Maurice Tillet as Shrek

Maurice Tillet (1903-1955) was a professional wrestler in the early years of the entertainment-sport. Born in France, he was highly intelligent and could speak 14 languages.

In his twenties, he developed acromegaly, a rare disease that causes bones to grow wildly and uncontrollably. Soon his whole body was disfigured as a result. This led to much pain for Tillet as this gentle man was being called names, berated and forced to flee the place he loved so much.















Tillet died in 1955 from heart disease at age 51. Bobby Managain, who as Bobby Managoff was a wrestling champ, asked Tillet on his death bed if he could make a plaster cast of his face. Tillet agreed, and Bobby made three masks of his face. One of which was given to Milo Steinborn, while two ended up with Patrick Kelly. Steinborn donated this mask to the York Barbell Museum years ago. One of the masks sat on Kelly's office desks for years, the other he donated to the International Wrestling Museum in Iowa.

The creator of Shrek used this masks to draw the famous character of the movie.