André René Roussimoff was born on 19 May 1946. He was the son of Boris Roussimoff and Mariann Roussimoff Stoeff, two immigrants. His father was Bulgarian and his mother was Polish. His early life was in Coulommiers, Seine-et-Marne.
Andre was the third of five children. He had two older siblings and two younger ones. He was nicknamed Dede in childhood, and he weighed 6kg at birth. This was the first symptom of gigantism he displayed. His early childhood had him as the tallest among his peers, and it was noted that he was “a good head taller than other kids”, with very long hands.
Later on, in a television interview in the 1970s, Andre talked about his mother being 5 feet 2 inches tall and his father at 6 feet 2 inches tall. He also shared that his father wasn’t surprised as his grandfather was 7 feet 8 inches tall. When Andre turned 12, He was already 6 feet 3 inches tall.
Despite Andre’s interest and brilliance in maths, he was an average student. At 14, the age of compulsory education in France at the time, he finished school and joined the workforce as a farm labourer.
He worked for years on his father’s farm, and according to his brother, Jacques, he could perform the work of three. At 18, Andre moved to Paris and learnt professional wrestling under Robert Lageat, who saw his size as potential. He worked during the day as a mover to pay bills, and all his training was at night.
Andre was called the “Géant Ferré”, after the Picardian folk hero Grand Ferré. He began wrestling in Paris and nearby areas until he met Frank Valois, a Canadian wrestler who became his business manager and adviser in 1966. This was the start of his fame.
The professional wrestling society adored Andre for his baby face. He made significant strides in the wrestling and movie scene. In the 1974 Guinness Book of World Records, he was the highest-paid wrestler in history. He had a daughter, Robin Christensen, who he was absent from for most of her life.
At age 46 in 1993, Andre died of congestive heart failure in his sleep.
