André René Roussimoff (19 May 1946 – 28 January 1993) was born in Coulommiers, Seine-et-Marne. He was a French professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name André the Giant. Dubbed "the Eighth Wonder of the World", Roussimoff was known for his great size, which was a result of gigantism caused by excess growth hormones.

His childhood nickname was Dédé. At birth, André weighed 13 pounds (6 kg); as a child, he displayed symptoms of gigantism. Roussimoff was an average student, though good at mathematics. When he was 14, Rousimoff decided against further schooling and joined the workforce, believing what he learned was sufficient for a career as a farmhand. Roussimoff spent years working on his father's farm in Molien, where, according to his brother Jacques, he could perform the work of three men. He also completed an apprenticeship in woodworking, and next worked in a factory that manufactured engines for hay balers.

At the age of 18, Roussimoff moved to Paris and was taught professional wrestling by a local promoter, Robert Lageat, who recognized the earning potential of Roussimoff's size. He trained at night and worked as a mover during the day to pay living expenses. Roussimoff was billed as "Géant Ferré", a name based on the Picardian folk hero Grand Ferré, and began wrestling in Paris and nearby areas. Canadian promoter and wrestler Frank Valois met Roussimoff in 1966, years later to become his business manager and adviser.

He made his Japanese debut for the International Wrestling Enterprise in 1970, billed as "Monster Roussimoff". During his time in Japan, doctors first informed Roussimoff that he suffered from acromegaly. Roussimoff next moved to Montreal, Canada in 1971, where he became an immediate success, regularly selling out the Montreal Forum.

In 1973, Vincent J. McMahon, founder of the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), suggested several changes to Roussimoff's booking and presentation. He felt Roussimoff should be portrayed as a large, immovable monster, and to enhance the perception of his size, McMahon discouraged Roussimoff from performing maneuvers such as dropkicks (although he was capable of performing such agile maneuvers before his health deteriorated in later life). He also began billing Roussimoff as "André The Giant" and set up a travel-intensive schedule, lending him to wrestling associations around the world, to keep him from becoming overexposed in any area. Promoters had to guarantee Roussimoff a certain amount of money as well as pay McMahon's WWF booking fee.

On 24 March 1973, Roussimoff debuted in the World Wide Wrestling Federation as a fan favorite, defeating Frank Valois and Bull Pometti in a handicap match in Philadelphia. Two days later he made his debut in New York's Madison Square Garden, defeating Buddy Wolfe.

Roussimoff was one of professional wrestling's most beloved babyfaces throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. As such, Gorilla Monsoon often stated that Roussimoff had not been defeated in 15 years by pinfall or submission prior to WrestleMania III. He had lost matches outside of the WWF on rare occasions.

In 1980, he feuded with Hulk Hogan, when, unlike their more famous matches in the late 1980s, Hogan was the villain and Roussimoff was the hero, wrestling him at Shea Stadium's third Showdown at Shea event and in Pennsylvania, where after Roussimoff pinned Hogan to win the match, Hogan bodyslammed him much like their legendary WrestleMania III match in 1987.

In 1982, Vincent J. McMahon sold the World Wide Wrestling Federation to his son, Vince McMahon. As McMahon began to expand his newly acquired promotion to the national level, he required his wrestlers to appear exclusively for him. McMahon signed Roussimoff to these terms in 1984, although he still allowed him to work in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).

Roussimoff feuded with Big John Studd over which of the two men was the "true giant" of wrestling. Throughout the early to mid-1980s, Roussimoff and Studd fought all over the world, battling to try to determine who the real giant of wrestling was. In 1984, Studd took the feud to a new level when he and partner Ken Patera knocked out Roussimoff during a televised tag-team match and proceeded to cut off his hair. After gaining revenge on Patera, Roussimoff met Studd in a "body slam challenge" at the first WrestleMania, held 31 March 1985, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Roussimoff slammed Studd to win the match and collect the $15,000 prize, then proceeded to throw cash to the fans before having the bag taken from him by Studd's manager, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. Roussimoff would rough up Studd in their matches because he didn't like how Studd steps over the top rope entering the ring. Roussimoff thought that having one giant around was enough.

