Professional wrestler André the Giant was not just a beast in the ring but his achievements outside the sport have become the stuff of legend.
The 7ft 3in former WWF star and so-called "Eighth Wonder of the World" was one of the most iconic and instantly recognisable stars of the wrestling world. Born André Roussimoff, he weighed over 35 stone and was a formidable opponent to anyone who dared to stand opposite him.
But wrestling is all scripted, right? Well not so according to some who faced off against André, who claim he decided whether or not to lose the fight, as they had little hope of winning otherwise.
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When Hulk Hogan famously beat the giant in front of more than 90,000 fans at Wrestlemania 3, he later admitted he wasn't sure if he would be allowed to win.
Of the match, Hogan said: "For the first time in my career, I went to the ring and didn't know who was gonna win or lose."
And behind the scenes, the 70s and 80s megastar was no less larger than life.
With a colossal booze intake, he managed to capture some truly wild unofficial drinking records.
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Unfortunately, the 500-pound legend passed away in 1993, aged just 46, with some believing his extraordinary drinking habits contributed to his demise.
On what would have been André's 78th birthday the Daily Star has collated a selection of remarkable stories from those who knew him best.
André once drank 108 beers in 45 minutes
According to Hulk Hogan the big man downed more than 100 beers in less than an hour at the Delta Crown Lounge.
Hogan said: “I get a call. ‘Hey, boss, I’m at the Tampa airport. I’ve got a one-hour layover.’
"I was like OK, it’s 15 minutes or so from my mom’s house. So I drive over the airport and I met him at the Delta Crown Lounge.
"By the time we sat down, we had about 45 minutes before he had to walk to the next gate. He drank 108 12-ounce (350ml) beers.”
He once drank six bottles of wine before a match
Backstage WWE producer Gerald Brisco said André once asked him to get him six bottles of wine at a show.
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“There are a lot of crazy stories about André that sound fake but most are true, especially his drinking," Brisco said.
"André used to ask me to get him six bottles of Mateus wine and ice them down.
"He would drink those before we went to the ring and no one could tell. One night in Sarasota, André is traveling with us. So we pull over and get two cases of tall boys.
"By the time we get from Sarasota to the Tahitian Inn on Dale Mabry, the two cases were bone dry."
The $40,000 bar tab
Aside from wrestling, André also made a few appearances in films too, one of which was a cameo in cult classic The Princess Bride.
After the shooting of the film was over, André had reportedly racked up a $40,000 bar tab at his hotel and one of his co-stars, Cary Elwes, revealed another insane drinking story.
During a visit to a bar, André ordered what Elwes said was 'The American' - a concoction of "various liquors."
"I’ve never tasted airplane fuel," Elwes said.
"But I imagine it’s very close to what that must taste like. It’s very potent indeed, and I remember coughing a lot. But to him, it was like chugging water."
André drank 117 beers in one sitting
During an interview with American talk show host David Lettermen, the presenter asked André if it was true that he had once put away 117 beers in one sitting.
The giant nodded and replied: "Yes, one night."
After asking if he was drunk by the end of the night, André laughed and said: "I don't know, I passed out!"
Others have claimed that André actually drank 156 beers in one sitting - handing him an unofficial drinking record.
The 'world's biggest poo'
Of course the giant's colossal intake has got to end up somewhere, and one time the passengers of a plane were left gagging when André made a trip to the little boy's room.
Former wrestler Brutus Beefcake spoke of the incident that occurred on a Boeing 747 flight from Tokyo, Japan, to the United States. The giant wrestler was so big he "could not fit" into the toilets on the 14-hour flight.
Brutus told Wrestling Shoot Interviews: "Andre would always time it so that he would take a dump before he went to the airport, before he went to the plane, then he'd be good for a day or two."
His routine hit the fan on that flight back home after delays left a handful of wrestlers rushing for their seats.
Bringing Andre to the back of the plane, closing the curtains on the 7ft 3in behemoth, Brutus says the former WWF Champion "went to town" on the toilets.
The sounds were, according to a clearly horrified Brutus, "not human", and nor was the pungent smell that soon filtered its way through the plane.
WWE Hall of Famer Brutus added: "I've never heard anything like it. The sounds that are coming out of there. The smell that started coming forward, the back of the plane had a lot of people, there were people falling out of their seats and into the aisles.
"Gagging, puking, crying, screaming, and we were all falling on the floor laughing ourselves sick. I couldn't breathe. He must have half filled-up a garbage bag full of s**t."
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