Louis Vincent "Lou" Albano (July 29, 1933 - October 14, 2009) is an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 to 1969 before becoming manager until 1995.
During his 42-year career, Albano guided 15 different tag teams and four competitor singles to the gold championships. Albano is one of the "Triumvirate of Terror," a group of ruthless WWF managers including The Grand Wizard of Wrestling and Freddie Blassie. The trio was a fixture in the company for a decade until The Grand Wizard died in 1983.
A unique showman, with an elongated beard, rubber band piercing, and hard garments, Albano is the ancestor of the 1980s Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection. Collaborating with Cyndi Lauper, Albano helped usher in the success of crossover wrestling with mainstream audiences. Utilizing his success, he then ventured into Hollywood with various television projects, movies, and music. He became famous for a new generation of fans as actor and voice Mario on Super Mario Bros Super Show!
Video Lou Albano
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Albano's parents, Carmen Louis Albano and Eleanor Albano nÃÆ'Â © e Morrone, is of Italian descent but both born in the United States. Eleanor was a classical concert pianist who had performed at Carnegie Hall and later became a registered nurse. His brother, a doctor, introduced him to Carmen in the 1930s, who practiced being an obstetrician. After marriage, they moved temporarily to Italy while Carmen pursued her medical degree at the University of Bari. He then patented the forceps instrument to help breech birth birth. Louis Albano was born in Italy when his father had three months left in the university. He was baptized at the Vatican, and his parents soon returned to the New York City area. Lou is one of nine children, five of whom live to adulthood. The family settled in the Mount Vernon area.
Lou studied at Stepinac Secondary School in White Plains, New York, where he competed on the track and field, and eventually climbed into the football team captain's position. This rank then inspired his wrestling moniker, "Captain" Lou Albano. His skills were such that he received 32 full scholarship offers from universities across the country, and he selected the University of Tennessee on the strength of their soccer team. Here, Albano is a teammate with the likes of Darris McCord, Doug Atkins, and his roommate, Sam Rutigliano. Albano has a conflict with the dean for bad behavior and is expelled after trying to cheat on the final exam. He later joined the United States Army, but due to a childhood injury aggravated by his soccer days, Albano was dismissed with respect after only eight months.
Maps Lou Albano
Professional wrestling career
Initial career
Although Albano's father, who retired from drugs, wanted to open an insurance agency with his son, Lou began to practice as a boxer. A distant cousin and family friend, Lou Duva, introduced Albano to Willie Gilzenberg, the boxing promoter who later became the first WWWF titular president. Gilzenberg, who noticed the relatively short stature of Albano, even encouraged him to enter wrestling. Albano's own father was an amateur wrestler, and Albano himself had been introduced to professional wrestling at an event held at Fort Dix during his tenure in the Army, where he had seen people like Gorgeous George, Arnold Skaaland, Soldier Barry and Lenny Montana - everything Albano then works with. Gilzenberg asked Soldier Barry to help train Albano, and in 1952, the two began to perform home shows in the New York area.
Albano was originally seen as a "beautiful child," and wrestled as a babyface "Leaping Lou Albano." After a non-wrestling wound causes a wound to his forehead, he deliberately does not allow the scar to heal, and minor destruction allows him to change the heel. Now referred to as "Mount Vernon Mauler," and sometimes a pirate, he begins to establish himself in the New York professional wrestling community. At this point, Gilzenberg introduced Albano to Vince McMahon Sr., a promoter of the new Capitol Wrestling Corporation in Washington, DC - the first predecessor to become WWE. Albano worked for Capitol Wrestling and his successors, under Vince McMahon and his son, for the rest of his career.
