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Lou Albano obituary

Bombastic American wrestler and actor

The appeal to teenagers of "Captain" Lou Albano, who has died aged 76, was a key factor in the ascent to the mainstream of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the 1980s. Albano's appearance as Cyndi Lauper's father in the video for her worldwide smash hit Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1983) was a sensation in the early days of the cable music channel MTV. Albano's cartoonish act later found its perfect home when he played one of the Super Mario Brothers on television.

Albano was one of the villainous, or "heel", wrestling managers, and a mainstay of the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), later renamed the WWF and then World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Born in Rome, he moved as a baby to the US, where his family settled in Mount Vernon, outside New York City. A wrestling and sports star in high school, he won an American football scholarship to the University of Tennessee and later joined the army.

He was working as a bouncer when he met a group of wrestlers and began training, making his debut aged 20 in Montreal. His career took off when he joined Tony Altimore in a mafioso tag team, the Sicilians. In 1967 they won the WWWF tag titles after beating "The Golden Boy" Arnold Skaaland and Spiros Arion. Altimore was the better wrestler, but Albano's arrogant manner in interviews inflamed the crowds. He soon became a manager, awarding himself the title "Captain", and he was especially effective in managing heels who could not talk like convincing villains. Albano drew heat from fans with his rapid-fire staccato delivery, peppered with catchphrases such as "often imitated, never duplicated".

His bizarre appearance – an open Hawaiian shirt flaunting his great belly, numerous piercings from which he hung rubber bands, and a rubber band wrapped around his beard – matched his ringside behaviour. He was at his best managing tag teams, the wilder the better, including the Valiant Brothers, the Moondogs and the Wild Samoans.

His finest moment came when he double-crossed the wrestler he was managing, "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, in favour of the "Magnificent" Don Muraco. Snuka then met Muraco in a 1983 cage match which ended with Snuka, now the good guy (or "babyface" in wrestling parlance), delivering a flying "Superfly splash" on top of Albano.

Albano met the singer Lauper on a flight, and after starring in her music video, he began taking credit for her success, and putting her down as a "mere woman", which led to MTV and the WWF uniting in the Rock and Wrestling Connection programmes. The feud began with Lauper managing the female wrestler Wendi Richter in a grudge match against The Fabulous Moolah, managed by Albano. Rowdy Roddy Piper stepped in, which led to Mr T interfering, and eventually to the first Wrestlemania contest, which put Hulk Hogan and the WWF on the mainstream map.

Albano's popularity made it natural that he should turn babyface in his final years in the ring, managing the loveable George "The Animal" Steele and the British Bulldogs, Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith. He explained his change of character by saying he had undergone surgery to remove "a calcium deposit on the medulla of my oblongata".

Albano made three more videos with Lauper, and later toured with the rock band NRBQ, playing their manager. He appeared in the TV series Miami Vice (1984-89), and the films Wise Guys and Body Slam (both 1986), before shaving his beard to play Mario, in Super Mario Brothers, for two years from 1989.

Albano is survived by his wife, Geri, and four children.

Louis Vincent Albano, wrestler, born 29 July 1933; died 14 October 2009 Mount Vernon, NY

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