Captain Lou Albano, the legendary and colorful pro wrestling coach who made memorable cameos in several Cyndi Lauper videos, died 14 October 2009, Westchester County, New York, USA
What Lou Albano Was
In the early '70s, Lou made the transition from wrestler to manager. In 1971, he became the manager of the WWE Champion when Ivan Koloff beat Bruno Sammartino for the title. Despite the early success as a singles manager, Albano's claim to fame would come as being the manager of tag teams. He managed 15 different teams to the World Tag Team Championship.
More About Lou Albano And His History
His death was announced by Wrestlers Rescue, which supports the health care needs of retired wrestlers. It said he had been under hospice care but did not report the nature of his illness.
“I wrote the book on being ugly,” Albano told The New York Times in 1984, after blending pro wrestling with the entertainment world beyond the ring and taking it into the “Rock n’ Wrestling” era with his role as Ms. Lauper’s father in her “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” video.
Albano, who stood 5 feet 10 inches, weighed about 310 pounds at the time and delighted in Hawaiian print shirts that revealed a generous portion of his midsection. He sported three rubber bands dangling from a pin on one cheek, another three hanging from an ear and one more through a long beard as wild as his curly dark hair.
