Shrek was real

nico · Post by **nico** » Thu May 10, 2007 2:41 pm

Maurice Tillet Real life Shrek

Maurice Tillet ( 1903?- August 4, 1954 ) was a professional wrestler in the early years of the entertainment- sport. Born in France, he was highly intelligent and could speak 14 languages. He was also a keen poet and was hoping to get into the acting business.

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.

Post by **Skylace** » Thu May 10, 2007 2:46 pm

That's pretty interesting.

How sad for him to have been driven away from the place he loved. And it is amazing how much Shrek looks like him!

You have to wonder if one othe animators for the character knew.

nico · Post by **nico** » Thu May 10, 2007 3:07 pm

Imagine, 14 languages wow.
I wonder if this had any thing to do with his sickness .

6ULDV8 · Post by **6ULDV8** » Thu May 10, 2007 3:22 pm

nico wrote:Imagine, 14 languages wow.
I wonder if this had any thing to do with his sickness .

Some people are gifted with the ability to speak several or more languages (to learn & speak them that is), I have a good many under my belt but find it hard to maintain them when not using them in a constant manner...
In other words, whilst my friends from Sweden are here for 2 weeks it will take me 2 or 3 days of them speaking Swedish for me to start understanding & speaking the language... (same for most that I speak), it does however get complicated, last time they were here was only a few days, the day they left (in the morning) I was having a conversation with my wife at a chemists, I found myself having to translate myself back into English as I was now / then thinking in Swedish.

My wife speaks a few languages (including a few dead languages) also...
We encourage our children to learn them also... by the age of 5 all three kids had a modicum of Spanish, one now wants to learn Japanese, the middle boy wants to learn French, the youngest... well, he's just happy to try & decipher anything the wife & I say to eachother about the kids that isn't in English.

My point being, his illness perhaps nothing to do with his abilities for languages, some people have it whilst others don't...
Just as some people can play guitar or ride a bike whilst others struggle.

It's a great world with many diverse people with even more diverse abilities.