Shrek is a real person. Who was the prototype of Shrek? Dizzying successes in sports

Scary on the outside, but very kind on the inside, the giant actually existed in the first half of the 20th century. And his name was Maurice Tillet.

As a child, Maurice was a completely normal child. His family even called him Angel because of his sweet face. He was born on October 23, 1903 in the Urals into a French family. Maurice's dad worked as an engineer at railway, and my mother was a teacher. The father died when the boy was still very young. Then in 1917 there was a revolution in Russia, and he and his mother moved back to their homeland.

When Tiye turned 17, he noticed that his feet, hands and head were swelling. Two years later he was diagnosed with acromegaly. This is a fairly rare disease caused by a benign tumor on the pituitary gland, as a result of which a person's bones grow and thicken. So Maurice turned into a real giant, and not a trace remained of his angelic appearance, at least outwardly.

It was very difficult to go through this. “My peers called me a monkey, and I was very upset. Who would like this? To hide from ridicule, I often went to the pier and that was all. free time spent near the water. The people who lived there were completely indifferent to what I looked like,” Tiye said many years later.

Despite his creepy appearance, he was a very smart man. He entered the University of Toulouse at the Faculty of Law and studied there quite successfully. His mother taught foreign languages, so Maurice studied them since childhood. It is known that by the age of forty he spoke excellent Russian, French, Bulgarian, English and Lithuanian. He also played chess well and wrote poetry and stories. So there's no shortage of mental abilities It wasn’t, but I still had to give up my career as a lawyer. The fact is that the disease progressed and gave complications to the vocal cords.

“Maybe with such a face I could become a lawyer, but my voice, like the braying of a donkey, is simply impossible to listen to, so I went to the Navy,” said Tiye.

He served in the French Navy for five years as an engineer.

Possessing a good disposition and a penchant for positive thinking, Maurice treated his appearance quite easily and with humor. He even posed for a paleontological museum next to Neanderthal exhibits. He found this resemblance amusing.

When he was 34 years old, in Singapore, Maurice met Carl Poggello, who was a professional wrestler and quickly realized that Tillet would have fabulous success in this matter. They went to Paris together and began training.

For two years, Maurice Tillet performed in the rings of France and England, until the Second World War began. World War, from which friends left for the USA.

In the USA, real success awaited the wrestler. His appearance was quite remarkable, so he attracted huge crowds to the matches, and the “directors” of the games decided to keep Tillet invincible. Even at that time, wrestling was quite a staged type of fighting. So he could go 19 months straight without losing until the public got bored.

At first he performed under the nickname "The Ugly Ogre of the Ring", but then it was decided to add drama, and Maurice turned into the "French Angel".

An active wrestling career lasted with varying success until 1945, and then acrohemalia again made its adjustments to Maurice’s life. His health was deteriorating, he suffered from headaches, he got tired quickly, and his vision weakened. Professional wrestling also made itself felt - heart problems appeared.

He was no longer given the role of invincible in wrestling matches. Last Stand took place in Singapore in 1953. After this, Maurice left professional sports.

Soon his friend and promoter Carl Paggello contracted pneumonia, which resulted in a complication in the form of lung cancer. He died after a long and painful illness.

It was so shocking Maurice Tillet that just a few hours after the news of his friend’s death, he himself died of a heart attack.

They were buried side by side at Lithuanian National Cemetery in Justice, Illinois.

Do you know that the prototype of the popular cartoon character Shrek was a real... no, not an ogre, but a man, and also our compatriot, whose name was Maurice Tillet. Having heard this name, the reader will probably ask - “Well, what kind of Russian is this?”, suspecting the author of some deceit, and yet this is really so.

On October 23, 1903, in a Russified French family living in the Urals, a boy was born, whom his parents nicknamed “Angel” for his beautiful angel-like face, and officially named Maurice by the name of Tillet. His father was a railway engineer who moved to distant Russia for a lucrative contract, and his mother was a school teacher.

In 1917, the Tiye family, fleeing the revolution, moved to France. Maurice was 14 years old at that moment. Around the same time, the guy began to experience swelling in his feet, hands and head, and at the age of 19 he was diagnosed with acromegaly. This is a disease that is caused by a benign tumor on the pituitary gland, as a result of which a person’s bones grow and thicken, especially in the facial part.

With a height of 170 cm, Maurice Tillet's weight was 122 kg.

Tiye treated his appearance philosophically and with humor.

In his youth, it was much more difficult for him to adapt to society, but with age he understood how to turn his disadvantages into advantages.

