Lou Albano

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Captain Lou Albano
Statistics
Ring name(s) Captain Lou Albano
Billed height 5' 10"[1]
Billed weight 350 lb
Born July 29, 1933 (1933-07-29) (age 74)
Mt. Vernon, New York [1]
Resides Carmel, New York
Billed from Mt. Vernon, New York
Debut 1953[1]
Retired 1995

Louis Vincent Albano (born July 29, 1933 in Mt. Vernon, New York), better known by his ring name Captain Lou Albano, is a former Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor. With an over-the-top personality and a penchant for making boisterous declarations, Albano was the epitome of the antagonistic manager that raised the ire of wrestlers and incited the anger of spectators. Throughout his forty-year career, Albano guided 15 different tag teams and 4 singles competitors to championship gold. A unique showman, with an elongated beard, rubberband facial piercings, and loud outfits, he was the forefather of the 1980s Rock 'n' Wrestling explosion. Collaborating with Cyndi 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.

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[edit] Early life

Captain Lou was born Louis Albano in Mt. Vernon, New York to Dr. Carmen and Eleanor Albano. He played football at and graduated from Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York. [2] After briefly attending the University of Tennessee on a football scholarship, Albano left school to join the Army.[3] During his tour, Albano became interested in the WWF when he was working at a bar as a bouncer and met two WWF performers. Albano made his professional wrestling debut by defeating Bob Lazaro in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1953. [4]

[edit] World Wide Wrestling Federation

Albano achieved moderate success as a tag team performer with partner Tony Altomare. Dubbed The Sicilians, Altomare and Albano drew considerable heat competing as a stereotypical Italian gangster combo. Their realistic depiction of their characters caught the attention of actual mafiosi who requested the duo tone down their act. Over the next few years, The Sicilians continued their success by winning the Midwest tag team titles and later the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship from Arnold Skaaland and Spiros Arion.

Following the encouragement of fellow wrestler Bruno Sammartino,[3] Albano transformed himself into the brash, bombastic manager Captain Lou Albano. With a quick wit and a grating personality, Albano delivered memorable promos that made him wrestling's most villainous manager. He earned the scorn of the wrestling audience as he attempted to dethrone World Wide Wrestling Federation superstar and WWWF champion Bruno Sammartino. In 1971, Albano achieved his objective when "Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff ended Sammartino's seven year reign as champion. Koloff's reign marked the only time that Albano would manage a World Heavyweight champion. For the remainder of the seventies Albano's cadre of loyal henchmen were unable to resecure the championship.

Albano guided singles wrestlers such as Pat Patterson, Don Muraco and Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine to the Intercontinental Championship. Furthermore, Albano carved a prolific legacy that remains unmatched by guiding over a dozen teams to the WWWF World Tag Team Championships. Under his tutelage, Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito, The Valiant Brothers, Wild Samoans, The Moondogs, and The British Bulldogs were a few of many that solidified Albano as wrestling's premiere tag team manager. By the end of his career, Albano managed over 50 different wrestlers that won two dozen championships.

[edit] Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection

By the 1980s, Albano appeared in Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want To Have Fun", "She Bop", "Time After Time" and The Goonies 'R' Good Enough music videos. Parlaying the venture, new WWF owner Vince McMahon devised the Rock 'n' Wrestling storyline, a collaboration and cross-promotion between the newly renamed WWF and elements of the music industry[5]. During a public appearance at Madison Square Garden, the treacherous manager made sexist comments that outraged the singer and non-wrestling fans[3]. Furthermore, on WWF television, Albano made the audacious claims that he was Lauper's manager and that he was the architect of her success. The two settled their differences on the MTV/WWF special "The War To Settle The Score". Following Lauper's victory at the event, Albano apologized to Lauper and instantly became a fan favorite and the voice of Rock 'n' Wrestling. The crossover storyline, coupled with the Hulkamania phenomenon surrounding then-WWF champion Hulk Hogan and the first WrestleMania, triggered a period of unprecedented success for not only the WWF, but for the professional wrestling industry as a whole.[1] Moreover, Albano helped cement wrestling's place within pop culture. Following the colossal success of the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection, Albano left the WWF in 1986 to focus on various projects. Except for a brief return in 1994 to co-manage The Headshrinkers, Albano has since retired from the wrestling industry.

[edit] Hollywood crossover and semi-retirement

Capitalizing on his new found celebrity, Albano began appearing in a vast array of television and film projects. Throughout the late eighties, Albano appeared in 227, Miami Vice, Hey Dude, Brian De Palma's Wiseguys and the 1987 wrestling movie Body Slam. Expanding into music, Albano managed and performed with rockers NRBQ. He was immortalized in the song "Captain Lou" on their Lou and the Q album.

In March 1989, on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, Albano shaved his trademark beard to star as the iconic video game character Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show. The one-time villain, along with Danny Wells co-starred in live action segments during interludes of the Mario cartoon, as well as providing the voice of his animated counterpart.

From 1990 to 1991, Albano hosted a regular interview segment on UWF Fury Hour called Captain Lou's Corner.

During the 1990s, Albano became a vegetarian and shed 150 pounds (70 kg) following a health scare. In May 2005, Albano suffered a heart attack, but later recovered. Albano continues to be involved in the wrestling industry, and he continues to appear on independent and reunion shows. Albano co-authored the book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pro-Wrestling along with Bert Randolph Sugar.[6] In 1996, Albano was enshrined into the WWF Hall of Fame.[1] Captain Lou made a brief appearance on the June 11, 2007 edition of RAW, paying his respects to the career of World Wrestling Entertainment owner Vince McMahon.

[edit] Personal Life

Lou and his wife Gerry have four children and twelve grandchildren. [7]

[edit] In wrestling

  • Wrestlers managed
  • Tag Teams managed by Albano

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

Inducted in 1996 [1]
  • PWI Manager of The Year 1974, 1981 and 1986.
  • PWI Editor's Award.
Preceded by
Peter Cullen
1983-1985
Saturday Supercade		 Voice of Mario
1989-1990
Super Mario Brothers Super Show		 Succeeded by
Walker Boone
1990-1992
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 & Captain N & Super Mario World

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Lou Albano's WWE Hall of Fame Profile. WWE.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-06.
  2. ^ Stepinac Crusaders website
  3. ^ a b c Pro Wrestling Radio Interview
  4. ^ Gerwick Wrestling Timeline
  5. ^ The Wrestling Museum Hall of Fame Induction Article
  6. ^ ISBN 0028639618 (2nd edition, 2000)
  7. ^ Lou Albano's Hall of Fame Induction. youtube.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
  8. ^ Foley, Mick. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks (p.83)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Professional wrestling
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