At WrestleMania 2 on 7 April 1986, Roussimoff continued to display his dominance by winning a twenty-man battle royal which featured top National Football League stars and wrestlers. During this match Roussimoff instructed Bret Hart & his tag team partner Jim Neidhart to keep the NFL players away from him. So the Hart Foundation worked most of the match with Andre doing just that. The three men were also the last ones in the ring. Roussimoff eliminated Jim & then Hart to win the contest.

Around this time, Roussimoff requested a leave of absence to tend to his health, since the effects from his acromegaly were beginning to take their toll, as well as to tour Japan. He had also been cast in the film The Princess Bride. To explain his absence, a storyline was developed in which Heenan—suggesting that Roussimoff was secretly afraid of Studd and Bundy, whom Heenan bragged were unbeatable—challenged Roussimoff and a partner of his choosing to wrestle Studd and Bundy in a televised tag-team match. When Roussimoff failed to show, WWF president Jack Tunney indefinitely suspended him. Later in the summer of 1986, upon Roussimoff's return to the United States, he began wearing a mask and competing as the "Giant Machine" in a stable known as the Machines. Big Machine (Blackjack Mulligan) and Super Machine (Bill Eadie) were the other members. "The Machines" angle was designed to put him in a lighter tag-team role. It was originally just Roussimoff & Eadie, but due to the severity of Roussimoff's back injuries at the time, Mulligan was brought in to reduce André's wrestling role even further.

Roussimoff agreed to turn heel in early 1987 to be the counter to the biggest "babyface" in professional wrestling at that time, Hulk Hogan. On an edition of Piper's Pit in 1987, Hogan was presented a trophy for being the WWF World Heavyweight Champion for three years; Roussimoff came out to congratulate him, shaking Hogan's hand with a strong grip, which surprised the Hulkster. On the following week's Piper's Pit, Roussimoff was presented a slightly smaller trophy for being "the only undefeated wrestler in wrestling history." Although he had suffered a handful of countout and disqualification losses in WWF, he had never been pinned or forced to submit in a WWF ring. Hogan came out to congratulate him and ended up being the focal point of the interview. Apparently annoyed, Roussimoff walked out in the midst of Hogan's speech. A discussion between Roussimoff and Hogan was scheduled, and on a Piper's Pit that aired 7 February 1987, the two met. Hogan was introduced first, followed by Roussimoff, who was led by longtime rival Bobby Heenan.

Speaking on behalf of his new protégé, Heenan accused Hogan of being Roussimoff's friend only so he would not have to defend his title against him. Hogan tried to reason with Roussimoff, but his pleas were ignored as he challenged Hogan to a match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania III. Hogan was still seemingly in disbelief as to what Roussimoff was doing, prompting Heenan to say "You can't believe it? Maybe you'll believe this, Hogan" before Roussimoff ripped off the T-shirt and crucifix from Hogan, with the crucifix scratching Hogan's chest, causing him to bleed.

At WrestleMania III, he was billed at 520 lb (236 kg),[6] and the stress of such immense weight on his bones and joints resulted in constant pain. After recent back surgery, he was also wearing a brace underneath his wrestling singlet. In front of a record crowd, Hogan won the match after body-slamming Roussimoff (later dubbed "the bodyslam heard around the world"), followed by Hogan's running leg drop finisher. Years later, Hogan claimed that Roussimoff was so heavy, he felt more like 320 kg (700 lb), and that he tore his latissimus dorsi muscle when slamming him.

Another myth about the match is that no one, not even WWF owner Vince McMahon, knew until the day of the event whether Roussimoff would lose the match. In reality, he agreed to lose the match sometime before, mostly for health reasons. Contrary to popular belief, it was not the first time that Hogan had successfully body-slammed him in a WWF match. A then-heel Hogan had slammed a then-face Roussimoff following their match at the Showdown at Shea on 9 August 1980, though Roussimoff was somewhat lighter (around 210 kg (470 lb)) and more athletic at the time (Hogan also slammed him in a match in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, a month later).

In his next big storyline, the "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase failed to persuade Hogan to sell him the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. After failing to defeat Hogan in a subsequent series of matches, DiBiase turned to Roussimoff to win it for him. Acting as his hired gun, Roussimoff won the WWF World Heavyweight Championship from Hogan (his first singles title) in a match where it was later revealed that appointed referee Dave Hebner was "detained backstage", and a replacement (was revealed to have been his evil twin brother, Earl Hebner), made a three count on Hogan while his shoulders were off the mat.

