Lou Albano

"Captain Lou" redirects here. For other uses, seeCaptain Lou (disambiguation).

Louis Vincent Albano(July 29, 1933 – October 14, 2009) was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor, who performed under the ring/stage name "Captain"Lou Albano.He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1969, before becoming a manager until 1996.

Lou Albano
Albano in June 2009
Birth name	Louis Vincent Albano
Born	(1933-07-29)July 29, 1933 Rome,Lazio,Kingdom of Italy
Died	October 14, 2009(2009-10-14)(aged 76) Westchester County, New York,U.S.
Cause of death	Heart attack
Spouse(s)	Geraldine Tango ​ (m.1953)​
Children	4
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Lou Albano The Captain
Billed height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Billed weight	350 lb (159 kg)
Billed from	Carmel, New York
Trained by	Arnold Skaaland Soldier Barry
Debut	1953
Retired	1969(as wrestler) 1996(as manager)

Over the course of his 42-year career, Albano guided 15 different tag teams and three singles competitors to championship gold.Albano was one of the "Triumvirate of Terror", a threesome of nefarious WWF managers which includedThe Grand Wizard of WrestlingandFreddie Blassie.The trio was a fixture in the company for a decade until The Grand Wizard's death in 1983.

A unique showman, with an elongated beard, rubber band facial piercings, and loud outfits, Albano was the forefather of the 1980sRock 'n' Wrestling Connection.Working first withNRBQand later withCyndi Lauper,Albano helped usher in wrestling's crossover success with a mainstream audience. Capitalizing on his success, he later ventured into Hollywood with various television, film, and music projects. He became well known to a younger generation of fans as the actor and voice ofMarioinThe Super Mario Bros. Super Show!

Early life

Albano was born on July 29, 1933, inRome.His parents, Carmen Louis Albano (1905–1962) and Eleanor AlbanonéeMorrone, were of Italian heritage but both born in the United States. Eleanor was a classical concert pianist who had performed atCarnegie Halland later became a registered nurse. Her brother, a physician, introduced her to Carmen in the 1930s, who was training to be an obstetrician. After marrying, they temporarily relocated to Italy while Carmen pursued hismedical degreeat theUniversity of Bari.Lou was born around the time his father was studying. Carmen later co-patented a forceps instrument to assist inbreech birthdeliveries. Lou wasbaptizedin theVatican,and his parents shortly thereafter returned to theNew York Cityarea aboard theRMSMajestic.Lou was one of nine children, of whom five lived to adulthood. The family settled in theMount Vernonarea. Lou attendedArchbishop Stepinac High SchoolinWhite Plains, New York,where he competed intrack and field,and finally rose to the position of captain of thefootballteam. It was this rank that later inspired his wrestling moniker, "Captain" Lou Albano.His skills were such that he received 32 offers of full scholarship from universities around the country, and he chose theUniversity of Tennesseeon the strength of their football team. Here, Albano was teammates with the likes ofDarris McCord,Doug Atkins,and his roommate,Sam Rutigliano.Albano had conflicts with the dean due to poor behavior and was expelled after attempting to cheat on a final exam. He then joined theUnited States Army,but due to a childhood injury exacerbated by his football days, Albano was honorably discharged after only eight months.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1953–1967)

