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Andre the Giant exhibit to open Tuesday

Posted: May 18th 2015 By: William R. Toler - YourDailyJournal.com

ELLERBE ? Tuesday night will be a Giant occasion for the Rankin Museum of American Heritage.

A new exhibit on Andre the Giant will be unveiled at 7 p.m., on what would have been the late professional wrestler?s 69th birthday.

?It surprises me to think that Andre would be turning 69 years old this Tuesday,? said Jackie McAuley, who donated most of the items for the exhibit. ?I often wonder what life would have been like if Andre had lived longer. More acting in movies? More time working on the ranch??

McAuley and her late ex-husband Frenchy Bernard ? a former wrestler, manager and referee ? lived and worked with Andre on his Ellerbe ranch from the early ?80s until his death in 1993.

?I know that I surprised the Rankin Museum board by suddenly unloading all of these items on their doorstep and I thank them for taking these cherished memories and giving them a home that they deserve,? she said.

McAuley said she has been reading Facebook posts from fans of the wrestling icon who wish they could make it for the May 19 opening.

Included in the exhibit are a warmup outfit and a pair of size 26 red wrestling boots, along with a pink ring jacket, a black and gold mask and one of his iconic black wrestling singlets that he wore in the ?80s.

Also on display will be a pair of huge rings, one of which the wrestler got in Detroit in 1987 while in town for Wrestlemania III, held at the Pontiac Silverdome. In the spectacle ? which held the indoor sporting event attendance record until 2010 ? Andre faced off against Hulk Hogan in an infamous main event where the Giant was body-slammed.

Several photographs of Andre throughout the years ? including some with his family ? will also be featured in the exhibit, as well as a picture drawn by wrestler Bret Hart and signed by many other wrestlers of the time that was given to the Giant as a get-well gift while he was recovering from a broken ankle.

Hanging in a display case is a tuxedo Andre wore in the Blake Edwards film ?Micki and Maude,? starring Dudley Moore. In another case sits a handmade doll representation of Fezzik, a character he portrayed in ?The Princess Bride.?

McAuley said the doll was crafted by a woman in Ellerbe, but she could not remember her name.

?Gail Benson is amazing,? McAuley said of the museum curator. ?In a few museum cases, she has written the story of Andre?s life for all of the world to share.?

?Doc (Rankin) and Andre were very good friends,? she continued. ?It is wonderful to see them together again.?