After winning, Roussimoff "sold" the title to DiBiase; the transaction was declared invalid by then-WWF president Jack Tunney and the title was declared vacant. This was shown on WWF's NBC program The Main Event. At WrestleMania IV, Roussimoff and Hulk Hogan fought to a double disqualification in a WWF title tournament match (with the idea in the storyline saying that Roussimoff was again working on DiBiase's behalf in giving DiBiase a clearer path in the tournament). Afterward, Roussimoff and Hogan's feud died down after a steel cage match held at WrestleFest on 31 July 1988, in Milwaukee. Hogan was the winner.

Next Roussimoff and DiBiase (billed as The Mega Bucks) faced Hogan and WWF World Heavyweight Champion "Macho Man" Randy Savage (known as The Mega Powers) in a storyline. Followed by feuds with Jim Duggan, Jake "The Snake" Roberts & The Ultimate Warrior.

In late 1989, Roussimoff was joined with fellow Heenan Family member Haku to form a new tag team called the Colossal Connection. His last singles match was a loss to The Ultimate Warrior in 20 seconds at a house show in Cape Girardeau, Missouri on 11 December 1989. The Colossal Connection immediately targeted WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition. At a television taping on 13 December 1989, the Colossal Connection defeated Demolition to win the titles. Roussimoff and Haku successfully defended their title, mostly against Demolition, until WrestleMania VI on 1 April 1990, when Demolition took advantage of a mistimed move by the champions to regain the belts. After the match, a furious Heenan blamed Roussimoff for the title loss and after shouting at him, slapped him in the face; an angry Roussimoff responded with a slap of his own that sent Heenan staggering from the ring. Roussimoff also caught Haku's kick attempt, sending him reeling from the ring as well, prompting support for Roussimoff and turning him face for the first time since 1987. Due to his ongoing health issues, Roussimoff was not able to wrestle at the time of Wrestlemania VI and Haku actually wrestled the entire match against Demolition without tagging him in.

On weekend television shows following WrestleMania VI, Bobby Heenan vowed to spit in Roussimoff's face when he came crawling back to the Heenan Family. He wrestled one more time with Haku, teaming up to face Demolition on a house show in Honolulu on 10 April, Roussimoff was knocked out of the ring and The Colossal Connection lost via count-out. After the match, Roussimoff and Haku would fight each other, marking the end of the team.

Roussimoff finally returned to action on 26 April 1991, in a six-man tag-team matchup when he teamed with The Rockers in a winning effort against Mr. Fuji and The Orient Express at a house show in Belfast, Northern Ireland. On 11 May 1991 he participated in a 17-man battle-royal at a house show in Detroit, which was won by Kerry Von Erich. This was Andre's final WWF match, although he was involved in several subsequent storylines.

Outside of wrestling, Roussimoff is best known for appearing as Fezzik, the giant in the 1987 film The Princess Bride. He had a few other movie/television appearances over the years. One was with his friend Arnold Schwarzenegger in an uncredited appearance in the 1984 film Conan the Destroyer as Dagoth, the resurrected horned giant god who is killed by Conan. Roussimoff was the inspiration for the 1998 film My Giant, written by his friend Billy Crystal, whom he had met during the filming of The Princess Bride.

Aside from his wrestling, legendary stories have been told about Roussimoff's drinking & about his moodiness. There are multiple tales of him drinking well over 100 beers in one sitting. Roussimoff was also very particular with whom he liked. And if he didn't like you, hopefully you weren't going to be in the ring with him. If Roussimoff wanted to rough you up in the ring, well then you got roughed up. It's said that he was only afraid of two men during his career (Harley Race & Haku).

Roussimoff died at age 46 of congestive heart failure and apparent heart attack in his sleep, likely associated with his untreated acromegaly, at a Paris hotel on the morning of Thursday 28 January 1993. In 1993, when the then-World Wrestling Federation created the WWF Hall Of Fame, André the Giant was the inaugural and sole inductee.

This skin was made for me by Yondee.