Maurice Tillet (1903) - August 4, (1954) was a professional wrestler in the early years of the entertainment-sport. Born in
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, he was highly intelligent and could speak 14 languages. He was also a keen poet and was hoping to get into the acting business. Tillet won American Wrestling Association (Paul Bowser Boston promotion) World title and some of his moves included the palm strike and his finisher the bearhug.
In his twenties, he developed
acromegalyAcromegaly is a syndrome that results when the pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone after epiphyseal plate closure at puberty...
, a rare disease that causes bones to grow wildly and uncontrollably.
Maurice Tillet (1903) - August 4, (1954) was a professional wrestler in the early years of the entertainment-sport. Born in
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, he was highly intelligent and could speak 14 languages. He was also a keen poet and was hoping to get into the acting business. Tillet won American Wrestling Association (Paul Bowser Boston promotion) World title and some of his moves included the palm strike and his finisher the bearhug.
In his twenties, he developed
acromegalyAcromegaly is a syndrome that results when the pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone after epiphyseal plate closure at puberty...
, a rare disease that causes bones to grow wildly and uncontrollably. Soon his whole body was disfigured as a result. This led to much pain for Tillet as this gentle man was being called names, berated and forced to flee the place he loved so much.
Seeking a new identity to fit his chronic disfigurement, Tillet fled to
AmericaThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
where he made a living on his appearance by becoming a professional wrestler, and was dubbed as the "freak ogre of the ring". His villain persona ("the French Angel") was an instant success with the crowds. Perhaps the highlight of his career was on August 1, 1944, when The French Angel defeated Steve "Crusher" Casey for the
American Wrestling AssociationThe American Wrestling Association ' was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
World championship.
He soon became a recluse, although a few people did manage to befriend Tillet, including the businessman Patrick Kelly, whose home in
Braintree, MassachusettsThe Town of Braintree is a municipality in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Although officially known as a town, Braintree adopted a municipal charter, effective 2008, with a mayor-council form of government and is considered a city under Massachusetts law. The population was 33,828 at...
Tillet would often visit. There the pair would often play chess together.
Tillet died in 1954 from
heart diseaseHeart disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety for different diseases affecting the heart. As of 2007, it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, killing one person every 34 seconds in the United States alone.-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...
at age 51. Bobby Managain, who as Bobby Managoff was a wrestling champ, asked Tillet on his death bed if he could make a plaster cast of his face. Tillet agreed, and Bobby made three masks of his face. One of which was given to Milo Steinborn, while two ended up with Patrick Kelly. Steinborn donated this mask to the York Barbell Museum years ago. One of the masks sat on Kelly's office desks for years, the other he donated to the International Wrestling Museum in Iowa.
There is a life-size bust of Tillet on display at the
International Museum of Surgical ScienceThe International Museum of Surgical Science is a museum located in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It is operated by the and features exhibits dealing with various aspects of Eastern and Western medicine. It was founded by Dr. Max Thorek in 1954....
in Chicago, Illinois. The bust was done in 1950 by
Louis LinckLouis Linck was born in Paris, and emigrated to the United States in 1926. During his lifetime of sculpting he worked for a number of private clients as well as the WPA , and the International College of Surgeons...
.
One 'Death Mask' of Maurice Tillet currently resides at the USA Weightlifting Hall of Fame inside the York Barbell Building in
York, PennsylvaniaYork, known as the White Rose City , is a city located in South Central Pennsylvania. The population was 40,862 at the 2000 census. York is the county seat of York County, and is located at...
. It is on display in the strongman/wrestling section that serves to provide a glimpse into the origins of modern competitive weightlifting and powerlifting.
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