At 7 foot 4 and over 500 pounds, how much alcohol could Andre the Giant drink in one
sitting?
Here's a look into the private life of wrestling's "eighth wonder of the world."
André René Roussimoff, who would eventually come to be known worldwide as Andre the Giant,
was born in rural France in 1946.
When he was young, it wasn't obvious that he would grow to such a remarkable size.
However, when he first went to school, he discovered he was significantly larger than
his classmates.
Andre didn't inherit his size from his parents: his mother was only 5 foot 2 and his father
was 6 foot 2.
It apparently didn't come from nowhere, though: according to family stories, Andre's grandfather
was four inches taller than the Giant would be at his peak, standing at an incredible
7 feet and 8 inches.
"It's not my fault being the biggest and the strongest.
I don't even exercise."
When Andre started to grow even bigger and stronger, the adults in his life tried to
give him advice and tell him what path to take.
Regardless, the young Andre was determined to make his own decisions.
He became interested in sports and was highly athletic as a child: he played soccer and
rugby, and he trained as a boxer.
Of course, his big break would come in the wrestling ring.
Andre the Giant's life has become so mythologized that it can be difficult to determine historical
fact from fiction.
One of the most popular stories about Andre was that, as a child, he got regular rides
to school by Samuel Beckett, the famous playwright behind "Waiting for Godot."
Cary Elwes, who was Andre's costar in "The Princess Bride," relayed a story during the
commentary track for the special features section of the film that Andre himself had
told him.
As the story goes, when the famous wrestler was a child, he had grown too big to fit on
the school bus and had to be driven to school by car instead.
His parents couldn't afford a vehicle, but his father, who was working as a handyman
at the time, happened to mention it to a neighbor whose home he was working on — Samuel Beckett.
Beckett had a car that could fit Andre, so he became his regular ride to school.
Since then, members of Andre's family have set the record straight about their relationship
with the playwright.
It's likely that Andre and Elwes embellished the story: the wrestler's brother explained
that there was never a school bus in their tiny hometown, so all the students had to
walk.
Beckett, who was indeed their neighbor, had a truck that he would use to give all the
neighborhood children rides to and from school — including Andre.
Andre left school as soon as he was able — at the age of 14.
He didn't want to spend his life living on the family farm — he wanted to "be somebody."
His father didn't try to stop him from leaving, but he assumed that his son would come back
home in a matter of days.
Before departing, Andre told his parents,
"If I make some money you'll see me again, but if I don't make any money, you'll never
see me again."
When he finally returned home five years later, he was already massively successful.
His parents had seen him on TV, but they didn't recognize the famous Andre the Giant as their
son.
His mother didn't even recognize him in person and slammed the door shut when he tried to
come inside.
Andre remembered,
"It took her almost 10 minutes to open the door again."
His parents let him in, but they still didn't realize who he was.
It wasn't until he spoke to them in Polish — the language they had used in the house
when he was a child — that they realized that their son had finally come home.
Until the turn of the millennium, all French men over the age of 18 were required to spend
time serving in the military.
While visiting his family in 1965, Andre was sent a draft notice.
As the story goes, a surgeon responsible for performing physical examinations to determine
who was fit to serve spotted Andre and another man walking to the exam together.
From a distance, he thought that Andre was of average height, and the other man was extremely
short.
The surgeon commented that there was no way such a small man would be allowed to join
the army, but when the two got closer, he realized his mistake.
As the surgeon had predicted, Andre was declared "unfit for service" because the shoes and
cots the army provided were too small for him.
It was also believed that he would be too tall to fight in trenches.
Andre's size alone had disqualified him from military service, but even if the army had
been able to provide him with a larger uniform, it's possible he still would have been exempt.
His tremendous size and strength helped to make him a beloved star internationally, but
they were the result of a serious medical condition.
On a wrestling tour in Japan — where he was billed as Monster Roussimoff — Andre
had a medical exam in which the doctor diagnosed him with the glandular disorder acromegaly,
sometimes referred to as "gigantism."
This rare condition causes the pituitary gland to create too much growth hormone: in addition
to growing to a larger-than-average size, acromegaly can cause chronic joint pain and
lead to conditions like heart disease.
Andre never told his family about the diagnosis and refused treatment even when his condition
became life-threatening.
His close friend Jackie McAuley recalled the Giant saying,
"If this is the size that God wanted me to be, I'm going to be this size."
Unfortunately, it was complications from the disorder that caused the heart attack that
led to Andre's death at the age of 46 in 1993.
According to wrestling promoter Arnold Skaaland, however, Andre had already come to terms with
his own mortality.
"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."
Andre's size brought him a lot of opportunities, but many aspects of life are designed with
average-sized individuals in mind.
Some standard objects were simply too small for him to use comfortably.
During an interview with David Letterman, Andre described how difficult it was to stay
in a hotel during his time in Japan because he couldn't fit through the doors.
