![]() ![]() The "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection" catapulted wrestling into mainstream pop culture. The two also made WWE appearances together. Albano would go on to guide 15 tag teams to WWE championship glory.Albano achieved new celebrity status and transformed his bad-guy persona in the 1980s when he starred in Lauper's music videos, including "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," in which he played her father. His protégé, Ivan Koloff, accomplished the mission in 1971. He then paired with Tony Altimore to become the tag team "The Sicilians," winning the World Wide Wrestling Federation - the WWE precursor - United States Tag Team Championship in 1967.By the 1970s, Albano became a manager - and a villainous one at that when he made it his goal to end Bruno Sammartino's seven-year reign as WWE champion. ![]() The Mount Vernon, N.Y., native made his professional wrestling debut in 1953 after a brief stint in the Army. ![]() Earlier Wednesday, the Miami Herald reported that Albano was at home with his family under hospice care and was not suffering from cancer.Known for his animated personality, Hawaiian shirts, untamed beard usually bound by rubber bands and his motto, "Often imitated, never duplicated," Albano was a staple in the ring for nearly half a century. See which celebrities have died in 2009A cause of death has not been disclosed. But wherever you are, I am sure you are causing a hilarious rucuss. Or maybe you're having a good laugh with Freddie Blassie. "I love ya Lou and I can picture you up there somewhere explaining that PEG principle to someone. My heart goes out to his family," Lauper said in a statement. But I know he's at peace now, he had been ill for a while. ![]() I am sad for his family and I'm just sad. Lou had passed away at home with his family beside him. "WWE extends its deepest condolences to the Albano family." He was 76.Īlbano was "one of the company's most popular and charismatic legends," read a statement on the WWE website. He appeared in the TV series Miami Vice (1984-89), and the films Wise Guys and Body Slam (both 1986), before shaving his beard to play Mario, in Super Mario Brothers, for two years from 1989.Īlbano is survived by his wife, Geri, and four children.Captain Lou Albano, the legendary wrestling icon who bridged World Wrestling Entertainment and rock music after starring in Cyndi Lauper's music videos, has died. He explained his change of character by saying he had undergone surgery to remove "a calcium deposit on the medulla of my oblongata".Īlbano made three more videos with Lauper, and later toured with the rock band NRBQ, playing their manager. Rowdy Roddy Piper stepped in, which led to Mr T interfering, and eventually to the first Wrestlemania contest, which put Hulk Hogan and the WWF on the mainstream map.Īlbano's popularity made it natural that he should turn babyface in his final years in the ring, managing the loveable George "The Animal" Steele and the British Bulldogs, Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith. The feud began with Lauper managing the female wrestler Wendi Richter in a grudge match against The Fabulous Moolah, managed by Albano. Snuka then met Muraco in a 1983 cage match which ended with Snuka, now the good guy (or "babyface" in wrestling parlance), delivering a flying "Superfly splash" on top of Albano.Īlbano met the singer Lauper on a flight, and after starring in her music video, he began taking credit for her success, and putting her down as a "mere woman", which led to MTV and the WWF uniting in the Rock and Wrestling Connection programmes. His finest moment came when he double-crossed the wrestler he was managing, "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, in favour of the "Magnificent" Don Muraco. He was at his best managing tag teams, the wilder the better, including the Valiant Brothers, the Moondogs and the Wild Samoans. His bizarre appearance – an open Hawaiian shirt flaunting his great belly, numerous piercings from which he hung rubber bands, and a rubber band wrapped around his beard – matched his ringside behaviour. Albano drew heat from fans with his rapid-fire staccato delivery, peppered with catchphrases such as "often imitated, never duplicated". In 1967 they won the He soon became a manager, awarding himself the title "Captain", and he was especially effective in managing heels who could not talk like convincing villains. His career took off when he joined Tony Altimore in a mafioso tag team, the Sicilians. He was working as a bouncer when he met a group of wrestlers and began training, making his debut aged 20 in Montreal. ![]()
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