Lou Albano was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1969 before becoming a manager until 1995.
53 Facts About Lou Albano
2.
Lou Albano became well known to a younger generation of fans as the actor and voice of Mario in The Super Mario Bros.
3.
Lou Albano's parents, Carmen Louis Albano and Eleanor Albano nee Morrone, were of Italian heritage but both born in the United States.
4.
Lou Albano was born around the time his father was studying.
5.
Lou Albano later co-patented a forceps instrument to assist in breech birth deliveries.
6.
Lou Albano was baptized in the Vatican, and his parents shortly thereafter returned to the New York City area aboard the RMS Majestic.
7.
Lou Albano was one of nine children, of whom five lived to adulthood.
8.
Lou Albano attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York, where he competed in track and field, and finally rose to the position of captain of the football team.
9.
Lou Albano's skills were such that he received 32 offers of full scholarship from universities around the country, and he chose the University of Tennessee on the strength of their football team.
10.
Lou Albano had conflicts with the dean due to poor behavior and was expelled after attempting to cheat on a final exam.
11.
Lou Albano then joined the United States Army, but due to a childhood injury exacerbated by his football days, Albano was honorably discharged after only eight months.
12.
Lou Albano worked for Capitol Wrestling and its successors, under Vince McMahon and his son, for most of the rest of his career.
13.
Lou Albano made little impact as a solo wrestler, working prelims in various circuits, but he achieved moderate success as a tag team performer with partner Tony Altomare.
14.
In 1964, Lou Albano wrestled for the World Wide Wrestling Federation as a singles competitor.
15.
Lou Albano returned in 1967 and again partnered with Tony Altomare as "The Sicilians".
16.
Lou Albano has such a gift of gab that he can help out some people.
17.
Lou Albano was never looked upon by promoters as someone who could be anyone special.
18.
Lou Albano's in-ring capabilities were hampered by a limited command of English, and Albano was assigned to be his mouthpiece.
19.
Lou Albano emphasized Verdu's physique and insisted that he had never been taken off his feet during a match.
20.
Lou Albano could get the kind of heat that nobody else could.
21.
Lou Albano developed a later trademark, applying rubber bands to his beard, after having seen a homeless man do the same.
22.
Lou Albano often wore a rubber band hanging from a safety pin pushed through his cheek.
23.
In January 1971, Lou Albano was the manager when Ivan Koloff ended Sammartino's seven-year reign as champion.
24.
Koloff had a typical heel run against Sammartino in 1969, but Lou Albano spent months claiming that his previous manager had trained him incorrectly, and that Koloff would beat Sammartino under Lou Albano's expert tutelage.
25.
Koloff and Lou Albano were quickly rushed out of the ring by security without the championship belt as the crowd began to riot.
26.
Later Strongbow settled the score by challenging Lou Albano to put on the wrestling tights .
27.
Lou Albano then resumed his role as the mastermind trying to lead his latest bad guy protege to the gold.
28.
However, Lou Albano guided singles wrestlers Don Muraco and Greg Valentine to the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship.
29.
Furthermore, Lou Albano guided thirteen teams to the WWF World Tag Team Championships, including The Valiant Brothers, The Wild Samoans, The Yukon Lumberjacks, The Blackjacks, The Moondogs, The Masked Executioners, and after becoming a face, the US Express and the British Bulldogs.
30.
Lou Albano had previously helped turn the villainous Intercontinental Champion Pat Patterson into a fan favorite, by "purchasing" Patterson's contract against his will.
31.
In 1980, Lou Albano taped a TV commercial for the band's album Tiddlywinks.
32.
Audience members were taken aback when Lou Albano was formally introduced into the music business by NRBQ at The Ritz in January 1981.
33.
In 1984, Lou Albano met pop singer Cyndi Lauper on a plane flight from Puerto Rico.
34.
Lou Albano appeared in several of her music videos and she appeared on Roddy Piper's "Piper's Pit" program to discuss the collaboration.
35.
Lauper chose Wendi Richter, while Albano chose The Fabulous Moolah.
36.
In 1984, Lou Albano decided it was time, after 32 years as a heel, to turn face.
37.
Lou Albano therefore arranged for Lauper to receive an in-ring award for her contributions to both wrestling and the fight against MS, for which he came out and congratulated her.
38.
Lou Albano left the WWF in late 1986 with one final match on an episode of Wrestling Challenge that aired on November 16,1986, teaming with The British Bulldogs to defeat The Dream Team and Luscious Johnny Vailant.
39.
Lou Albano briefly worked in Herb Abrams' UWF promotion in 1991, where he hosted an interview segment.
40.
Lou Albano returned to the WWF in 1994 to manage the newly face-turned Headshrinkers, helping lead them to the WWF Tag Team Championship.
41.
Lou Albano left in early 1995, making sporadic appearances as a guest from then on, but never again as a manager.
42.
The events leading up to Lou Albano's face turn proved to be pivotal in the history of the WWF.
43.
Lou Albano appeared in the 1986 film Wise Guys, starring Danny DeVito.
44.
Lou Albano played the role of Mario, Nintendo's mascot, in both the live-action and animated segments of The Super Mario Bros.
45.
Lou Albano had roles in the TV series 227, Hey Dude, and Miami Vice, the 1992 film Stay Tuned, and was a recurring guest on the game show Hollywood Squares.
46.
In 1953, Lou Albano married his high school sweetheart, Geraldine Tango.
47.
Lou Albano has been noted by several others for his faithfulness to his wife, a rare characteristic in the on-the-road world of 1970s and 1980s professional wrestling.
48.
Lou Albano released his autobiography, Often Imitated, Never Duplicated, on July 20,2008, through his website.
49.
The other Lou Albano siblings are Vincent, George, Eleanor, and Carl, all of whom became teachers.
50.
In May 2005, Lou Albano suffered a heart attack, but later recovered.
51.
Lou Albano was sent home from the hospital and again began watching his health.
52.
Lou Albano died on October 14,2009, in Westchester County, New York, of a heart attack while residing in hospice care.
53.
Lou Albano was buried at Rose Hill Memorial Park in Carmel, New York.