He made a small impact as a solo wrestler, working prelims on various circuits, but he achieved moderate success as a tag team player with partner Tony Altomare. Nicknamed The Sicilians, Altomare and Albano competed as a stereotypical Italian gangster gangster in the popular TV series mode The Untouchable. The pair won the Midwest tag team championship on the undercard of the June 30, 1961 Comiskey Park show, starring Pat O'Connor and Buddy Rogers who set the record gates of all time in the United States up to that time. The realistic portrayal of their gangster characters attracted the attention of the actual mafiosi in 1961. In Chicago, Tony Accardo and two colleagues "asked" that Albano and Altomare stop using the word "mafia." During their trip as champions of the Midwest tag team, personal differences with bookers and other wrestlers resulted in the pair leaving the area fast enough so that they did not lose the title before leaving. In July 1967, they won the USA WWWF Team Tag Championship from Arnold Skaaland and Spiros Arion. Albano and Altomare only held a two-week championship, a title change that was not even recognized on WWWF television outside the Atlantic City market. But some photos of the couple with their title belts were taken, which enhanced Albano's reputation in the wrestling magazine at the time, and provided good publicity food later in his career.
Become a manager
In 1970, fellow wrestler Bruno Sammartino told McMahon that Albano, a mediocre wrestler but an entertaining speaker, might be better used as a manager. In professional wrestling, a manager may be given a behind-the-scenes task to help drive a cost career or handle his order, but play a similar or even greater role in the arena, speak up on his allegations and help raise the crowd for or against him. Sammartino recalled: "One day I said to Vince Sr., this guy [Albano] is not the best wrestler, as a team, they [Albano & Altomare] can only go so far but he will be a great spokesman. man, Lou has the gift of chatting like that so he can help some people.As a wrestler, he only seems limited.He is always the same.He never seen by the promoter as someone who can be a special person.As a manager, he shines.That is the call. "Albano, realizing that wrestlers only have a limited lifetime in the ring, and is still dealing with his old football injury, agrees. Despite his decision to separate the ten-year tag team partnership with Altomare, the two remained very close to their last death in 2003.
At the moment, managers are relatively rare in pro wrestling world - WWWF has only two others. However, the promising new wrestler, Oscar "Crusher" Verdu, has just emigrated from Spain. His ability in circles was hindered by limited English command, and Albano was assigned to be a spokesperson. Albano emphasized the physical Verdu and insisted that he was never removed during the game. To raise audiences, he is also involved in ethnic insults, which later became a more common part of WWWF banter; Albano promised that Verdu would step on "Italy's" (Sammartino); the fact that Albano is known as Italy itself only increases the reaction of the audience. Sammartino then said, "They want to see me beat Verdu to make Albano a liar, he can get the kind of heat that no one else can." The result was the sale of Madison Square Garden when Verdu faced Sammartino in June 1970, the first for the company in five years and the record gate-later for the wrestling event in the arena. This record only lasts a month, when rematches bring more than $ 85,000 in admission ticket. After losing the match, Verdu cycled out of the WWWF rotation, but Albano remains the top heel manager for the next 15 years.
So start the transition into a brazen and bombastic manager, "Captain" Lou Albano. With quick intelligence and lattice personality, Albano delivered an unforgettable promo and got the scorn of the wrestling audience as he tried to defeat the superstar of the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) and WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino. Albano describes the strategy behind his exaggerated lecture style and grumbles: "I only remember the points I want to convey, and then I just babble before, during, and after." Somehow, in the middle, I say two or three sentences sold, most of them, I just try to make people want to see me kicked, and along the way, hopefully the person I manage will catch a blow too! "Growing her hair and beard, and packing with extra weight, Albano gives the impression of man wild. He developed the trademark later, applying rubber bands to his beard, after seeing a homeless person do the same. He also often wears a rubber band hanging from a pin that is pushed through his cheek.
