Andre the Giant is truly a one of a kind performer. Standing 7`4 and weighing anywhere from 400-540 lbs., he was without a doubt the 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...
Andre The Giant was born Andre Rousimoff in a small farming community in France on May 19, 1946. It was obvious the young Andre was, to say the least, not like other children. He reached 6`3 and weighed 200 lbs. by the time he was 12. 
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 7-footer made a big splash (no punn) throughout Europe, and especially in "French" Canada (Montreal, Quebec, etc.) where he wrestled as Jean Ferre'.
Soon after his rookie year, Andre slowly made his way through virtually every regional promotion in the country and soon became the largest box-office attraction the sport has ever known...
Andre was the ultimate unbeatable equalizer for regional fan favorites, and fans always knew in the back of their mind's that if things ever looked too bleak for the "good guys", that Andre could always come in and straighten the territory out with 2 or 3 matches. When the top face had his hands too full with the local heels, Andre would be called in (to the delight of the fans) and Good would always prevail over Evil. The fans loved it, the wrestler(s) teaming with Andre loved it (sharing the considerable attention/spotlight that followed Andre) and the promoters loved it because a card featuring Andre The Giant always equalled a sold-out arena.
Andre was also a mainstream celebrity throughout the 1970's, 1980's, and until his death in the early 1990's. 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 was also on the undercard of the infamous Ali-Inoki closed-circuit event, easily defeated boxer Chuck Wepner -- which again exposed his overpowering size and persona to the mainstream public. He landed a starring role in the very successful film The Princess Bride, in which he, along with the film, was given rave reviews. Andre was the 1st wrestler ever to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated (which was, fittingly, the largest featured article up to that point in time for the publication) and 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.
Whatever Andre decided to do in his life, he always did it in a BIG way! Including indulging his love of good beer and fine food. Although it never affected his ring performance, it has been said that Andre would consume up to 7000 calories a day through drinking beer alone. True stories about the amount of food Andre could/did eat have turned into legends over the years.
Andre was often considered the "Uncrowned World Champion" during most of his career until his dubious and forgetable (had it not been so bizarre) WWF World Title "victory" over Hulk Hogan. His transient nature and the constant demand for him from all points of the globe never allowed Andre to stay in one territory for too long.
He did manage to collect a few title's during his career, though...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 w/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 defeat Hogan after one of 2 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. 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.
Most longtime fans will remember Andre not as the slow, bitter, old Giant he portrayed in his final years in wrestling...but rather the smiling, gentle, yet unbeatable and undefeated Andre that he was for over 15 years.
