Louis Albano

Louis Vincent Captain Lou Albano was an Italianborn American professional wrestler manager and actor He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1969 then he became a manager until 1995 Throughout his 42year career Albano guided 15 different tag teams and four singles competitors to championship gold Albano was part of the Triumvirate of Terror a threesome of nefarious WWF managers that also included The Grand Wizard of Wrestling and Freddie Blassie The trio would be fixtures in the company for a decade until the Grand Wizards death in 1983 A unique showman with an elongated beard rubber band facial piercings and loud outfits Albano was the forefather of the 1980s Rock n Wrestling Connection Collaborating with Cyndi Lauper Albano helped usher in wrestlings crossover success with a mainstream audience Capitalizing on his success he later ventured into Hollywood with various television film and music projects He became wellknown to a new generation of fans as the actor and voice of Mario in The Super Mario Bros Super Show In 1953 Albano married his high school sweetheart Geraldine Tango The marriage lasted 56 years until his death Albano has been noted by several others for his faithfulness to his wife a rare characteristic in the ontheroad world of 1970s and 1980s professional wrestling Albano released his autobiography Often Imitated Never Duplicated on July 20 2008 through his website The book includes a foreword by Cyndi Lauper The other Albano siblings are Vincent George Eleanor and Carl all of whom became teachers Albanos brother Carl taught health for 32 years at Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood New Jersey and was head of the Ridgewood High health department from 1974 until 2001 Carls students have noted that he used his brother Lou as an example of the difference between crazy and unique George served as the Principal of Lincoln Elementary School in Mount Vernon New York and often brought Lou in to delight the schools students during their lunch hour Vincent was an art teacher and lived parttime in a lake house in Connecticut Eleanor was a music teacher for preschool students in Connecticut and impacts the lives of countless students through music Albanos son Carl Albano has been a member of the Putnam County Legislature since 2011 During the 1990s Albano shed 150 pounds 70 kg following a health scare In May 2005 Albano suffered a heart attack but later recovered Albano was sent home from the hospital and again began watching his health The song Captain Lou by Kimya Dawson is dedicated to him In 1983 the band NRBQ wrote a song about Albano called Captain Lou Albano was featured as a singer on that song as well on another called Boardin House Pie Both of these songs appear on NRBQs Tap Dancin Bats compilation their Lou and Q spokenword comedy record as well as their outofprint hardtofind single which Albano used to sell at his wrestling matches Albano died on October 14 2009 of a heart attack while residing in hospice careHe was 76 years old