Career as a manager
In January 1971, Albano was manager when Ivan Koloff ended Sammartino's seven-year reign as champion. The Koloff government degree is a transition, lasting just three weeks. Koloff had a typical heel against Sammartino in 1969, but Albano spent several months claiming that the previous manager had trained him incorrectly, and that Koloff would defeat Sammartino under the guidance of an Albano expert. The surprise of Koloff's victory was such that the crowd was completely silent, and Sammartino momentarily felt afraid of losing his hearing. Koloff and Albano were quickly rushed out of the ring by security without a championship belt as the crowd began to churn. Albano, his wife, and a family friend, both of whom attended, escaped to a taxi outside the Park. The masses surrounded the taxi and began to break the windows, so the trio ran to a nearby bar, followed by a crowd throwing them at mud and objects. The masses began to destroy the bar when the police finally arrived. Vince McMahon received a bill for damages of $ 27,000 (over $ 167,000 in 2017 dollars), strengthening Albanian's unrivaled ability to "draw the heat" (arouse anger amongst the audience).
Albano then continues his role as a puppeteer who tries to lead his most evil men to gold. During the rest of the 1970s and into the mid-1980s, an Albanian cadre of faithful minions could not secure the heavyweight championship, held by Sammartino, Pedro Morales, Bob Backlund or Hulk Hogan. However, Albano guided the sole wrestlers Don Muraco and Greg Valentine to the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship. Furthermore, Albano guided fifteen teams to the World TagWWF World Championships, including The Valiant Brothers, The Wild Samoans, The Lumberjack Yukon, Blackjacks, The Moondogs, The Masked Executioners, and after becoming a face (short for babyface, wrestling term for male characters/good heroics), US Express, and British Bulldog. During his leadership of the Valiant Brothers, Albano took the nickname of his "Captain", as his action was promoted as "Captain Lou and Valiant as well." At the end of his career, Albano has managed over 50 different wrestlers who won two dozen championships.
Albano can also help lift the wrestlers by separating themselves from them. In 1982, though managed by the evil Albano, Jimmy Snuka unexpectedly became a fan favorite because of his high flying ring style. The interview segment revealed that Snuka had no legal contract with Albano, and thus was able to leave his manager. Shortly after, a bloody beatdown by Albano, Freddie Blassie and Ray Stevens, helped turn Snuka into a sympathetic figure, and triggered the most successful period of his career. Albano had previously helped turn the evil Intercontinental champion Pat Patterson into fan favorite, by "buying" Patterson's contract against his will. He also manages AS Express at WrestleMania.
Final storyline
In 1984, Albano met pop singer Cyndi Lauper in a plane flight from Puerto Rico. His manager, David Wolff, suggested that the two collaborate on the project at some point in the future. In 1984, the opportunity came when the Lauper video for "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" requires an actor to play the singer's father, and Albano is advised. Initially reluctant, he was reassured by his wife to agree, and Lauper and Albano afterwards formed a lifelong friendship. He appeared in several of his music videos and he appeared on Roddy Piper's "Piper Pit" program to discuss the collaboration. Albano, in character, began to belittle Lauper and women in general and claimed to have written all his songs and became the only reason for his success. Lauper, in turn, attacked Albano with his wallet, and both agreed to settle their differences in the ring.
Albano and Lauper agreed to compete with proxies, each selecting female wrestlers to compete. Lauper chose Wendi Richter, while Albano chose The Fabulous Moolah. The match, scheduled for July 23, 1984, was dubbed The Brawl to End it All, and was broadcast live on MTV. During the game, Lauper interfere with Richter's name by hitting Moolah in the head with his bag, dubbed "The Loaded Purse of Doom". At the end of the game, Richter has defeated Moolah for the WWF Women's Championships, which WWF has promoted by Moolah for 28 years before.
For a time in the 1980s, Albano also managed the NRBQ rock group. The group recorded the 1986 album, "Lou and Q," which contained a song titled "Captain Lou" - in which Albano himself sang and babbled.
Meanwhile, Albano has been involved in several charitable activities. His brother's brother-in-law had recently died of multiple sclerosis, and the experience caused Albano to lend his time to raise awareness and funds to combat illness, sometimes with Lauper. His increasingly common virtue clashed with his in-ring persona, which violated the principles of kayfabe - maintaining the appearance of reality in professional wrestling - still firmly held at the time. In 1984, Albano decided it was time, after 32 years as a heel, to turn. Therefore he arranged for Lauper to receive the award in-ring for his contribution to both wrestling and the struggle against MS, where he also came out and congratulated him. In the course of the ceremony, Roddy Piper and "Cowboy" Bob Orton entered the ring to sarcastically praise Albano before breaking the Lauper award, a gold record plaque, on his head. Lauper and his girlfriend, David Wolff were also attacked by Piper and Orton. The melee was solved by Hulk Hogan, but the argument allowed Albano to wrestle and organize as a crowd favorite.