Although Albano's father, retired from medicine, wanted to open an insurance agency with his son, Lou instead began training as aboxer.A distant cousin and family friend,Lou Duva,introduced Albano toWillie Gilzenberg,a boxing promoter who later became the first titular president of the WWWF. Gilzenberg, noting Albano's relatively short stature, instead encouraged him to enter wrestling. Albano's father had himself been an amateur wrestler, and Albano himself had been introduced to professional wrestling at an event held atFort Dixduring his tenure in the Army, where he had seen the likes ofGorgeous George,Arnold Skaaland,Soldier Barry, andLenny Montana—all of whom Albano later worked with. Gilzenberg asked Soldier Barry to help train Albano, and in 1952, the two began doing house shows in the New York area.Albano was originally seen as a "pretty boy," and wrestled as thebabyface"Leaping Lou Albano". After a non-wrestling injury caused a gash on his forehead, he purposefully did not allow the scar to heal, and the minor disfigurement allowed him to turnheel.Now billed as the "Mount Vernon Mauler," and occasionally a pirate, he began establishing himself in the New York professional wrestling community. At this point, Gilzenberg introduced Albano toVince McMahon Sr.,promoter of the new Capitol Wrestling Corporation inWashington, D.C.—the first predecessor to what is today WWE. Albano worked for Capitol Wrestling and its successors, under Vince McMahon and his son, for most of the rest of his career.Albano made little impact as a solo wrestler, working prelims in various circuits, but he achieved moderate success as a tag team performer with partnerTony Altomare.Dubbed The Sicilians, Altomare and Albano competed as a stereotypical Italiangangstercombo in the mode of the then-popular television seriesThe Untouchables.The pair won the Midwest tag team championship on the undercard of June 30, 1961Comiskey Parkevent starringPat O'ConnorandBuddy Rogersthat set the all-time record gate in the United States to that point. Their realistic depiction of gangster characters caught the attention of actualmafiosiin 1961. In Chicago,Tony Accardoand two associates "requested" that Albano and Altomare cease using the word "mafia". During their run as Midwest tag team champions, personal differences with bookers and other wrestlers resulted in the pair abandoning the territory quickly enough that they did not lose the title before leaving.

WWWF/WWF (1964, 1967–1986)

In 1964, Albano wrestled for theWorld Wide Wrestling Federationas a singles competitor.

The Sicilians and breakup (1967–1969)

Albano returned in 1967 and again partnered withTony Altomareas "The Sicilians". In July, they won theWWWF United States Tag Team ChampionshipfromArnold SkaalandandSpiros Arion.Albano and Altomare only held the championship for two weeks, a title change which was not even acknowledged on WWWF television outside theAtlantic Citymarket. But several photographs of the pair with their title belts were taken, which elevated Albano's reputation in the wrestling magazines of the time, and provided good publicity fodder later in his career. By 1969, The Sicilians disbanded and went their separate ways. Albano went on as a singles competitor before retiring from active in-ring wrestling to focus on work as a manager.

Becoming a manager (1970)

Albano in 1973

In 1970, fellow wrestlerBruno Sammartinomentioned to McMahon that Albano, a mediocre wrestler who was nonetheless an entertaining speaker, might be better utilized as amanager.In professional wrestling, a manager might be tasked with behind-the-scenes efforts to help push forward a charge's career or handle his booking, but plays an equal or even greater role in the ring, speaking for his charge and helping rile up the crowd for or against him. Sammartino recalled: "One day I said to Vince Sr., this guy [Albano] isn't the best wrestler, as a team, they [Albano & Altomare] can only go so far. But he'd be a great mouthpiece for some guy. Lou has such a gift of gab that he can help out some people. As a wrestler, he just seemed limited. He was always the same. He was never looked upon by promoters as someone who could be anyone special. But as a manager, he shined. That was his calling."Albano, realizing that wrestlers had only a limited lifespan in the ring, and still dealing with his old football injury, agreed. Although it was his decision to split up his ten-year tag team partnership with Altomare, the two remained very close until the latter's death in 2003.

