By Elliott West
Maurice Tillet
Introduction
The fictional ogre character of Shrek, created by William Steig is thought to be inspired by the Russian-born professional wrestler Maurice Tillet. Nicknamed ‘The French Angel’ and born to French parents in 1903, Maurice was a massive box-office draw in the 1940s and was twice World Heavyweight Champion in the American Wrestling Association. For the first twenty years of his life, Tillet had a normal appearance, described by his mother as having an innocent face but then he was struck down with a condition called Acromegaly that results in bone thickening and thickening, giving Maurice swelling to his hands, feet and to his head, giving the 20-year-old an almost ogre-like appearance
Background
Maurice’s mother was a teacher and his father was a railroad worker. Living the first few years of his life in the Ural mountains. Tragedy would strike when his father suddenly died, a life-changing incident that caused the remaining Tillet family to pack their bags and move to France. The young Maurice aspired to become a lawyer, later attending the University of Toulouse where he completed a law degree. However, due to his changed appearance and a deepening to his voice, the aspiring lawyer decided that it would better to dash his dreams before they were dashed for him.
Tiller decided to make a career change and joined the French navy instead as an engineer, a position that he would hold for the next five years. It is thought but not clear that during this period at sea, Maurice met Karl Pojello in 1937. Pojello was a professional wrestler and on meeting Maurice, became fascinated by the way his new friend looked and began a charm offensive to try and persuade him to become a wrestler. Karl believed he would attract a big crowd and it wasn’t long before Maurice caved into his persuasions.
In the Ring
Karl and Maurice moved to the bright lights of Paris where Karl began to train Maurice in the wrestling ring. It wasn’t long before the pair were competing in France and England with a great deal of success for the next two years until the start of World War Two. With the full force of the war in operation and France under German occupation, Tiller’s wrestling work dried up and so he had to resort to Plan B. The alternative was to travel to the USA which remained a safe zone and wrestling continued to thrive. A trip he made in 1939 in search of new opportunities.
The Stars and Stripes
Using the name The Angel and later The French Angel, Maurice worked with the promoter Paul Bowser in Boston throughout the 1940s. Tiller was an instant success bringing in large audiences to marvel at his appearance and skill in the ring. Such was his natural ability that he was remained unbeaten for a staggering nineteen months and such was his impact that numerous wrestlers tried to copy his act. These included the Irish Angel, The Swedish Angel and the Russian Angel.
So successful was Maurice that he soon became the American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Champion from May 1940- 1942 and won a Boston title in 1944. However, this success would be rudely interrupted by the swift progression of his condition. Even so he continued to fight under the careful eye of his good friend and trainer Karl Pojello until the 1950s. With his wrestling career over, Tiller befriended the sculptor Louis Linck who commissioned a series of busts of the wrestler to commemorate his wrestling career. Some of these works can still be seen with one being in Chicago’s Museum of Surgical Science.
The Final Curtain Call
However, in 1954 Maurice’s health took a turn for the worse and within less than a month both himself and Pojello died. Tiller is said to have died after hearing of his friend’s passing from cardiovascular disease. Both were buried in the Lithuanian National Cemetery in Justice, Illinois. His legacy lives on through the Shrek movies and his legendary status in the world of wrestling. He was definitely one of the greatest wrestlers of the twentieth century.