The last two (heels) single protà © à © gÃÆ'Ã… © gÃÆ'Ã… © gÃÆ'Ã… © s, Valentine and Ken Patera, paired with Jimmy Hart and Bobby Heenan, respectively, after the changing face of Albano. Although he continued his exaggerated, long-winded interviews - one of the main broadcasters for WWF, Gorilla Monsoon, continues to refer to Albano as "The Fountain of Misinformation" - Albano now leads fan favorites like The US Express, George Steele, British Bulldog, Hulk Hogan and Andrà ©    Giant into battle. AS Express and British Bulldogs became the first tag team to win the Tag WWF Tag Championship with Albano as the "face" manager.
Retirement
Albano left WWF at the end of 1986 with one final game in an episode of Wrestling Challenge which aired on November 16, 1986, in collaboration with The British Bulldogs to defeat The Dream Team and Luscious Johnny Vailant. Albano would then make a one-off appearance on "Piper Piper's" in an episode of Superstars of Wrestling in February 1987 to ask AndrÃÆ' Â © Giant to reconsider his recent alignment with Bobby Heenan. After a brief run at UWF in 1991, where he hosted an interview segment, Albano returned to WWF in 1994 to manage the newly-faced Headshrinkers, helping lead them to the WWF Tag Team Championship. He left in early 1995, making sporadic appearances as a guest ever since, but never as a manager.
Inheritance in WWE
The events that led to the turn of Albano's face proved to be very important in WWF's history. Hogan, Piper, and Orton began a feud at the Lauper awards ceremony that culminated in The War to Settle the Score (which also featured the peak of Lauper and Moolah hostility). The result of the War - Hogan win with disqualification - was a boost for the first game at WrestleMania first, where Albano also participated, as a facial manager.
More importantly, the involvement of Lauper, a celebrity totally unrelated to wrestling, in a world of unprecedented pro wrestling. MTV's decision to broadcast the Brawl to End All greatly enhances WWF's public profile, especially in the coveted young adult demographic. This leads directly to the 1980s professional wrestling boom. Dave Meltzer, Wrestler Observer writes, "Without Albano, the history of wrestling will differ monumentally because if you take Lauper's involvement out of the equation, the initial loss in expanding nationally and buying so much time on television is on the verge of putting the company under.. Without him, there will be no special MTV, no national media publicity, and it is very unlikely without it that the first WrestleMania will succeed.If you take the participation of Albano out of the equation, there is a good chance McMahon Expansion will reach the iceberg and die in early 1985. The attention collected by Rock & Wrestling Connection, which came from that accidental meeting on a plane between Lauper and Albano less than two years earlier, led NBC to make a decision to air pro wrestling several times per year in the time slot Saturday Night Live . "
Television and movies
Albano appeared in the 1986 Wise Guys film, starring Danny DeVito. She plays the role of Mario, Nintendo's mascot, both in the live-action and animated segments of Super Mario Bros. Super Show! , a TV series based on the Super Mario Bros. game series. She also has roles in the TV series , Hey Dude , and Miami Vice , the 1992 film Stay Tuned , and is a recurring guest at the Hollywood Squares game show.
Albano played his evil caricature named "Captain Lou Morano" in the 1987 film Body Slam, starring Dirk Benedict and Roddy Piper. The film also features a cameo appearance by Ric Flair wrestler, Freddie Blassie, and Bruno Sammartino.
Albano plays the role of father in Cyndi Lauper's music videos for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" and "She Bop", as well as the chef in the video for his song "Time After Time".
