Ellerby, NC. — Andre the Giant, a towering threat in the wrestling ring but a gentle giant on the movie screen, is being honored with a roadside marker in his beloved small town in North Carolina.
Officials plan to unveil the mark on Thursday in Ellerbe, North Carolina, a community of about 1,000 people where the wrestler born Andre René Roussimoff lived on a farm outside the city.
Andre reached 7 feet 4 (2.24 m) tall and weighed 520 pounds (236 kg) during Andre’s wrestling career. WWE In the seventies and eighties.
Roussimoff was a larger-than-life villain who was described as unbeatable until he faced him Hulk Hogan In the 1987 match at WrestleMania III that launched the once regional wrestling company into a national entertainment powerhouse.
Later that year, Roussimoff appeared On the movie As Giant Fezzik in The Princess Bride. Fezzik was the opponent’s tender muscle and needed rhymes to remember his instructions.
Roussimoff Born in France. But as he wandered the southern United States, he fell in love with the region, bought his ranch in North Carolina and raised cattle on his land about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of Charlotte.
He became an important part of the Ellerbe community. In 1990, he recorded television and radio ads against a nearby low-level radioactive waste dump. A pair of size 26 cowboy boots are kept in the museum.
Roussimoff died in 1993 at the age of 46 in France, where he was visiting for his father’s funeral. They performed a service for him there, but he was cremated and his ashes were scattered on his beloved farm.
The Richmond County sign at NC Highway 72 and NC Highway 220 simply says “Andre the Giant. 1946-1993. Actor and professional wrestler. Born Andre Roussimoff. Best known for his role in the 1987 film The Princess Bride. Lived nearby.”