Wrestler, personality Captain Lou Albano dies at 76
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Captain Lou Albano, known for association with Cyndi Lauper, dead at 76
Albano appeared in video for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"
Albano was successful wrestler in '50s and '60s, later became manager
He was also voice of one of the Marios in "Super Mario Bros. Super Show"

(CNN) -- Legendary wrestling figure Captain Lou Albano, perhaps best known for his association with pop singer Cyndi Lauper, died Wednesday, according to World Wrestling Entertainment.


Captain Lou Albano reached a new level of fame in the '80s with his association with Cyndi Lauper.

Albano, 76, was "one of the company's most popular and charismatic legends," the company said in a statement.

The cause of death was not immediately disclosed.

"Albano began his storied career with Vincent J. McMahon in the 1960s as one half of 'The Sicilians' tag team with his partner Tony Altimore," the WWE said. "He will be greatly missed by the WWE and his fans."

Albano, who was with the WWE from 1983 to 1996, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996.
He started as a tag team wrestler in the 1950s but became a successful manager of champion wrestlers in the 1970s, according to a biography on the WWE Web site.

Albano was recognizable by his penchant for unbuttoned Hawaiian shirts and a trademark beard, which was usually bound by a rubber band.

His persona earned him the distinction of "one of the most hated men" in wrestling for 15 years, the WWE biography said.

Albano's image evolved in the 1980s, when he teamed with Lauper on several music videos, such as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," and wrestling appearances.
As his celebrity status grew, Albano landed acting jobs, including a role on several episodes of the "Miami Vice" TV series, the biography said.

Albano became a cartoon in 1989, when he was the voice of Mario "Jumpman" Mario for 17 episodes of "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!" according to the Internet Movie Database.

E-mail to a friend
MixxFacebookTwitterDiggdel.icio.usredditMySpaceStumbleUpon| Mixx it | Share
CNN's Jack Hannah and Denise Quan contributed to this report.
All About World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. • Cyndi Lauper

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/10/14/obit.albano/index.html

rubberbands should be hanging off the casket...

Damn man. Legend. My brother is going to be sad. All his faves are passing away.

*Knocks on wood that Macho Man sticks around for a while*

dude was a bad mofo

My favorite moment when Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson took the tag team belt from the wild samoans and the capt tried to smash a chair over one of the dude's heads, only to have him duck and crack it over oppa or sieka or whatever the phuck the dudes name was.

check out the shrunken head. We could use a coach like Capt Lou!

Posted by tkf:

sad news. I was a big wresting fan back as a youth.... Lou albano was the guy you loved to hate... RIP captain..

totally. I remember before Wrestlemania and pay per view they used to have great matches every Sat morning. Huge part of my childhood. I remember Piper's pit, when Bob Backlund got beat by the Iron Shiek, only to have Hulk Hogan escape the camel clutch the next week to become champ. Andre vs. two total scrubs at once. SD Jones who like the Knicks was exciting but always found a way to lose. Tito Santana... my fav was Ivan Putski the Polish hammer.

Posted by fishmike:

Posted by tkf:

sad news. I was a big wresting fan back as a youth.... Lou albano was the guy you loved to hate... RIP captain..

totally. I remember before Wrestlemania and pay per view they used to have great matches every Sat morning. Huge part of my childhood. I remember Piper's pit, when Bob Backlund got beat by the Iron Shiek, only to have Hulk Hogan escape the camel clutch the next week to become champ. Andre vs. two total scrubs at once. SD Jones who like the Knicks was exciting but always found a way to lose. Tito Santana... my fav was Ivan Putski the Polish hammer.

sh t man...lucha libre on channel 47 at midnight on the weekends.

i went to see pedro morales vs. jimmy snuka at the garden in 1982 at the age of 8. sat in the last row of the arena but it was awesome.

the most shocked i ever was when orndorff clotheslined hogan and turned on him during the tag match with bundy and studd.

[Edited by - djsunyc on 10-14-2009 4:33 PM]

Posted by Marv:

many great men have entered the squared circle. but there is only one greatest of them all.

did anything beat him eating the turnbuckles?

R.I.P....seen him on videotapes but not crazy familiar.

In one sense, though, its good to see a wrestler die at a reasonable age for once.

A personal story about Cap'n Lou and the lives of the wrestlers. Back in the late 70s early 80s when I was living in Westchester-I went to a movie in Mahopac (I think the movie was in Baldwin Place Shopping Center) and in the lobby saw Lou Albano and went to say hi with hand extended to shake (he turned and ran (yes ran) into the men's room to hide. The "bad guys" of wrestling must have been challenged on a daily basis. On the other hand during the same time period, I ran into Haystacks Calhoun at Idlewild Airport (now Kennedy International) and had a really nice conversation while we were waiting for our respective flights. He was a "good guy" and apparently not challenged by hard core wrestling fans (some of who actually though the epic battles and personalities were more than mere actors.