Personal life and death
In 1953, Albano married his high school lover, Geraldine Tango. The marriage lasted for 56 years, until his death. Albano has been noted by several others due to his loyalty to his wife, a rare characteristic in the on-the-road world of the 1970s and 1980s professional wrestling.
Albano released his autobiography, Often Imitated, Never Duplicated , on July 20, 2008 via his website. This book covers the preface by Cyndi Lauper.
The other Albano brothers were Vincent, George, Eleanor, and Carl, all of whom were teachers. Brother Albano, Carl, taught health for 32 years at Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and became head of Ridgewood High's health department from 1974 to 2001. Student Carl has noted that he uses his brother Lou as an example of the difference between crazy and unique. George serves as Headmaster of the Lincoln Elementary School in Mount Vernon, New York and often takes Lou in to please school students during their lunch hour. Vincent is an art teacher and lives part-time in a lake house in Connecticut.
Albano's son, Carl Albano, has been a member of the Putnam County Legislature since 2011.
During the 1990s, Albano spilled 150 pounds (70 kg) after frightening health. In May 2005, Albano suffered a heart attack, but later recovered. Albano was sent home from the hospital and again began to pay attention to his health.
The song "Captain Lou" by Kimya Dawson is dedicated to her.
Albano died on October 14, 2009 due to a heart attack while in a nursing home. He is 76 years old.
In wrestling
- Wrestlers are managed
- The tag team is managed
-
- Sir. Fuji and Mr. Saito
- The Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika)
- The Executioner (Executioner 1 and Executioner 2)
- The Mongols (Bepo and Geeto)
- The Yukon Lumberjacks (Yukon Eric and Yukon Pierre)
- Baron Mikel Scicluna & amp; King Curtis Iaukea
- Gila Luke Graham & amp; Tarzan Tyler
- The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid)
- The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu)
- The New Headshrinkers (Fatu and Sione)
- The Blackjacks (Blackjack Lanza and Blackjack Mulligan)
- The Valiant Brothers (Jimmy Valiant, Johnny Valiant and Jerry Valiant)
- Machines (Super Machines, Big Machines, and Giant Machines)
- The Moondogs (Moondog King, Moondog Rex and Moondog Spot)
- AS Express (Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham)
- Assault and Battery ("Maniac" Jimmy Deo and "Outlaw" Maxx Crimson)
- Nickname
- "Captain"
- "Skip"
- "The Guiding Light"
- Signed in music
-
- "Captain Lou's Music History" was done by himself and George "The Animal" Steele
- Another version of "Lou Lou's Music History" is done alone and NRBQ
Championships and achievements
- Cauliflower Alley Club
- other honorees (1995)
- New England Wrestling Alliance
- NEWA Hall of Fame (Class 2011)
- Pro Wrestling is illustrated
- Manager of the Year (1974, 1981, 1986)
- Award Editor (1994)
- Professional Hall of Fame Wrestling and Museums
- Class of 2009
- World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation
- WWWF United States Tag Team Championship (1st time) - with Tony Altomare
- WWF Hall of Fame (Class 1996)
- Bulletin Observer Wrestling
- Best in Interview (1981) tied to Roddy Piper
- Worst Match of the Year (1985) vs. Freddie Blassie at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
- Observers of the Wrestling Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2012)
Note
References
- Foley, Mick (2000). Have a Good Day: Blood Stories and Sweatsocks . HarperCollins. ISBN: 0-06-103101-1.
- Ellison, Lillian (2003). The Fabulous Moolah: First God of the Squared Circle . ReaganBooks. ISBN: 978-0-06-001258-8.
- "WWE Hall of Fame Profile"
- "Introduction to the Hero Hall of Fame Wrestling"
External links
- Lou Albano in Posterous
- Lou Albano on IMDb
- Professional Wrestling Profile from Hall of Fame
- Lou Albano on WWE.com
- Lou Albano's profile at Cagematch.net, Wrestlingdata.com, Internet Wrestling Database
- Lou Albano in the Search of the Mausoleum
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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