“My peers called me a monkey, and I was very upset. Who would like this? To hide from ridicule, I often went to the pier and spent all my free time near the water. The people who lived there were completely indifferent to what I looked like."

Despite his progressive illness, Maurice tried to live life to the fullest. He studied law at university, played successfully in Rugby and made plans for his life. However, due to problems with the vocal cords, he had to quit his studies and the resilient young man went to serve in the navy, where he mastered the engineering profession.

“Maybe with a face like that I could have become a lawyer, but my voice, like the braying of a donkey, is simply impossible to listen to, so I went to the Navy.”

Perhaps over time he would have made a good military career, but fate again took a sharp turn. In 1937, while on vacation in Singapore, Maurice accidentally met professional wrestler Carl Poggello, who, appreciating the guy’s appearance, convinced him to take up professional wrestling, and later became Tiye’s promoter and close friend.

For the next two years, Maurice Tillet trained and fought in France and England, and later moved to the United States, where he immediately attracted attention and short term became a local celebrity, performing under the name "The French Angel" and winning several championship titles in various versions of World Championship Wrestling.

However, let's not focus only on sporting achievements Tiye, the famous wrestler had a lot of other talents. He played excellent chess, acted in films, spoke 14 languages ​​fluently and had a great sense of humor. Maurice happily posed for the paleontolic museum next to the exhibits of Neanderthals, whose resemblance greatly amused him.

Over time, health problems made themselves felt, constant headaches, excessive fatigue, weakened vision and - this is just a few that are characteristic of acromegaly, and, of course, professional wrestling made its own adjustments - Maurice developed serious problems with heart. Despite this, Maurice continued to perform until 1953, after which he left the sport.

Carl Pagelo, best friend and promoter of Maurice Tillet, died of cancer on September 4, 1954, on the same day Tillet died of a heart attack, unable to cope with the loss of a close comrade. A monument was erected at their common grave:

“And death cannot separate friends.”

They are both buried in Lithuanian National Cemetery in Justice, Cook County, Illinois, twenty miles from Chicago.

And almost half a century later, the famous cartoon “Shrek” was released, the main character of which, an ogre named Shrek, is very reminiscent of Maurice Tillet, both appearance, and in a good manner! However, despite numerous questions about this, the Dreamworks film company declined to make any official comments.

The name Maurice Tillet probably won't mean anything to you. But you probably saw his face. This is Shrek's face. It's hard to believe, but Shrek has a very real prototype. And this prototype is an outstanding personality.

At the age of seventeen, Thiele noticed that his arms, legs and head began to change their shape. A visit to the doctor brought a terrible diagnosis - acromegaly. This disease is usually caused by a benign tumor on the pituitary gland. It is expressed in excessively rapid growth and thickening of bones.

Pogello was a professional wrestler. He convinced Maurice to try himself in the field of professional wrestling. Tille and Pogello moved to Paris. For two years Maurice performed on the professional stage in France and England. In 1939, due to the outbreak of World War II, Tille left Europe and settled in the United States.

As a result of Tille's success, a dozen imitators appeared. They were: Tony Angelo ( Russian Angel); Super Swedish Angel, Jack Roush (Canadian Angel), Vladislav Tulin (Polish Angel), Stan Pinto (Czech Angel), Clive Welsh (Irish Angel), Jack Falk (Golden Angel), Gil Guerrero (Black Angel), and Gene Noble ( Lady Angel). In the professional ring, Tille met several times only with the “Swedish Angel” Thor Johnson.

In 1950, Chicago sculptor Louis Link, at Tillet's request, made several masks of his face. One of them is kept in the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago.

This may seem like a cruel joke or a farce, but this incredible story is historically accurate and true! The prototype of the cartoon Shrek was the famous wrestler Maurice Tillet. He was born in 1903 in Russia, in the Urals, into a French family, which in 1917, due to the revolution, returned back to France.

As a child, Maurice was no different in appearance from his peers, rather the opposite - he was called “Angel”, thanks to his pretty facial features. But everything changed at the age of seventeen, when he began to develop a rare disease, acromegaly, which causes a monstrous, disproportionate increase in bones, especially the facial ones.

Due to these terrible external transformations, Maurice had to give up his desired career as a lawyer. But he did not give up on his life, but decided to use his disadvantage as a huge advantage! Maurice went to the United States to become a professional wrestler, and in May 1940 he became the American Wrestling Association champion, holding the title for the next 19 months. He was known under the nickname “the scary ogre of the ring,” but later they began to call him, as in childhood, “the French angel,” thanks to his warmth and kind character.

