The French Angel

Maurice Tillet
Maurice Tillet
	Tillet in 1953
Birth name	Maurice Tillet
Born	23 October 1903; Orenburg Governorate, Ural, Russian Empire
Died	4 September 1954 (aged 50); Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	The French Angel; The Angel; World's Ugliest Man; Maurice Tillet; "The Angel" Maurice Tillet
Billed height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Billed weight	122 kg (270 lb)
Trained by	Karl Pojello
Debut	1937
Retired	14 February 1953

Maurice Tillet (French: [mɔʁis tije]; 23 October 1903 – 4 September 1954) was a Russian-French professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, The French Angel/The Angel.^[2] Tillet was a leading box office draw in the early 1940s and was twice World Heavyweight Champion in the American Wrestling Association run by Paul Bowser in Boston.

It has been rumored that Tillet was the inspiration for the animated movie character Shrek based on their resemblance.^[3]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Cite error: The named reference Oliver was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ O'Hara, Kassondra (1 November 2020). "The French Angel". Medium. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
^ Grenoble, Ryan (29 December 2014). "Meet Maurice Tillet, The Man Rumored To Have Inspired Shrek". HuffPost. Retrieved 1 September 2023. Despite the uncanny physical similarities between Tillet and Shrek, DreamWorks -- the studio which released the film -- has never officially addressed the long-standing rumor that Tillet's appearance served as the basis for the animated character. A spokesman at the company did not immediately return a request for comment from The Huffington Post.