ELLERBE, N.C.. – 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 unveiled the marker on 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 and 520 pounds 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, which propelled the company into a nationwide entertainment force.
Later that year, Roussimoff appeared in 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.
Although Roussimoff was born in France, he fell in love with the U.S. South while wrestling, acquiring his North Carolina ranch where he raised cattle about 60 miles east of Charlotte.
He became a critical part of the Ellerbe community, even taping TV and radio spots against a possible low-level radioactive landfill nearby. A pair of his size-26 cowboy boots are kept at a local museum.
Roussimoff died in 1993 at age 46 while visiting France for his father’s funeral. His ashes were spread at his ranch, the place he loved.
His friend, wrestler Vladimir Koloff, highlighted his friend's contributions to transforming wrestling into a major international business during the unveiling of the marker. The Richmond County marker simply states: “Andre The Giant. 1946-1993. Actor and professional wrestler. Known for role in The Princess Bride in 1987. Lived nearby.”
