Wrestler Maurice Tillet was stricken with acromegaly that caused his hands, feet, and facial features to swell to enormous proportions — and is rumored to have inspired Shrek.
Maurice Tillet was perhaps better known by his stage name , the “ Gallic Angel . ” A Russian - birth French professional wrestler , Tillet delight a relatively successful career during his lifetime , having won two heavyweight title . For a time , during the heyday of his career in the forties , he was considered a major box office draw , but of course that success could not last forever .
As the decades wore on , Maurice Tillet ’s career and stardom began to blow over . He die in relative abstruseness in 1954 , and in more vernacular fate , that would in all probability be the end of the story . For someone who was sometimes unkindly referred to as the “ Ugliest Man in the earth , ” though , his account found new life in a strange , far-off position : the world ofShrek .
Wikimedia CommonsMaurice Tillet , the wrestler make out as the “ French Angel , ” in 1953 . His appearance is enounce to have inspire Shrek , the cartoon ogre .
Wikimedia CommonsMaurice Tillet, the wrestler known as the “French Angel,” in 1953. His appearance is said to have inspired Shrek, the cartoon ogre.
When the world ’s most loveable fiend collapse onto the view in 2001 , some people immediately drew comparisons to Maurice Tillet . The connexion has never been affirm , of course .
This is the unknown but rightful story of Maurice Tillet , the mid-20th - one C wrestler with acromegaly who may have been immortalise thanks toShrek .
Maurice Tillet’s Early Life And The Onset Of His Acromegaly
Born on October 23 , 1903 , to Gallic parent in the Ural Mountains of what is today Russia , Maurice Tillet earned the nickname “ Angel ” when he was a child due to his angelical appearance . His Father-God died when he was very young , leaving his mother , a instructor , to upraise him on her own . When the Russian Revolution upended the country in 1917 , Tillet ’s female parent made the decision to move from the Ural Mountains to Reims , France .
The move demonstrate to be good for the two . His mother receive work teaching spoken language at a local miss ’s college , and Maurice alike learned to speak multiple terminology .
Then , when Tillet was 17 , he began noticing a gibbousness in his feet , mitt , and head word , which seemed to have no real root origin . A subsequent visit to the medico revealed that he ’d developed acromegaly , a uncommon condition in which the pituitary gland secretes too much HGH , or human growth hormone . The effect is often enlarged extremity , eternal sleep apnea , and even a complete change in one ’s strong-arm appearing — which is exactly what happened to young Maurice Tillet , according toTIME .
Public DomainA 1940 portrait of Maurice Tillet.
Public DomainA 1940 portraiture of Maurice Tillet .
Despite the growing fear that he ’d never be successful due to his appearance , Tillet successfully obtained a grade in law from the University of Toulouse , but made the unexpected conclusion not to practice . Instead , he entered the French Navy , becoming an engineer and serve honorably for five years .
After his time in the military , Tillet experimented with different careers , including acting in some early French films . He had also been , in his early years , been an all - star rugby histrion — and even once receive the distinction of shaking the manus of King George V.
Wikimedia CommonsMaurice Tillet the “French Angel” wrestling against Lou Thesz in 1940.
It was in 1937 , however , when Tillet ’s life would convert once more and set off in a raw direction . Lithuanian light - heavyweight friend Karl Pojello took notice of Tillet — in part due to his unequaled appearing — and believed he could shape Tillet into a wrestling sensation .
The two began training together , and by 1939 , Tillet was ready to make his unveiling on the American rassling scene .
The French Angel’s Unstoppable Reign In The Ring
If it were up to Maurice Tillet , he would have in all probability remained in his dear rural area of France . However , World War II forced both him and Pojello to get out Europe and make for the United States in 1939 . While the spot may not have been ideal , it at long last proved to be good for Tillet ’s life history .
Wikimedia CommonsMaurice Tillet the “ French Angel ” wrestling against Lou Thesz in 1940 .
In 1940 , Tillet caught the eye of Boston - base promoter Paul Bowser . Though largely bury today , Bowser was in effect the Vince McMahon of his sentence , eventually earning the posthumous cognomen “ The Brain ” in 2006 after a campaign by devoted wrestling rooter brought his accomplishments to get down .
PicrylMaurice Tillet wrestled as the “French Angel” throughout the 1940s.
Bowser recognized the potential in the young Tillet and start book him in a serial publication of bouts where he was listed as the “ main event . ” For 19 consecutive calendar month , Tillet — under the name “ The Gallic backer ” — was unstoppable , reset the AWA World Heavyweight Champion title in May 1940 — a title which he held for more than two years . In 1942 , he also snagged the World Heavyweight Championship in Montreal , Canada .
PicrylMaurice Tillet wrestled as the “ French saint ” throughout the forties .
But by the time he ’d scored his second World Heavyweight Championship rubric , Maurice Tillet — who was being bill as “ The Ugliest Man in Wrestling ” — several “ Angel ” emulator had commence cropping up , thin his brand .
All That’s Interesting CollageAlthough no one at Dreamworks has ever confirmed or denied it, rumors claim that Maurice Tillet inspired the look of Shrek.
What ’s more , Tillet ’s wellness had get down to bomb him . By 1945 , he could no longer be considered “ unstoppable , ” and it was clear that his wrestling life history was on borrowed clip .
Still , he held on for closely a decade longer . He at long last had his final match on Valentine ’s Day , 1953 , when he face off against the English wrestler Bartolomeo “ Bert ” Assirati and lost .
One year later , in September 1954 , Maurice Tillet was inform of the death of his near friend and former trainer , Karl Pojello . The news came as such a shock to Tillet — and his health had go down so greatly — that he suffered a fatal heart attack .
Wikimedia CommonsMaurice Tillet doing a radio broadcast in Montreal in 1940.
The two men were lay to rest together at the Lithuanian National Cemetery in Justice , Illinois beneath a gravestone that read : “ friend Whom Even Death Could n’t Part . ”
Was Maurice Tillet Actually “The Real-Life Shrek?”
All That ’s Interesting CollageAlthough no one at Dreamworks has ever confirm or deny it , rumour exact that Maurice Tillet invigorate the look of Shrek .
That would have in all probability been the ending of Maurice Tillet ’s fib had it not been forShrek . In 2001 , the kind - hearted ogre vocalize bySaturday Night Livealum Mike Myers hit the giving screen , and eagle - eyed fans straightaway comment the similarities between the animated case and the Ugliest Man in Wrestling .
The motion-picture show ’s producers have neither confirmed nor deny the divine guidance , but there ’s plenty of photographic evidence to advise that Tillet was likely “ the real - life Shrek , ” and the theory has only grow in popularity ever since the picture show ’s sacking .
Wikimedia CommonsMaurice Tillet doing a radio programme in Montreal in 1940 .
There ’s also the fact that Maurice Tillet was often judge due to his appearance , with the great unwashed widely believing the relatively genial - hearted man was actually a “ devil . ” Oddly enough , that chronicle is not all that different from Shrek ’s , though perhaps that ’s just conjunction .
Either room , Maurice Tillet ’s widely - overlooked impact on American sports and civilisation can not be abnegate to this day .
Now that you ’ve read all about Maurice Tillet and his potential ties to Shrek , record all aboutJuana Barraza , a notable luchadora who was later found guilty of off sure-enough lady . Then , read all aboutRocky Aoki , a famed Japanese matman who founded Benihana .