At this time, managers were relatively rare in the pro wrestling world—WWWF had only two others. However, a promising new wrestler, Oscar "Crusher" Verdu, had just recently emigrated from Spain. His in-ring capabilities were hampered by a limited command of English, and Albano was assigned to be his mouthpiece. Albano emphasized Verdu's physique and insisted that he had never been taken off his feet during a match. To rile up audiences, he also engaged in ethnic slurs, which were then a more common part of WWWF banter; Albano promised that Verdu would stomp on "that Italian" (Sammartino); the fact that Albano was known to be Italian himself only heightened the audience's reaction. Sammartino later said, "They wanted to see me beat the hell out of Verdu to make Albano a liar. He could get the kind ofheatthat nobody else could. "The result was aMadison Square Gardensellout when Verdu faced Sammartino in June 1970, the first for the company in five years and a then-record gate for a wrestling event in that arena. The record lasted only a month, when a rematch brought in over $85,000 in ticket receipts. After losing that match, Verdu cycled out of the WWWF rotation, but Albano remained as the top heel manager for the next 15 years.

Thus began his transition into the brash, bombastic manager "Captain" Lou Albano. With a quick wit and a grating personality, Albano delivered memorablepromosand earned the scorn of the wrestling audience as he attempted to dethroneWorld Wide Wrestling Federation(WWWF) superstar and Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino. Albano described the strategy behind his overblown, ranting interview style: "I just remember the point I wanna bring across, and then I just babble before, during, and after. Somehow, in the middle, I said the two or three sentences that sold tickets. Mostly, I just tried to make people want to see me get my ass kicked, and along the way, hopefully the guy I was managing would catch a beating too!"Growing out his hair and beard, and packing on extra pounds, Albano gave the image of a wild man. He developed a later trademark, applying rubber bands to his beard, after having seen a homeless man do the same. He also often wore a rubber band hanging from a safety pin pushed through his cheek.

Career as a manager (1971–1984)

In January 1971, Albano was the manager whenIvan Koloffended Sammartino's seven-year reign as champion.Koloff's title reign was a transitional one, lasting just three weeks. Koloff had a typical heel run against Sammartino in 1969, but Albano spent months claiming that his previous manager Tony Angelo had trained him incorrectly, and that Koloff would beat Sammartino under Albano's expert tutelage. The shock of Koloff's victory was such that the crowd fell totally silent, and Sammartino momentarily feared that he had lost his hearing. Koloff and Albano were quickly rushed out of the ring by security without the championship belt as the crowd began to riot. Albano, his wife, and a family friend, who were both in attendance, escaped to a taxi outside the Garden. The mob surrounded the cab and began breaking windows, so the trio ran to a nearby bar, followed by the crowd who were pelting them with mud and objects. The mob was beginning to destroy the bar as the police finally arrived. Vince McMahon received a bill for damages totaling $27,000 ($182,378 in 2021 dollars), cementing Albano's unparalleled ability to "draw heat" (arouse anger in the audience).

Another protege of Albano was"Iron Mike" McCord.In a memorable match in 1974Chief Jay Strongbowapplied his famous sleeper hold on McCord but Albano interfered in the match by smashing an arm cast over Strongbow's forehead, causing him to bleed badly. McCord was disqualified due to outside interference. Later Strongbow settled the score by challenging Albano to put on the wrestling tights once again. And the stage was set in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden, where he defeated Captain Lou Albano quite convincingly.

Albano then resumed his role as the mastermind trying to lead his latest bad guy protege to the gold. For the remainder of the 1970s and into the mid-1980s, Albano's cadre of loyal henchmen were unable to re-secure the heavyweight championship, held by either Sammartino,Pedro Morales,Bob BacklundorHulk Hogan.However, Albano guided singles wrestlersDon MuracoandGreg Valentineto theIntercontinental Heavyweight Championship.Furthermore, Albano guided thirteen teams to theWWF World Tag Team Championships,including The Valiant Brothers,The Wild Samoans,The Yukon Lumberjacks, The Blackjacks, The Moondogs, The Masked Executioners, and after becoming a babyface, theU.S. Expressand the British Bulldogs.It was during his stewardship of the Valiant Brothers that Albano picked up his "Captain" nickname, as the act was promoted as "Captain Lou and the Valiants too." By the end of his career, Albano had managed over 50 different wrestlers who won two dozen championships.

