He was the "Eighth Wonder of the World." That's not just a catchy marketing slogan from the 1970s; it was a physical reality for anyone who stood in his shadow. When you think about how tall is Andre the Giant, you probably picture the massive silhouette of Fezzik in The Princess Bride or the man who famously stood nose-to-chest with Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania III. But the numbers listed in the programs and the numbers on his medical charts rarely told the same story.
Wrestling is a business built on "working" the audience. Everything is bigger, louder, and more dramatic than real life. Height is no exception.
The Billed Height vs. The Measuring Tape
If you ask World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the answer to how tall is Andre the Giant is a definitive 7 feet 4 inches. This number became gospel. It was printed on trading cards, announced by Howard Finkel at ringside, and immortalized in documentaries.
The truth? It's a bit shorter. Honestly, probably closer to 6 feet 11 inches or 7 feet flat at his peak.
Wrestling promoters, particularly Vince McMahon Sr. and later his son, knew that every inch added to Andre’s stature added dollars to the gate. If a wrestler was 6’9”, they’d call him 7 feet. If he was actually 7 feet, he became 7’4”. This wasn't just a vanity project; it was about creating a mythical figure.
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Take a look at the famous 1984 photo of Andre standing between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Wilt Chamberlain on the set of Conan the Destroyer. Arnold is about 6’0” (though billed higher). Wilt was a legitimate 7 feet 1 inch. In that photo, Wilt is clearly an inch or two taller than Andre.
Wilt wasn't wearing wrestling boots with thick soles. Andre was.
Why the Numbers Kept Changing
Andre René Roussimoff didn't just have "large genes." He suffered from acromegaly. This is a disorder where the pituitary gland pumps out way too much growth hormone. In kids, it causes gigantism. In adults, it causes the bones in the hands, feet, and face to keep growing thicker.
By age 12, he was already 6 feet 3 inches. Imagine being a literal child taller than most of the adults in your village.
His growth didn't really "stop" in the way yours or mine does. It shifted. While he was technically "growing" throughout his life, his spine was simultaneously failing him. By the time he filmed The Princess Bride in 1986, he was in agony.
His back was so shot that he couldn't even hold Robin Wright (Buttercup) for the scene where she jumps into his arms. They had to use a crane and wires.
Gravity Always Wins
Here is something people often miss: Andre actually got shorter as he got older.
The massive weight of his own body—nearly 500 pounds—combined with the constant pounding of the wrestling ring, crushed his vertebrae. He underwent major spinal surgery in the mid-80s just so he could walk. When your spine compresses like that, you lose inches.
Historian Dave Meltzer, who has tracked wrestling stats for decades, suggests Andre was likely 6 feet 10 inches during the famous WrestleMania III match. That’s still massive. But it’s a far cry from the 7’4” height people still quote today.
His French passport from the 1970s listed him at 218 centimeters. That converts to just under 7 feet 2 inches. This is likely the most accurate measurement we have from his "prime" years before his health took a nose-dive.
The Scale of the Man
Height is just one dimension. What made Andre truly "giant" was his volume.
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He didn't just have long legs; he had hands the size of dinner plates. There’s a legendary photo of him holding a 12-ounce beer can, and it looks like a cocktail sausage in his palm. He wore a size 24 shoe. He could fit a silver dollar through his rings.
- 1960s: A lean, mobile 7'0" or 7'1" youngster in France.
- 1970s: The peak "Giant" at roughly 7'2" and 400 pounds.
- 1980s: The 500-pound legend, likely 6'11" due to spinal compression.
- 1993: At the time of his death, he struggled to stand straight, likely measuring under 6'10".
The Living Legend
It’s easy to get bogged down in the "real" vs. "fake" height debate. But for the people who met him, the specific inches didn't matter. He was a force of nature.
Whether he was 7’4” or 6’11”, the impact was the same. He had to have custom-built chairs. He couldn't use standard toilets (he often had to use hotel bathtubs because he’d break the porcelain). He couldn't even hold a standard telephone without his fingers covering the entire keypad.
So, how tall is Andre the Giant? If you’re talking about the myth, he’s 7’4”. If you’re talking about the man, 7’0” is the honest answer.
If you want to understand the physical reality of acromegaly and how it impacts the human frame, looking at modern examples like the NBA’s Victor Wembanyama (who is a healthy 7'4") shows the difference between natural height and the heavy, thickened bone structure Andre dealt with. Andre was a "wide" giant, not just a tall one.
To get a true sense of his scale, watch the HBO documentary André the Giant. It features footage of him standing in crowds of normal people where he doesn't just look tall—he looks like he belongs to a different species.
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Moving forward, the best way to appreciate his legacy is to look past the billed stats. Understand that the man spent his final years in a body that was essentially a cage, all to maintain the image of the unbeatable giant we saw on TV. That kind of commitment is much larger than any measurement on a wall.
Check out the official archives at WWE.com or the various shoot interviews from 80s wrestlers like Hulk Hogan and Jake "The Snake" Roberts for more on the logistics of traveling with a man of that size.