04/23/26 12:34:00
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04/23 12:32 CDT Tiny town in North Carolina honors towering Andre The Giant
with roadside marker
Tiny town in North Carolina honors towering Andre The Giant with roadside marker
ELLERBE, N.C.. (AP) --- Andre The Giant, a towering menace in the wrestling
ring but a gentle giant on the movie screen, is being honored with a roadside
marker in his beloved adopted small town in North Carolina.
Officials plan to unveil the marker Thursday in Ellerbe, North Carolina, a
community of about 1,000 people where the wrestler born Andre Rene Roussimoff
lived on a ranch just outside town.
Roussimoff was billed at 7-foot-4 (2.24 meters) and 520 pounds (236 kilograms)
during his time wrestling for the WWE in the 1970s and 1980s.
A larger than life villain, Roussimoff was touted as unbeatable until he faced
Hulk Hogan in a match in 1987 at WrestleMania III that launched the once
regional wrestling company into a nationwide entertainment force.
Later that year, Roussimoff appeared on film as the giant Fezzik in "The
Princess Bride." Fezzik was the gentle-hearted muscle for the antagonist and
needed rhymes to remember his instructions.
Roussimoff was born in France. But as he wrestled around the U.S. South he fell
in love with the region, buying his North Carolina ranch and raising cattle on
his land about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of Charlotte.
He became a critical part of the Ellerbe community. In 1990, he taped TV and
radio spots against a possible low-level radioactive landfill nearby. A pair of
his size-26 cowboy boots are kept at a museum.
Roussimoff died in 1993 at age 46 in France where he was visiting for his
father's funeral. They had a service for him there, but his body was cremated
and his ashes spread at his beloved ranch.
The Richmond County marker at NC Highway 73 and Old NC Highway 220 simply says
"Andre The Giant. 1946-1993. Actor and professional wrestler. Was born Andre
Roussimoff. Known for role in The Princess Bride in 1987. Lived nearby."
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