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The More You Know

Samuel Beckett Used to Drive André the Giant to School, All They Talked About was Cricket

by James Plafke | 9:16 am, July 11th, 2011

We don’t normally post many “today I learned” posts, but this one is just too awesome. Anyone who has ever watched wrestling back in the good ol’ days or has seen The Princess Bride knows that André the Giant was a massive, humongous — ahem, giant — guy. The famous Hulk Hogan was billed as 6 feet 7 inches tall, and everyone should remember this iconic moment between he and André, in which André made a guy who billed as the average height of an NBA player look tiny. When André was 12, he was already over 6 feet tall and weighed 240 pounds. He was too big to fit on the local school bus and his family didn’t have the money to buy a car that could deal with his weight if it drove him to and from school.

Samuel Beckett, Nobel Prize winner (literature) and esteemed playwright, probably most noted for Waiting for Godot, bought some land in 1953 near a hamlet around forty miles northeast of Paris and built a cottage for himself with the help of some locals. One of the locals that helped him build the cottage was a Bulgarian-born farmer named Boris Rousimoff, who Beckett befriended and would sometimes play cards with. As you might’ve been able to guess, Rousimoff’s son was André the Giant, and when Beckett found out that Rousimoff was having trouble getting his son to school, Beckett offered to drive André to school in his truck — a vehicle that could fit André — to repay Rousimoff for helping to build Beckett’s cottage. Adorably, when André recounted the drives with Beckett, he revealed they rarely talked about anything other than cricket.

(Historical Meet-Ups via reddit)

  • Grumpiest

    Just had to say ‘adorably’?   Neat story tho.

  • Anonymous

    This one is about the weirdest connection I’ve ever heard.

  • Kennedy Blair

    didn’t know the french enjoyed cricket?

  • Mcsquare

    Neither one of these guys is French.
    Beckett was born in Ireland.

  • nmellamphy

    Beckett would have been crankily impressed by “between he and André”.

  • Joe Stafford

    This is a charming story, and should remind everyone that no matter where you are, life brings magic.  After all, Beckett was ‘out in the sticks” and was not a famous person to these folks that lived in his adopted community.  Be happy where you are!, fun things can happen.

  • http://twitter.com/christineestima Christine Estima

    holy shit this is cool.

  • Brandy G

    Actually, Andre the Giant was born (and also died) in France.  He lived in Montreal (Quebec, Canada) for a while as an adult.  I think that qualifies as pretty fucking French.

  • Star Jonestown

    One day, Andre was running late and this inspired WAITING FOR GODOT.  

    And… Scene.   

  • http://www.facebook.com/kerielliscahill Keri Ellis Cahill

    Beckett lived in France for quite a while. I know bc I worked at a theatre company that was run by one of his close friends and he would send manuscripts and letters etc to my boss and they were sent from France. FYI.

  • Lilyrobertfoley

    Also… the French seem to think Beckett is a “French” writer, but that’s probably because he wrote in French.

  • Shanegough21

    I very much doubt either of them was interested in cricket.

  • Thegutenbergpress

     Beckett spent most of his adult life in France. He wrote most of his work in French, then translated it back to English himself. Ireland gave him the willies, to put it very mildly, and he became horrendously ill whenever he had to go back there. In fact, he chose to stay in France during the war and worked for the French Resistance.

  • Anonymous

    Wittgenstein and Hitler both went to the same school at the same time and were in the same class for at least one subject.

  • Blazinboard

    Yeah, but he was Bulgarian. So you’re both right.

  • Haveathingforthegiant

     I bet you they talked about the proper technique to come off the ropes as well.


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