In a rare interview from the 1970s, he discussed a trip to Malaysia, during which he struggled
to get a cab to stop for him.
When one finally stopped, the driver got out to check that all the tires were still inflated
once he realized his passenger's size.
Andre liked to joke about being unable to fit inside vehicles, and he often said that
he needed two cars to get anywhere.
Wrestler Jake "The Snake" Roberts, who served as Andre's driver before stepping into the
ring himself, would pick him up in a large van with a bean bag chair in the back.
Arnold Skaaland described how Andre had once told him that he very much wanted to go see
a Broadway play.
But when Skaaland offered to get them tickets to see a show together, Andre refused, saying,
"I can't fit in the seats...
If I could find a seat I'd be blocking everybody."
Celebrities in general get a lot of attention when they go out in public, but Andre's distinctive
frame made him especially recognizable.
As such, he was constantly mobbed by fans.
When on tour in Japan, Andre would playfully chase anyone he noticed trying to take his
picture.
When he caught them, he would sometimes break their camera — although his friend Ted DiBiase
suspected that the wrestler paid them for the damage.
In an interview with David Letterman, Andre joked that when people saw him coming into
a bar, they were too intimidated to stay.
When they did stick around, they were usually speechless.
"What do they say when they see a man your size?
Or when they see you?"
"They couldn't believe it.
They just look at me."
Andre loved his fans, but the constant attention he received made him feel uncomfortable and
self-conscious.
He frequented restaurants and hotels where the staff was respectful and didn't allow
random people to bother him.
His close friend and handler, Tim White, recalled that Andre had once wished they could switch
lives for a week so he could experience the life of someone of average stature.
One of the most legendary parts of Andre the Giant's private life was how much alcohol
he could drink.
Some claimed that he was able to down 100 bottles of beer in one sitting.
But since so many of his drinking companions would end up blacking out, there weren't many
witnesses.
His brother, Jacques Roussimoff, stated that despite Andre's chugging abilities, he was
typically the most sober of the bunch and often acted as the designated driver.
On one occasion when Andre was having dinner with a friend — no, no, not that Andre … When
Andre the Giant was having dinner with a friend, he instructed restaurant staff to bring him
a trash can full of beer and ice.
While the vessel he chose to drink out of that night was certainly unusual, the quantity
of beer he consumed wasn't out of the ordinary.
Jake "The Snake" Roberts once recalled picking up beer after a show and purchasing two cases
for Andre alone.
Roberts told CBS,
"He wasn't drunk.
That was pretty amazing to me."
In an interview with David Letterman, Andre confirmed that he had once drunk 117 beers
in a single night.
He also stated that he had since quit drinking — but only beer.
He would still enjoy two or three bottles of wine with dinner.
As a professional wrestler, Andre the Giant was always traveling.
He estimated that he was away from home almost 90% of the time — an average of 320 nights
a year.
Promoter Dory Funk told CBS that events with Andre sold out no matter where they were,
from New York City to Los Angeles.
He recalled that the WWE was willing to do anything to keep him in the ring.
When he asked Vince McMahon Sr. how much Andre should be paid, the WWE chairman responded,
"Just keep him happy."
Promoters often assigned drivers for Andre, but with shows around the world, he typically
had to fly.
On flights, he would frequently ask for two or three dinners, and he always traveled first
class because the seats in coach were too small for him.
Andre would always check in advance that the hotels he planned to stay in were able to
provide him with a king-size bed.
He said that a hotel owner once tried to charge him extra for his accommodations by saying,
"You're a big guy, you have to pay double."
Even though Andre was constantly on the road, he always stayed close with his friends — including
many that he had known since his childhood on the farm in rural France.
Jacques Rousimoff fondly remembered seeing his brother come back to town, saying,
"When we saw the car, we knew right away that 'the big one' was here, as we used to call
him."
The village had a population of less than 30 people, so it was always a special occasion
when Andre would return.
His old neighbors had continued living in the village while he had traveled the world
as a professional wrestler.
They would go to a local cafe and play cards for hours.
According to the owner of the cafe, when Andre and his friends played cards, he always paid
for everyone, regardless of whether he won or lost.
Although Andre the Giant was almost always on the road, he had a home in the United States
-– a ranch in Ellerbe, North Carolina.
His home was known as the AFJ Ranch, with the initials referring to Andre alongside
his friends Frenchy Bernard and Jackie McAuley.
Bernard and McAuley stayed on the ranch and cared for the animals while Andre was away.
McAuley told CBS,
"We had the plumber come by and raise the showerhead so that he would actually be able
to take a shower without it hitting the middle of his back, and over the years, we purchased
or had made two or three oversized chairs."
Andre kept several dogs and raised Texas longhorn cattle on the ranch.
The locals knew they were neighbors with a wrestling legend, but most people left him
alone so he could enjoy life away from his chaotic schedule in peace.
At home, Andre was known to enjoy eating at the local Dixie Burger, watching QVC, and
riding an ATV while being chased by his dogs.
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