It is also worth noting that Maurice Tillet was distinguished by phenomenal intellectual abilities, which many were not even aware of. He was fluent in 14 languages ​​and wrote wonderful stories and poems.

Unfortunately, his illness progressed and at the age of 51, Maurice died of a heart attack. But all of it is short-lived, but bright life is a wonderful example of human courage and bravery. Instead of complaining that life only gave him “sour lemons,” he cleverly learned to make “lemonade” out of them and enjoy his life. I am sure that Maurice would really like his cartoon prototype Shrek, who, like him, is kind and sensitive, despite his terrifying appearance.

Guys, we put our soul into the site. Thank you for that
that you are discovering this beauty. Thanks for the inspiration and goosebumps.
Join us on Facebook And In contact with

Perhaps many of us, having seen a photo of Maurice Tillet, will notice his resemblance to the main character of the cartoon “Shrek”. Worldwide fame It was definitely not a cartoon that brought Maurice, but a suddenly discovered illness - acromegaly. The illness brought Tiya a lot of trouble and ridicule from his peers, but even this did not stop him from achieving dizzying success in sports and remaining a good-natured person.

We are in website We were shocked by the resilience of this man, who, despite all the blows of fate, retained self-irony and a kind heart.

Angelic child and the first signs of illness

Maurice Tillet was born on October 23, 1903 in Russia, in the Urals. His parents were emigrants from France, his mother worked as a school teacher, and his father was a railway engineer. As a child, Maurice was no different from other children, except for his pretty appearance, for which his loved ones called him Angel.

In 1917, the Tiye family, fleeing the revolution, moved back to France. The boy was only 14 years old at that time. Then the first signs of the disease appeared, which over time changed him beyond recognition.

Academic achievement and disease progression

By the age of 17, Maurice's face and limbs began to change. Another 2 years passed before doctors were able to establish the cause of such changes - the guy was diagnosed with acromegaly. This disease manifests itself by disproportionate growth of bones and their deformation, especially in the bones of the skull. Over time, not a trace remained of his “angelic” appearance, which gave Maurice’s entourage a reason to maliciously make fun of him.

“My peers called me a monkey, and I was very upset. Who would like this? To hide from ridicule, I often went to the pier and spent all my free time near the water. The people who lived there didn't care what I looked like."

Despite this, the guy was distinguished by his success in studies and sports. He was a good rugby player and in 1926 even received a handshake from King George V of England himself. In addition, Maurice played chess amazingly and spoke 5 languages ​​(French, Russian, Lithuanian, Bulgarian and English). Tillet later entered the Faculty of Law, but after some time the disease began to progress and greatly affect his vocal cords, and therefore he had to leave his studies and choose a different type of activity for himself.

“Maybe with such a face I could become a lawyer, but my voice, like a donkey’s bray, is simply impossible to listen to, so I went to the Navy,” admitted Maurice.

A life-changing meeting

Carl Pogello.

It is quite possible that Maurice would have been able to build a successful military career, but fate again took a sharp turn. After 5 years of working as an engineer on a ship, he decided to try his hand at cinema, playing small comic roles. After filming several films, Tillet realized that he was unlikely to be able to build successful career in this area, and changed jobs again - he moved to security at a film studio.

In 1937, Maurice accidentally met a professional wrestler of Lithuanian origin, Karl Pogello, who, after assessing his external characteristics, young man, convinced him to move to the USA and seriously engage in professional wrestling.

It was there that his unusual appearance and successful sports background came in handy. As a pseudonym, Maurice took his childhood nickname - the French Angel. Soon the whole world learned about Angel: wrestling brought Maurice wide fame, making him twice world heavyweight champion.

Dizzying successes in sports

The charismatic wrestler quickly won the love of the audience. His signature move, the bear grab, brought victory more than once. The French Angel was able to conquer Europe, and then became one of the favorites of the American public. The wrestler's career lasted for 20 years. This period brought Maurice multiple championships.

Despite his harsh and sometimes cruel profession, Maurice remained kind and sensitive. He held charity performances, and donated the proceeds to orphanages and hospitals. In addition, Tiye was and remains the only wrestler who was invited to an audience with the Pope (Pius XII). Once Tillet even kindly posed in a paleontological museum as a Neanderthal - because of his external resemblance with him. This caused laughter not only among the visitors, but also among the wrestler himself.