Albano (right) as manager forJimmy Snukain 1982

Albano after a match with Snuka on November 22, 1982

Albano could also help elevate wrestlers by splitting from them. In 1982, despite being managed by the villainous Albano,Jimmy Snukawas unexpectedly becoming a fan favorite due to his high-flying ring style. An interview segment revealed that Snuka had no legal contract with Albano, and thus was able to leave his manager.Shortly thereafter, a bloody beatdown by Albano,Freddie BlassieandRay Stevens,helped transform Snuka into a sympathetic figure, and triggered the most successful period of his career.Albano had previously helped turn the villainous Intercontinental ChampionPat Pattersoninto a fan favorite, by "purchasing" Patterson's contract against his will. He also managed the U.S. Express atWrestleMania.

Final storylines (1979–1986)

NRBQ (back) and Lou Albano (front)

In 1979,Jimmy Valiantintroduced Albano toNRBQon the latter's tour bus. BandmemberTerry Adamsinvited Albano to play the part of their manager and he agreed. In 1980, Albano taped a TV commercial for the band's albumTiddlywinks.At the time, it was considered "offensive" so it was broadcast only once in the Boston area. Audience members were taken aback when Albano was formally introduced into the music business by NRBQ atThe Ritzin January 1981.NRBQ compiled all the recordings they'd done with Albano on their albumLou and the Q,which includes their 1981 single "Captain Lou" b/w "Boardin' House Pie" — on which Albano himself sings and rants.

In 1984, Albano met pop singerCyndi Lauperon a plane flight fromPuerto Rico.Her manager, David Wolff, suggested that the two collaborate on a project at some point in the future. In 1984, the opportunity came when Lauper's video for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"needed an actor to play the singer's father, and Albano was suggested. Initially reluctant, he was convinced by his wife to agree, and Lauper and Albano thereafter formed a lifelong friendship. He appeared in several of her music videos and she appeared onRoddy Piper's "Piper's Pit" program to discuss the collaboration. Albano, in character, began denigrating Lauper and women in general and claimed to have written all her songs and been the only reason for her success. Lauper, in turn, assaulted Albano with her purse, and the two agreed to settle their differences in the ring. Albano and Lauper agreed to compete by proxy, each choosing a female wrestler to contend. Lauper choseWendi Richter,while Albano choseThe Fabulous Moolah.The match, scheduled for July 23, 1984, was dubbedThe Brawl to End it All,and was broadcast live onMTV.During the match, Lauper interfered on Richter's behalf by hitting Moolah in the head with her purse, dubbed "The Loaded Purse of Doom". At the conclusion of the match, Richter had defeated Moolah for theWWF Women's Championship,which the WWF had promoted Moolah as having held for the previous 28 years.

In the meantime, Albano had become involved in severalcharities.His brother's brother-in-law had recently died ofmultiple sclerosis,and the experience led Albano to lend his time to raising awareness and funds to combat the disease, occasionally alongside Lauper. His increasingly public benevolence clashed with his in-ring persona, which violated the principles ofkayfabe—maintaining the appearance of reality within professional wrestling—which were still strictly adhered to at the time. In 1984, Albano decided it was time, after 32 years as a heel, to turn face. He therefore arranged for Lauper to receive an in-ring award for her contributions to both wrestling and the fight against MS, for which he also came out and congratulated her. In the course of the ceremony, Roddy Piper and"Cowboy" Bob Ortoncame into the ring to sarcastically praise Albano before breaking Lauper's award, a gold record plaque, over his head. Lauper and her boyfriend-manager David Wolff were also attacked by Piper and Orton. The melee was broken up by Hulk Hogan who draped himself across Albano to protect him from further onslaught, signalling to the audience that the once notorious heel manager was suddenly now a fellow babyface. The altercation allowed Albano to now wrestle and manage as a crowd favorite. His last two (heel) singles protégés, Valentine andKen Patera,were paired withJimmy HartandBobby Heenan,respectively, after Albano's face turn. Although he continued his overblown, rambling interviews—one of the lead announcers for the WWF,Gorilla Monsoon,continued to refer to Albano as "The Fountain of Misinformation" —Albano was now leading fan favorites such asThe U.S. Express,George Steele(a former wildman heel whom Albano aided after he was abandoned by his partners after losing a six man tag match against Albano's men),The British Bulldogs,Hulk HoganandAndré the Giantinto battle. The U.S. Express and British Bulldogs became the first tag teams to win the WWF Tag Team Championships with Albano as a "face" manager.

