It’s André René Roussimoff’s birthday. You probably know him as André the Giant. Born on this day in 1946 in Grenoble, France, the child of Russian immigrants, André may well be the 20th Century’s greatest drinker. Don’t believe me? Well, check this out: In single six-hour sitting, André knocked back 119 12-ounce bottles of beer. 119. That’s a beer every three minutes for six straight hours. He once told doctors it took him two liters of vodka just to feel “warm and fuzzy” inside. True story: During the month he spent acting the part of Fezzik for the 1987 film The Princess Bride, André ran a tab at the bar of the hotel he stayed in. Want to guess how giant a bar tab he stuck the production company with when he checked out? A little over $40,000. In today’s dollars, that’s over 88,000 bucks. That is epic.
