Earlier this week on his podcast, Bill Simmons mentioned that there was footage on YouTube of David Letterman interviewing Andre the Giant on his old late night show on NBC. Curious, I went digging around and found the interview. It’s predictably wonderful. Here are ten things I learned from the aforementioned interview, which is embedded above.
1. David Letterman used to wear rugby shirts on his show. I think I knew he did that, but I’m not 100% certain of it.
2. Andre the Giant actually did drink 117 beers in one night (or so he claims).
3. Andre the Giant owned a “nice” French restaurant in Montreal.
4. Following the interview, Andre, Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson wrestled “the Three Samoans” in Madison Square Garden in a six-man tag team match, which means this interview would have taken place on January 23, 1984.
5. Andre hated traveling to Japan because everything — cars, hotel beds, doorways, etc. — there was “so small.”
6. When Andre had time off, he’d retreat to his home in North Carolina to “walk in the woods” and “have a good time at the farm.”
7. Andre weighed 560 lbs. when he quit drinking beer 14 months prior to the interview. At the time of his Letterman appearance, Andre said he’d trimmed down to 470 lbs.
8. When he quit drinking beer, Andre took to drinking white wine. He said he’d usually drink “2-3 bottles” at most sittings.
9. Andre refused to lift up Letterman because another TV host — one he refused to name — sued him after he sustained an injury from Andre lifting him up off the ground.
10. Letterman said the show had to break not for commercial, but for “station identification.” I’d forgotten that was once a thing.