Superstars of Wrestling and UWF (1986–1991)

Albano left the WWF in late 1986 with one final match on an episode ofWrestling Challengethat aired on November 16, 1986, teaming with The British Bulldogs to defeat The Dream Team and Luscious Johnny Vailant. Albano would then make a one-time appearance on a "Piper's Pit" on an episode ofSuperstars of Wrestlingin February 1987 to askAndré the Giantto reconsider his recent alignment withBobby Heenan.Albano briefly worked in Herb Abrams'UWFpromotion in 1991, where he hosted an interview segment.

Return to WWF and retirement (1994–1997)

Albano returned to the WWF in 1994 to manage the newly face-turnedHeadshrinkers,helping lead them to the WWF Tag Team Championship. He left in early 1995, making sporadic appearances as a guest from then on, but never again as a manager.He later retired from managing wrestlers in 1996.Albano appeared briefly in the WWF during the September 22nd 1997 edition of Raw taking notes during a match with The Rock and Ahmed Johnson, implying a potential return to managing

Legacy in the WWE

The events leading up to Albano's face turn proved to be pivotal in the history of the WWF. Hogan, Piper, and Orton began a feud at Lauper's award ceremony that culminated inThe War to Settle the Score.The outcome of the War—Hogan winning by disqualification—was the impetus for the primary match at the firstWrestleMania,in which Albano also participated, as a face manager. More importantly, the involvement of Lauper, a celebrity completely unrelated to wrestling, in the pro wrestling world was unprecedented. MTV's decision to broadcast the Brawl to End it All tremendously increased the WWF's public profile, especially in the coveted young adult demographic. This led directly to the1980s professional wrestling boom.Wrestling Observer'sDave Meltzerwrote, "Without Albano, wrestling history would have been monumentally different because if you take Lauper's involvement out of the equation, the early losses on expanding nationally and buying so much television time were on the verge of putting the company under... Without her, there would have been no MTV special, no national media publicity, and it's highly unlikely without it that the first WrestleMania would have been a success. If you take Albano's participation out of the equation, there is a good chance the McMahon expansion would have hit an iceberg and died in early 1985... the attention garnered by the Rock & Wrestling Connection, stemming from that chance meeting on an airplane between Lauper and Albano less than two years earlier, ledNBCto make the decision to airSaturday Night's Main Eventseveral times per year in theSaturday Night Livetime slot. "

Television and film

Albano (left) and Cyndi Lauper (right), circa 1983

Albano appeared in the 1986 filmWise Guys,starringDanny DeVito.He played the role ofMario,Nintendo'smascot,in both the live-action and animated segments ofThe Super Mario Bros. Super Show!,a TV series based on theSuper Mario Bros.game series. He also had roles in the TV series227,Hey Dude,andMiami Vice,the 1992 filmStay Tuned,and was a recurring guest on the game showHollywood Squares.Albano played a villainous caricature of himself named "Captain Lou Morano" in the 1987 movieBody Slam,starringDirk BenedictandRoddy Piper.The film also included cameo appearances by wrestlersRic Flair,Freddie Blassie,andBruno Sammartino.Albano played the role of the father inCyndi Lauper's music videos for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun","The Goonies 'R' Good Enough"and"She Bop",as well as a cook in the video for her song "Time After Time".

