Captain Lou Albano, dead at 76

[Mr. Dead]

http://www.gerweck.net/news/1255537953.shtml

[Gaoshang Xiongshou]

Ring the bell for him one last time...


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


No confirmation on cause of death yet...

Good memories from this one... thank you, Lou. :byeb:

[kraken]

With all due respect, I could have sworn he died a few years ago.

[Gaoshang Xiongshou]

You know, one could have easily thought so, since there was never any mention of him at all. He must have stayed really low-key throughout all of these years after retiring.

[~gymdiva~]

from foxsports.com:



NEW YORK (AP) - "Captain" Lou Albano, who became one of the most recognized professional wrestlers of the 1980s after appearing in Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" music video, died Wednesday. He was 76.

Albano, whose real name was Louis Vincent Albano, died in Westchester County in suburban New York, said Dawn Marie, founder of Wrestlers Rescue, an organization that helps raise money for the health care of retired wrestlers. He died of natural causes, Marie said.

World Wrestling Entertainment called him one of the company's "most popular and charismatic legends."

With his trademark Hawaiian shirts, wiry goatee and rubber bands hung like piercings from his cheek, Albano was an outsized personality who, in a career spanning nearly five decades, was known as much for his showmanship as for his talent in the ring.

His fame skyrocketed when he appeared in Lauper's landmark 1983 music video, playing a scruffy, overbearing father in a white tank top who gets shoved against a wall by the singer.

Partly because of the success of Albano's partnership with Lauper, the entity then known as the World Wrestling Federation forged ties with the music industry. That helped bring it to a wider national audience in the mid-1980s, known as the "Rock n' Wrestling" era.

It was a time when wrestlers such as Albano, Hulk Hogan, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Andre the Giant were so popular that they could headline a television cartoon series and appear in movies.

Albano later had a role in the music video for Lauper's 1984 song "Time After Time," and he appeared in episodes of the TV series "Miami Vice" and in the 1986 movie "Body Slam." He played Mario in "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show," a live-action animated show, from 1989 to 1991.

His career in the ring began in 1953 in Canada, and he went on to form the "The Sicilians" tag team with Tony Altimore. They were known for wearing fedoras and talking about the Mafia in interviews, according to the book "WWE Legends" by Brian Solomon.

Albano also coached popular tag teams such as The Wild Samoans, The Executioners and The Moondogs. He retired from the WWE in 1996.

Albano was born on July 29, 1933, in Rome. After moving to the U.S., the family settled in Mount Vernon, N.Y. Survivors include his wife, Geri, four children and 14 grandchildren.

[~gymdiva~]

by Matt Boone
Oct 14, 2009

Wrestler's Rescue sent along the following:

For immediate release:

Captain Lou Albano Dies at 76

Speaking on behalf of the Albano family, Wrestler's Rescue is sad to report that Captain Lou Albano has died at the age of 76.

A private wake will be held at Balsamo-Cordovano Funeral Home in Carmel from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday. A funeral Mass will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. James the Apostle Church in Carmel.

[MichaelWayne]

RIP Cap'N

OTtelwOgscM

[R.I.P.]

thanks for the memories Lou. God rest your soul.

[~gymdiva~]

by Nick Paglino
Oct 15, 2009


A CRAVE ONLINE EXCLUSIVE!

PAUL HEYMAN BLOGS ABOUT THE DEATH
OF CAPTAIN LOU ALBANO

...and offers some never-before-told stories!

Long before he was the owner of ECW; even before he was known as "Paul E. Dangerously"; Paul Heyman was a teenage photographer who was given all access passes to Madison Square Garden. One of the people Paul came to know during this time was the legendary pro wrestling manager Captain Lou Albano.

In a blog posted exclusively on The Heyman Hustle website, Paul offers some wild road stories about the Captain that have never been told (at least publicly) before.

Key excerpt:

There are so many "Albano" stories to tell, from the time he ran in his shorts and flip flops up 8th Avenue in New York City when his car broke down during a snow storm, and had hundreds of people following him to what was then known as The Howard Johnson's Hotel where everyone stayed; to the time he got into a drinking contest with Andre The Giant at the hotel bar, took a Ric Flair-esque face bump into the top of a stool, cracked his head, and was knocked out cold ... only to wake up when Don Muraco and Greg Valentine helped peel Lou off the floor. Lou ran outside, threw up all over the sidewalk (with half the remnants of his dinner prominently remaining on his hairy chest), came back inside, ordered another 3 rounds, turned to Andre and said "I get a 3 drink handicap for that bump!"

As a 15 year old who bullshitted his way into getting All Access Photographer Passes for Madison Square Garden, I ran the fan clubs for all 3 Wise Men of the East. During the summertime, I would sometimes go to Allentown and Hamburg, and cover the WWWF television tapings. One time, I ended up catching a ride with Albano, who was driving Blassie (which was a great idea, because Blassie was partially blind and a menace behind the wheel even with perfect eyesight).

So we got out of Madison Square Garden, and we're flying through New Jersey heading towards Allentown. Lou reaches under his seat, and pulls out one of those big glass Tropicana grapefruit juice bottles. Of course, grapefruit juice was no longer the contents of this bottle. As a matter of fact, I can't even tell you that Lou was drinking Vodka AND grapefruit juice. It was more like vodka with a tiny little splash of grapefruit juice. Or, as Blassie used to tease The Captain, "methane with something to give it a little bit of color."

Now keep in mind, I'm in my mid-teens here, watching and listening to Blassie scream at Albano "you're going to get us killed! This kid's Father is a lawyer! He's going to sue our widows, and take our swimming pools, you (2 minutes of expletives) maniac!"

Lou would just laugh, with both feet on the gas pedal, and hanging onto the steering wheel for dear life. All of a sudden, Lou goes into an insane coughing fit, and spits up some phlemmy-looking loogie that must have come from the deepest, darkest recesses of his digestive system. This frightening piece of intestinal backwash ends up all over the inside of the windshield, and Lou pulls a tissue out of his pocket, wipes it off the windshield ... we're still going 90 miles an hour, mind you... and proceeds to suck the loogie back down with a big mischievous smile on his face.


you have to go check out the full post...quite a read:

RIP CPT LOU (http://heymanhustle.craveonline.com/articles/news/22266-rip-captain-lou)

[Greg0ry]

Damn, RIP

[~gymdiva~]

by Matt Boone
Oct 15, 2009

WWE.com has a new feature piece up on their website called "Memories of the Captain" where several WWE Hall Of Famers and current Superstars share their thoughts and memories of the late Captain Lou Albano.




and pics are HERE (http://www.wwe.com/superstars/halloffame/inductees/captainloualbano/photos/)


and memories are HERE (http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/12089428)

[exit2010]

Cyndi Lauper must be devastated.

[~gymdiva~]

by Matt Boone
Oct 19, 2009
Cyndi Lauper and Sharon Osbourne were guests together today on The Howard Stern Show on SIRIUS/XM satelitte radio. The two came in to promote a charity they're involved in, which WWE Diva Maria is also a part of.

Stern brought up the subject of the passing of Captain Lou Albano and Lauper told shared some stories on their past. She talked about putting him in her music videos and her connection with him and pro wrestling.

All in all a classy segment outside of Stern mocking pro wrestling in general.

[atomicplayboy3000]

oh Captain my Captain
gone to that great Rubber Band Factory in the sky