Meet Maurice Tillet, the real world Shrek!
This may come to you as a surprise or a silly joke, but it’s nothing but the truth. The popular CGI cartoon Shrek actually existed! Rather, his ogre-ific head was modeled after a real person; he was called Maurice Tillet and he was actually a very intelligent person: a poet and writer who could speak 14 languages, and sure enough he did use plenty of colorful idioms (;)).
Tillet was born in 1903, and as a teenager he manifested a rare disease called acromegaly, which causes his bones to grow uncontrollably. As result his body was disfigured, and he turned into what people back then referred to as “freak show”; do you think that put him down? Think again! He headed just the opposite of down, by going to the United States to actually take advantage of his condition, by turning into a pro wrestler called the “freak ogre of the ring”.
Maurice Tillet reached the title of world champion of the American Wrestling Association in the 1st of August 1944, after defeating Steve “Crusher” Casey. Tilled had a few trademark moves, including the “Palm Strike” (his finishing move) and the “Bearhug”. Even though he was nick-named by shallow minded people as the “Freak Ogre of the Ring”, he was actually best known as “The French Angel“.
He was a close friend to entrepreneur Patrick Kelly, whose home in Braintree (Massachusetts) Tillet regularly visited, for their routinely game sessions; both of them were enthusiast chess players.
Tillet fought till the end – which arrived in 1954 when he was 51 years old – and he died with a heart attack. Not long before he died, a friend of his asked him to get a lifecast, and Tillet agreed. There were actually three casts, one of which ended up in Iowa (International Wrestling Museum); the second mask went to his friend, and the third one was sent to the York Barbell Museum, where it would allegedly be used as a model to design the popular cartoon character.
Doubtlessly, Maurice Tillet was a very brave person who refused to be put down by his physical deformity; in a sense, I think he would have liked knowing the cartoon Shrek was modeled after him… after all there’s a positive message to this cartoon, which closely resonates Tillet’s own legacy of unwavering self-esteem and upbeat personality. He was the kind of person who learned to make lemonade, rather than complaining for getting only lemons out of life; his example should be inspirational for us all.
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the shrek woman…
http://a369.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/15/l_0451f5baf98bc4040693c291fb5a2230.jpg
http://a468.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/16/l_eb734d802ed9b59ac5fad9bd74faf873.jpg
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=100082781
OMG BAMBOON TAMPOON for sure.
That’s so cool!
uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
wow now i’ve seen it all
He looks good for 105 years old.
Anyone who’d like to see Tillet on film, rent the original “Mighty Joe Young.”
Tillet makes a cameo in it, as one of the “strongmen” that the big gorilla plays tug-of-war with in a cabaret show. Tillet’s “ring name” was The Swedish Angel. He was sometimes confused with Tor Johnson, who sometimes went by the ring name of “Super Swedish Angel.”
Check out the story about Maurice Tillet’s chess-loving ‘spirit’
http://e-sanclub.net/board/archiver/?tid-798.html
@Bobbar: that’s an awesome little bit of information! If someone can get me a youtube link with that clip, I’d love to add it to the post! Anyone up to the challenge?
Photoshopped.
OMG I still call Bamboon Tampoon.
Def. photoshopped. Nice try.
re: kangarootitson
i honestly cannot believe there are people as thick as you out there. god help the human race. and the quicker we get selective genetics up and running, the better. what a nobhead!
That isn’t Photoshopped, he is on the top of a building…which makes stuff down on the ground look small.
y’all are trippin.
not photoshopped at all!!!
Shrek was a -book- written by William Stieg in the late 80s-early 90s…I love how -that- seems to have been ignored in the article. I don’t doubt that there is a possibility that he was an influence on the image of the character, but the book is what brought Shrek to the silver screen.
[...] real Shrek Meet Maurice Tillet, the real world Shrek! | Slices of Life! __________________ God is dead. (signed Nietzsche) Nietzsche is dead. (signed [...]
[...] this article and photo from the Vancouver News-Herald from 27 July 1944 shortly after reading a web page about the real-life wrestler who was the inspiration for the character of [...]
Great blog
Actually he was known in the ring as “The French Angel”. Very brave man that had to put up with so much ridicule.
I knew Maurice Tillet personally. He was a good friend of Man Mountain Dean Jr, another wrestler. Man Mountain’s real name was Sam Hesser and he was my friend since I was 4 years old. I have photographs of Maurice and his autograph. What a thrill to see him in print. He was a wonderful, compassionate man with a heart of gold.
oтличный блoг! Вы сами пишете?
That’s sooo funnie!
x33
I looove it!
[...] no Slices of Life, traduzi e postei aqui, espero que gostem [...]
It looks just like him expect the wrong color lol
[...] complaining for getting only lemons out of life; his example should be inspirational for us all. [Link] Posted in: Weird People — Leave [...]
I’m guessing that the two sophisticated photographs are by Irving Penn–see Penn’s photograph of The Angel in the 1997 publication detailing the Penn Archives at The Art Institute of Chicago. Information in this book indicates that Penn photographed Tillet on April 24, 1946. The Penn picture in the book is a 1990 reprinting of the 1946 negative; the photographer certainly made something different in 1990 than you see here–dark and quite primal.
Prawdziwy Shrek istnieje!…
Myślicie że “Shrek” istnieje tylko w filmie animowanym pod tym samym tytułem? Poznajcie w takim razie Pana Maurice Tillet, którego podobieństwo do Shreka jest jak sami przyznacie, uderzające….
Hi, also love the Shrek movies, awesome film!
Wait….is that wayne rooney?
Amazing and Inspirational. Obviously his medical condition led to his short life, very sad.