Brief Summary
This article investigates the popular story about Samuel Beckett driving a young André the Giant to school. While the tale has been widely circulated, particularly by Cary Elwes, the article finds that the story is a mixture of truth and exaggeration.
- Beckett did live near the Roussimoff family and occasionally gave rides to local children, including André, but not exclusively.
- The narrative of a special bond between Beckett and André, or that André needed special transport due to his size, is false.
- The article relies on interviews with André's brother and the director of an André the Giant documentary to debunk the embellished aspects of the story.
[Claim and Rating]
The claim that Samuel Beckett used to drive a teenaged André the Giant to school in a small French village is rated as a mixture of truth and falsehood. While Beckett did give rides to André and his siblings, he wasn't the only one, and it wasn't due to André being too big for the school bus.
[The Popular Story]
The widely circulated story depicts a young André the Giant, too large for the school bus, being driven to school by Samuel Beckett, who owned the only convertible in town. The two supposedly formed a bond, discussing cricket during their rides. This version of the story has been popularized by Cary Elwes, who heard it directly from André.
[Elwes' Account]
Cary Elwes shared the story in a DVD commentary and his memoir, detailing how André told him that Beckett drove him to school because he was too big for the bus. Elwes recounts André saying they talked mostly about cricket.
[Plausibility and Context]
The story is plausible because Beckett lived near the Roussimoff family in Ussy-sur-Marne during André's childhood, owned a convertible, and was a cricket enthusiast.
[Documentary Scrutiny]
The release of the André the Giant documentary led to renewed scrutiny of the story. The director, Jason Hehir, found that the common version was exaggerated.
[Hehir's Investigation]
Jason Hehir discovered that there was no school bus in the town, and children walked to school. Beckett would sometimes give rides to multiple children in his truck, not exclusively to André, and there was no special relationship between them.
[André's Brother's Account]
Antoine Roussimoff, André's brother, confirmed that there was no school bus and that Beckett, along with other adults, occasionally gave rides to the children. He denied that their father helped build Beckett's house and that André left school due to his size.
[Debunking the Myths]
Antoine Roussimoff refuted the idea that Beckett exclusively drove André to school and that André left school because of his size, clarifying that André left school at the age of 14, which was the legal age to do so.
[Corroboration and Mythology]
Jason Hehir confirmed that André's other brother and a childhood friend corroborated Antoine's version of events. He also noted that André himself perpetuated many myths about his life, including the Beckett story.
