The Princess Bride is one of those movies that nearly everybody loves. Few are willing to go on record to say The Princess Bride isn’t great. A large part of the reason for the love be the film’s absolutely perfect casting. Most of the stars in The Princess Bride were not household names before the film, and in fact, the biggest star, in every sense, Andre the Giant, was the one with the least acting experience. Today marks what would have been Andre’s 76th birthday, and his co-star Carey Elwes is remembering his massive friend at this special time.
Carey Elwes took to Twitter yesterday, just before Andre’s birthday, to remember his friend, who passed away in 1993. He posed in front of a classic poster promoting Andre’s wrestling and included some very nice words for his old friend.
Happy Birthday, Andre. Your heart was indeed bigger than everyone’s and it was filled with love. You may be gone but you will certainly never be forgotten. #AndreTheGiant 🙏❤️⚔️ pic.twitter.com/QmpQzfOPuUMay 18, 2022
Wrestling fans around the world already knew Andre the Giant, but his character in The Princess Bride endeared him to millions of people who never saw him perform in the ring. In that film, Andre played a man who was incredibly strong, but had no desire to fight. Based on the words of Carey Elwes here, the man himself was as easy to fall in love with as the character.
Based on the things that many have said about Andre the Giant, he truly was just one of the nicest people you could meet. Perhaps because he was so physically intimidating, Andre balanced that with a personality that was much more approachable. You’ll be hard pressed to find anybody with a negative thing to say about Andre. Those in the wrestling world loved him, Dwayne Johnson has talked about what Andre meant to him, and those that worked with him on screen did as well.
Andre was billed at over seven feet tall as a wrestler. He was born with an excessive amount of growth hormone, causing him to become incredibly big. In the man’s later years he was reportedly in constant pain due to the pressure that his size put on his body. Andre was known for imbibing massive amounts of alcohol as a way to manage his pain.
Andre died at the age of 46 due to congestive heart failure, which was likely exacerbated by his incredible size. His heart really was massive, but as Carey Elwes says here, it was filled with love, and the man clearly left a mark on his friends that will not be forgotten, even three decades later.
There is one final thing in this picture that is worthy of note, which is that it shows us that Carey Elwes himself is doing well. Elwes was recently bitten by a rattlesnake which resulted in him being hospitalized. Based on this picture, he’s recovering well.