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As André the Giant’s only child, Robin Christensen-Roussimoff is an actress and former wrestler who works to help keep her father’s legacy alive.
When André the Giant died in 1993, he left an outsize bequest. The wrestler-turned-actor had awed at high-profile fights and warmed hearts in The Princess Bride. But his memory is specially crucial to one person — Robin Christensen-Roussimoff, André the Giant ’ s daughter and only child .
Born as her forefather ’ south star skyrocketed — and as the product of a try kinship he had with her beget, Jean Christensen — Robin didn ’ triiodothyronine see her father much. By her own estimate, she met him just five times before he died around her 14th birthday .
even as the daughter of André the Giant, Robin Christensen-Roussimoff is irrevocably tied to his bequest — and has done what she can to protect his persona .
Robin Christensen-Roussimoff Is The Only Daughter Of André The Giant
By the time Robin Christensen-Roussimoff came into the world in 1979, her father André the Giant had built an international reputation as an unusually big wrestler.
Born André René Roussimoff in Coulommiers, France, in 1946, André the Giant had always been large — as a baby, he weighed between 11 and 13 pounds. As Andre discovered late, he had a hormonal disorder called acromegaly that resulted in excess growth .
But though doctors warned him that the discipline could shorten his life, it besides gave Andre his formidable size. Rising to a towering 7 feet 4 inches, he started as a wrestler in Europe, then made his way to Japan, Canada, and the United States .
And in the early 1970s, he crossed paths with Jean Christensen, who did public relations in the writhe universe .
“ There was no flicker there, ” Christensen said in a 1990s interview, though she besides noted that, as a grandiloquent woman herself, she liked that Andre towered over her evening when she wore high heels. “ It was just person I ’ five hundred run into. finally, yes, there was that nod-nod-winky-winky thing. ”
During their relationship, Jean claims that she thought Andre was aseptic. But soon, she gave parturition to a baby girlfriend while living in France — Robin Christensen-Roussimoff .
however, curtly after Christensen-Roussimoff was born, Christensen and Andre ’ randomness relationship deteriorated. And between that and Andre ’ mho schedule, Christensen-Roussimoff rarely saw her father. According to CBS Sports, she only met him five times .
The first time she saw him, she recalled at the New York City Comic-Con in 2016, was when he got a rake test to confirm that they were actually related .
Growing Up As The Child Of A Wrestling Legend
Despite having been born in Europe, Robin Christensen-Roussimoff grew up in Seattle with her mother. And André the Giant played a large but sporadic character in her life .
“ I can recall two or three times [ that I saw him ] at arenas, ” Christensen-Roussimoff told CBS. “ unfortunately, early times, they were in court. ”
Though she knew her beget was celebrated, Christensen-Roussimoff didn ’ thymine watch Andre ’ s wrestling at home. Her mother didn ’ metric ton want her to develop a tinge idea of her father .
“ She wanted me to form my own opinions on my dad, not what the media sold him as, ” Christensen-Roussimoff explained to CBS. As such, she only always saw him as “ dad ” and not as his writhe persona .
“ The character never in truth touched me, ” she said in a 2018 interview with The Post Game. “ When I saw him, he was dad — because I saw him behind the ring. I didn ’ thymine watch the matches. I saw him backstage. ”
That said, Robin Christensen-Roussimoff was in for a surprise when her mother took her to a prove of The Princess Bride in 1987 without telling her that her don played the role of Fezzik.
“ I was eight years old, and the fishy thing is I didn ’ triiodothyronine know about it until it came out, ” Christensen-Roussimoff told Sports Illustrated. “ My ma took me to see the movie, and I silent remember the scene when they were about to kidnap Buttercup. very loudly, I said, ‘ That ’ s my dad ! ‘ ”
She added, “ My dad was highly, highly proud of that character. In a means, he kind of got to be himself as Fezzik. He was very lovable. Everyone put their solid heart into their roles, and it showed. ”
But André the Giant ’ second daughter saw her father more on screen than in real liveliness. His schedule made it difficult for them to get together, and Christensen-Roussimoff was often hesitant to fly across the nation alone to visit him when he was at his ranch in North Carolina .
“ It broke his kernel, ” Andre ’ second supporter, Jackie McAuley, told CBS. “ It absolutely broke his affection that they couldn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate spend more time together. ”
Though they were physically separated, Andre did make an feat to keep in touch with his daughter. Christensen-Roussimoff remembered that she never had any problem reaching him when she needed to and that he never “ exclude ” her from his life .
sadly, André the Giant ’ randomness daughter never got to know her forefather as she grew older. In 1993, when Robin Christensen-Roussimoff was around 14 years old, he died at the old age of 46 from congestive heart failure related to his acromegaly .
“ possibly had he lived longer, I might have had a close relationship with him, ” Christensen-Roussimoff told Post and Courier. “ possibly he would ’ ve attended my graduation, or been proud of my successes. I ’ ll never get to truly know who he was as a person. ”
Despite this, Christensen-Roussimoff plays an significant character in preserving André the Giant ’ s bequest. When he died, André the Giant left his stallion estate of the realm to her as his lone successor. And nowadays, she has a suppose anytime that her father ’ sulfur compare is used and receives royalties when it is .
Where Is Robin Christensen-Roussimoff Today?
Since André the Giant ’ s death in 1993, his daughter has carried on his bequest in more ways than one. not lone does Robin Christensen-Roussimoff search like her celebrated father, but according to The Cinemaholic, she ’ mho besides six feet tall and briefly dabbled in wrestle .
today, she ’ s a steward of his image and reputation. Though Christensen-Roussimoff largely keeps to herself and lives in Seattle out of the spotlight, she has been known to give interviews about her forefather and attend events like Comic-Con to discuss his life .
But sometimes, being André the Giant ’ s daughter can be a difficult thing to bear. For Christensen-Roussimoff, the know of rewatching her father ’ randomness matches or movies is often tinged with trouble .
“ There ’ s a set of interracial emotion when it comes to watching his old gorge in the gang, ” she told CBS. “ I even have heavily times now and then watching The Princess Bride. A bunch of shuffle emotions when it comes to that screen of thing. ”
She added, “ A batch of it has to do with the fact that I am his daughter. It ’ mho just one of those things of, you know, it ’ south just in truth, very shuffle emotions when it comes to that just plainly because we didn ’ t have the kinship that we could have had. And a distribute of it had to do with his work schedule. Yeah, it ’ s not easy to watch. ”
For millions of people, André the Giant was many things. He was a must-see wrestler whose size made his fights a exhilarate to watch and a compelling actor who starred in one of the most beloved movies of the twentieth century .
But to Robin Christensen-Roussimoff, André the Giant was good one thing : her dad. And despite their separation during her childhood, she seems proud to carry on his bequest .
After reading about Robin Christensen-Roussimoff, André the Giant ’ mho daughter, look through these 21 incredible photos of André the Giant. Or, learn about André the Giant ’ second fecund drinking habits .