Personal life

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 on-the-road 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 byCyndi Lauper.The other Albano siblings are Vincent, George, Eleanor, and Carl, all of whom became teachers. Albano's brother, Carl, taught health for 32 years at Ridgewood High School inRidgewood, New Jersey,and was head of the Ridgewood High health department from 1974 until 2001.Carl's 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 inMount Vernon, New York,and often brought Lou in to delight the school's students during their lunch hour. Vincent was an art teacher and lived part-time in a lake house inConnecticut.Eleanor was a music teacher for preschool students in Connecticut.

Albano's son, Carl Albano, has been a member of thePutnam CountyLegislature since 2011.During the 1990s, Albano shed 150 pounds (68.0389 kg) following a health scare. In May 2005, Albano suffered aheart attack,but later recovered. Albano was sent home from the hospital and again began watching his health. The song "Captain Lou" byKimya Dawsonis dedicated to him (not to be confused with the 1981NRBQsong of the same name).

Death

Albano died on October 14, 2009, inWestchester County, New York,of aheart attackwhile residing inhospice care.He was 76 years old.Albano was buried at Rose Hill Memorial Park inCarmel, New York.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Below the Belt	Wrestler
1986	Wise Guys	Frank 'The Fixer' Acavano
	Body Slam	Captain Lou Murano
1991	Complex World	Boris Lee
1992	Stay Tuned	Ring Announcer
2000	The Boys Behind the Desk	—
2001	Mafioso: The Father, the Son	Doc
2003	The Undertaker's Dozen	Lou Costanza
2010	Hot Ice, No-one Is Safe	Frankie the Hat

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1963	Jackie Gleason: American Scene Magazine	Sandpaper Sam Staccato	1 episode
1986	227	Gus	Episode: "We the People"
1986	Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling	Captain Lou Albano	Episode: "Ballet Buffoons/Battle of the Bands"
1987	Miami Vice	Henchman #1	Episode: "By Hooker by Crook"
1989	The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!	Mario,Mama Mario, Marianne, Mario Joe, Himself	65 episodes
1990	Hey Dude	Captain Lou	Episode: "Killer Ernst"
1992	Ghostwriter	Cabbie	Episode: "Who Burned Mr. Brinker's Store?: Part 2"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Showdown: Legends of Wrestling	Himself (Captain Lou Albano)
2022	WWE Champions	Himself (Captain Lou Albano)	Posthumous appearance

Music videos

Year	Title	Role
1983	"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"	Dad
1984	"Time After Time"	Cook
	"She Bop"	Guard
1985	"The Goonies 'R' Good Enough"	Cyndi's Father

Championships and accomplishments

• Cauliflower Alley Club
  • Other honoree (1995)
• Fred Kohler Enterprises
  • Midwest Tag Team Championship (1 time) – withTony Altomare
• National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2024
• New England Wrestling Alliance
  • NEWA Hall of Fame (Class of 2011)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Manager of the Year(1974, 1981, 1986)
  • Editors' Award(1994)
• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
  • Class of 2009
• World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation
  • WWWF United States Tag Team Championship(1 time) – withTony Altomare
  • WWF Hall of Fame(Class of 1996)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best on Interviews(1981)tied withRoddy Piper
  • Worst Worked Match of the Year(1985)vs.Freddie BlassieatNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame(Class of 2012)

References

• Foley, Mick (2000).Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks.HarperCollins.ISBN0-06-103101-1.
• Ellison, Lillian (2003).The Fabulous Moolah: First Goddess of the Squared Circle.ReaganBooks.ISBN978-0-06-001258-8.
• "WWE Hall of Fame Profile"
• "Wrestling Museum Hall of Fame Induction Article"

External links

• Lou Albano on PosterousArchivedMarch 4, 2016, at theWayback Machine
• Lou AlbanoatIMDb
• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame profile
• Lou AlbanoonWWE.com
• Lou Albano's profile atCagematch.net,Wrestlingdata.com,Internet Wrestling Database
• Lou AlbanoatFind a Grave