Andre the Giant was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1993.