“His Family Didn’t Have Enough Money To Bring His Body Back Home To Saskatoon, And The Circus Wasn’t Going To Pay It”

From “Giant Size,” Tom Breihan’s article at the Classical about a very select group of people–the 70 or so Americans between the ages of twenty and forty who are at least seven feet tall:

“Edouard Beaupré was the giantest giant in pro wrestling history. At eight feet and three inches, Beaupré was the fifth-tallest human being in recorded history, and he wrestled at a time when wrestling was pretty much just big strong guys fighting each other at carnivals. Before Beaupré’s pituitary gland really started acting up, he’d wanted to be a cowboy, but his size kept him from riding horses. So instead, he lifted them, squatting down and lugging around 800-pounders at circus sideshows across North America. And on at least one occasion, he wrestled fellow strongman Louis Cyr and, by most accounts, got his ass resoundingly beat.

Beaupré was 23 and still growing when he died of tuberculosis in St. Louis, though the gigantism that kept him growing probably didn’t help. His family didn’t have enough money to bring his body back home to Saskatoon, and the circus wasn’t going to pay it. Instead of burying him, the kind circus folk embalmed Beaupré and used his body as an attraction. Even in death, Beaupré lived as a freak.” (Thanks Browser.)

Tags: ,