Maurice Tillet - The French AngelMaurice Tillet was born in Russia's Ural Mountains, of French parents, in 1903. The exact date of his birth is unknown and even the year and place of birth are subject to dispute. He was highly intelligent. He is said to have known 14 languages (according to newspaper accounts at the time, his mother was a professor of languages.) He was an excellent chess player. Tillet played on the All-France rugby team against England, and once met George V after a match. He did a tour of service in the French Navy. He developed acromegaly (the same disease that Andre the Giant suffered) in his twenties. The disease caused his body to become disfigured and inflicted severe pain that grew progressively worse as the years went by. He left France to become a wrestler and first showcased his new profession in England. As the Angel, he was billed as "that ferocious monstrosity, not a human being, but 20 stone of brutality." Wrestling promoter Paul Bowser read about Tillet in the September 9, 1939 issue of Life Magazine. Bowser made Tillet an offer to good to turn down, so Tillet soon left for America where professional was more popular and paid better. He became "The French Angel" and was an overnight sensation. Billed by Bowser as "The World's Ugliest Man, Tillet soon defeated Steve "Crusher" Casey for the AWA World's Heavyweight Championship and ran up a 180-match winning streak. Tillet was arguably the biggest wrestling star during the early 1940's. He was very famous in his time and not just among wrestling fans. He was the subject of numerous magazine features, and he always made the newspapers, often the front page, when he came into a town for a match. As his disease worsened, he became a recluse. He died on August 4, 1955. Not long before his death, three plaster casts were made of his face by Bobby Managoff, a fellow wrestler who had befriended him during his wrestling career. One cast is displayed inside the USA Weightlifting Hall of Fame. Another is in the International Wrestling Museum in Iowa. There is a life-size sculpture of Tillet on display at the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago, Illinois. Many think that Tillet was the model for the movie character Shrek.  Many wrestlers tried to follow the success of Tillet with their own Angel gimmicks. Some were successful, but none to the degree of Tillet. Maurice Tillet was a villain, but like other big names who played the bad guy during those times, he interacted with fans in public, including signing autographs. By all accounts he was an entertaining personality who loved conversation. It is difficult to attach a value to Maurice Tillet's autograph. Very few come into the marketplace. I bought the signed photo here for $20 on eBay. I think that is much less than what it would have brought the seller had it been listed better. Signed photos of wrestling stars from this era, particularly heels, are more rare than most would probably believe. They are more often found in autograph books and on programs. The majority of those that were signed on whatever the fan come could come up with have been lost to time. Wrestling Autographs
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