Ten Bells For Captain Lou

[filkertom]

Sadness. Captain Lou Albano, best known for being a wrestling manager, the live-action Mario on Saturday mornings, a supporting player in several Cyndi Lauper videos, and a -- how to put this? -- unique personality, has passed away at the age of 76.

Any particular memories of him you have? I can't get NRBQ's "Captain Lou" video out of my head.

Comments

[wookiee71.livejournal.com]

The Captain was happenin' baby! I remember his managing career and the appearance in the Cyndi Lauper video. I try to forget the Super Mario Bros. show, but I did love his work in Brian DePalma's Wise Guys as Frank "The Fixer" Acavano. He was the best part of that film.

Who will keep George "The Animal" Steele in line now?

[lizziecrowe.livejournal.com]

I suddenly want to do the "Mario" dance to "Girls Just Wanna have Fun." *sigh.* He will be missed.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

I was most familiar with him as the compatriot of NRBQ, the Brookylyn based jam band, who on their live CD, Wally, Stu & the Q broke into the Captain Lou theme with a full band.

He seems like the kind of person to live on in song and legend.

[druidsfire.livejournal.com]

I'm not a fan of wrasslin', but I did watch a lot of it when I was a kid in the 80s, so Lou was one of the 'names' who seemed to keep cropping up in all kinds of places, even moreso than Hulk Hogan. He was one of those characters who kept things somewhat light-hearted and fun, at least, that's the way I remember him.

Bummer.

One of the Classics

[tcgtrf.livejournal.com]

I remember him from watching wrestling with my father during the 1960s. He was a great athlete and a fine showman and performer outside of the ring. I giggled all through "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" when it came out.

Kathi and I are planning on getting "RAW vs. Smackdown" (the new wrestling video game) when it comes out next week and were wondering who you consider to be the best of the current crop in the WWE.

Personally, I have to say that while I find Jericho obnoxious, he and Big Show have to be the hardest *working* pair in the company with appearances on both shows weekly. For showmanship, DX, of course, and for physicality, John Morrison and Kofi Kingston.

There's a small federation in the area where Kathi and I grew up that we go to see at the start of every month. CM Punk came from an earlier incarnation of that. Him, I could do without.

Tom Trumpinski

Re: One of the Classics

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Oh, I think Punk is great. Hell of a worker, hell of a character evolution. I admit, though, that Chris Jericho is by far my current favorite. He's got literally all the tools, and he knows how to use them. Morrison and The Miz have crept up my list. Kingston is pretty darn good, as is Evan Bourne, but I suspect they're both Midcard 4 Life no matter what they do. Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker are still fantastic in the ring. Cena is not my favorite, but he works godawful hard. And I've always liked Big Show.

On the other hand, I hate Triple H. He's got all the tools, but he is one of the most selfish wrestlers I have ever seen. It's always All About Him. Fuggit.

And I am sick to the teeth of Randy Orton. Midcard 4 Life and doesn't know it. I just don't think he's very good.

Re: One of the Classics

[tcgtrf.livejournal.com]

Punk's a good wrestler. Dreamwave http://www.dreamwavewrestling.com/home.html had some DVDs of him from the early 2000s and he was good even then. I detested the entire "Cheating the Undertaker" storyline because it clashed with the whole Straight Edge persona Punk's supposed to be portraying. I want to hate him for being a prig, rather than a hypocrite. He does hold up well even against much larger men like the Undertaker and Batista, though--I've got to give him that.

I love watching Morrison work. It's not hard to imagine the damage that he'd take if one of those spectactular acrobatic flips went really wrong. The Midcard guys are some of the finest to watch right now, in my opinion. "I'm the Miz and I'm...awesome!!!"

I am so tired of the Cena-Orton thing. Cena's big, but not that good, although you're right that he works hard. Randy's much more of an actor than he is a wrestler. I liked his Old Man, though. Legacy needs to move away from their association with him. I think that Cena's going to go over to Smackdown when Bragging Rights is over.

Triple H--we'll have to agree to disagree. I'm not going to buy his book, though, trust me.

Oh, and let's not forget the RAW comedy folks--the Guerreros, the Italian guy (I can't think of his name) and Hornswoggle, who works harder per pound than any of the rest of them.

My favorite guilty pleasure--watching Big Show's face when he's trying his damnedest to be a heel and can't...quite...pull it off.

I'm so excited about this year's video game because it has The Rock in the lineup with the modern stars. The PS3 and XBox versions have a pre-order Steve Austin character, too, but alas, he's not my Wii version for some reason.

Tom Trumpinski

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

Much sadness indeed. I always liked the Captain and he seemed like one of the genuinely nice guys.

My prayers go out to his family.

[sillyfox.livejournal.com]

Wrestling was never my thing, but I do remember him fondly as Mario from the Super Mario Brothers TV show. That's how most people from my generation and younger would remember him, most likely...

[tomreedtoon.livejournal.com]

I remember his work as Super Mario. And that Lauper made one guest appearance on a live segment of the show.

But how many of you remember Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling? I have a few cartoons of the show, but not the whole feed that CBS sent. That show never had ANY of the wrestlers do voices, but some of the lesser WWF wrestlers like Albano did live bits between the cartoons with their nerdy announcer "Mean Gene."

Keep in mind that the "real" wrestling shows had physical contact, fake and real blood and intense emotions. Those were forbidden on Saturday morning TV, so the "good" and "bad" wrestlers had to compete in ways that involved no physical contact, no wrestling, and no entertainment value whatever.

[vid848.livejournal.com]

Any talk about Capt. Lou is not complete without his turn as the evil wrestling manager Capt. Lou Morano in that great Dirk Benedict vehicle, "Body Slam"

Him making his way into the arena for the climatic fight between his tag team and M. Harry Smilok (Benedict)'s team of Quick Rick and Tonga Tom. He is being interviewed and every answer was "Smilock's dead!"

Seriously, the Captain was well liked in the business and was able to find mainstream success.

On a related note, please check out Wrestler's Rescue (http://www.wrestlersrescue.org/). This is a website for a group whose purpose is to help out wrestlers who face serious medical problems after their careers are over. They made an appeal for help for Capt. Lou's family yesterday and they are also trying to help out "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. For those who remember Dr. Death, he was diagnosed with throat cancer back about 5 years ago and had to have his throat rebuilt. He currently works as a baggage handler for Southwest Airlines. The group is trying to raise $20,000 in order to buy Williams a hands-free voice box, so he would be able to talk with less restrictions.

[elisabeth.livejournal.com]

Captain Lou was the last of the triad of heel managers I remember from growing up. The other two were the Grand Wizard (Ernie Roth) and Freddie Blassie. All three of them are missed, but by far Lou Albano was my favorite. You never quite knew how an interview with him was going to go, but you knew it'd drive the fans bonkers. I have a host of memories from live shows attended in the 80's that I cherish that feature Captain Lou, from the Samoans to the Moondogs to the Headshrinkers and everyone in between he was alway sure to entertain.

Goodnight, Captain Lou.

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

Thank YOU, Mr. Acavano!

[skunktaur.livejournal.com]

Aww, Captain Lou...

Wrestling has never been a really big thing here as it has been in the States, and I never really knew who Captain Lou Albano really was. I only knew him from the SMBSS and once when he did a cameo as himself I was all "Hey, that's the guy from the Cindy Lauper video!"

Yeah... He was a great man. I should tie a rubber band to the side of my glasses for the day.