Lou Albano 1933-2009

Lou_Albano_and_a_fan_cropOne of professional wrestling’s greatest icons, “Captain” Lou Albano passed away due to natural causes on Oct. 14. He was 76.

Easily one of the most dynamic managers of the 70s and 80s, Albano managed over 15 wrestlers to championship reigns, including the Wild Samoans, Ivan Koloff, Greg Valentine and Jimmy Snuka. However, it wasn’t until he helped form the Rock and Wrestling Connection with recording artist Cyndi Lauper in the mid-80s that he achieved the mega-star status that eluded him through his early professional career as a wrestler and manager.

Helping to bridge the gap between professional wrestling and the entertainment industry, Albano was a catalyst in the resurgence in the sport and it’s rise in popularity. Able to play a heel or a face, Albano played a part in some of the best storylines of the ’80s, due to the fact that he was so convincing as a good guy and so diabolical as a baddie. This element alone was what kept him in the wrestling game for over 40 years.

After spending time in the army and as a bouncer, Albano became infatuated with the industry and achieved moderate success as a tag team wrestler. Tagging with Tony Alitmore, Albano won the WWWF United States tag team championships as a member of “The Sicilians.” Born in Rome, it was a perfect fit for Albano, who had no problem acting like a mafioso in interviews and in the ring. Ironically, the team caught the attention of the real-life mafioso’s of New York City.

However, Albano’s real rise to glory started after taking advice from legend Bruno Sammartino and became a commentator and later a manager after his wrestling career wrapped up. Using his boisterous voice and loud clothing, he became a pop-culture icon, even dabbling in music. He later furthered his status outside of the wrestling industry by starring as Mario in the “Super Mario. Bros Super Show.” Although Albano was far from an accomplished performer on television, the charisma he had in the ring translated onto the small screen, resulting in a one of a kind kids show that garnered cult status and later a DVD release. He also appeared on other television shows such as “Hollywood Squares” and “Miami Vice.”

Towards the end of his career, he even co-wrote “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Pro-Wrestling,” and his autobiography, “Often Imitated, Never Duplicated.”

During this entire process, Albano never forgot where he came from and was always available to the WWE for some comebacks and reunions. Because of that, he’ll always be hailed as an ambassador of the sport.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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