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Claim to Fame: Professional wrestler and Argentinian basketball player
DOB: January 31, 1966
Date of Death: September 22, 2010
Diabetes Type: Unknown
Jorge Gonzalez was born in El Colorado, Argentina, where he quickly became a rising basketball star. Standing at 7 feet, 6 inches tall, he was the tallest basketball player in Argentinian history. He joined the Argentinian National Basketball team, which competed in the 1988 Olympics. Following the Olympics, he moved to the United States to join the NBA and was drafted to the Atlanta Hawks. Gonzalez found himself unable to keep up with the pace of the NBA and never really made his mark in U.S. basketball. But in 1989, Hawks owner Ted Turner brought him over to World Championship Wrestling, a franchise Turner also owned. Jorge performed under the name El Gigante between 1989 and 1992.
Following his stint in World Championship Wrestling, Gonzalez moved to the World Wrestling Federation, where he performed under the ring name Giant Gonzalez until 1993. He then worked in New Japan Pro Wrestling until 1995, when he officially retired as an active wrestler. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Gonzalez is the tallest wrestler ever. After his retirement from wrestling, he made appearances on numerous TV shows, including his most famous role on an episode of Baywatch.
In his later years, Jorge Gonzalez moved back to his native Argentina, where he owned and ran a ranch farm. He faced many health problems, including diabetes, and as of 2009 he was confined to a wheelchair and had to use a dialysis machine to treat kidney failure. He died in 2010 at the age of 44 from diabetes-related complications.
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