Captain Lou Albano

Real name: Louis Albano
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 350 lbs.
Date of birth: July 29, 1933
Date of death: October 14, 2009
From: Carmel, NY
Pro debut: 1953

Biography

– Albano was born in Rome, but moved with his parents to the US as a child
– Albano was a football prodigy, but never made it to the professional game after being expelled from the University of Tennessee over poor behaviour and academic performance
– Albano initially began training as a boxer, but turned to wrestling in 1952
– In 1953, Albano made his professional wrestling debut by defeating Bob Lazaro in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
– On July 10, 1967, The Sicilians (Albano & Tony Altimore) defeated Arnold Skaaland & Chuck Richards to win the WWWF United States Tag Team Titles, but lost them to Bruno Sammartino & Spiros Arion two weeks later
– Albano largely stepped away from in-ring work in 1970, favouring the managerial role for which he has become renowned instead. He would continue to compete occasionally on WWF house shows
– In January 1971, Albano was the manager when “Russian Bear” Ivan Koloff ended Bruno Sammartino’s seven year reign as WWF champion
– Albano featured prominently in the music video for Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ in 1983
– On July 23, 1984, ‘The Brawl To End It All’ is staged at Madison Square Garden featuring the Fabulous Moolah (with Albano) versus Wendi Richter (with Cyndi Lauper)
– Albano left the WWF in 1986
– Albano briefly worked as an interviewer and announcer for Herb Abrams’ UWF promotion in 1991
– Albano made a short return to the WWF in 1994, managing The Headshrinkers. He would be out of the company again in early 1995, though continued to make occasional one-off appearances for the next decade or so
– Albano was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame class of 1996
– Albano died of a heart attack on October 14, 2009 at the age of 76
– On September 30, 2011, Albano was voted into the GERWECK.NET Hall of Fame.