The rubber band wasnt actually IN his beard, yeah? It was ON his face. I mean, he had rubber bands in his beard too but didn't he have one just basically attached to his face?
I hope he's up there with George the Animal Steele having a grand ole time. posted by spicynuts at 2:11 PM on October 14
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Watched him wrestle on B&W TV, saw him with Bruno Sanmartino, then Cyndi Lauper videos...what a great and kooky American life. posted by fixedgear at 2:12 PM on October 14 [1 favorite]
Some say the man's not wrapped too tight,
Captain Lou, Captain Lou, Captain Lou
But when he's on the scene, everything's alright, Captain Lou, Captain Lou Albano.
Between cartoons and wrestling, this man was a huge part of my childhood. posted by mediocre at 2:22 PM on October 14 [1 favorite]
Also, it's nice to see a wrestler live a long, fulfilled life instead of dying young like so many before him. posted by mediocre at 2:23 PM on October 14 [4 favorites]
Google has failed me numerous times in my attempts to prove that I didn't make up the following out of whole cloth: when I was a kid I swear to god I read a cheap paperback novel about a man who was taught how to be a secret agent by applying the tenents of pro-wrestling, with Captain Lou Albano in the Mr. Miyagi/ Chiun teacher/taskmaster role.
My brother and I somehow convinced our parents, who would normally be against such a thing, to let us have a television in our room. Essentially the only reason we got it was so we could get up at 6:30am to watch The Super Mario Brothers Super Show! For some reason our local FOX affiliate showed it at that time on weekdays.
Thinking about it now, maybe my parents knew this, and let us have the television, so we'd actually want to get up in the mornings. Clever.
My parents had graciously delivered unto us a new brother a couple of years before, and by the time The Super Mario Brothers Super Show! was on, he was at that really fun age where, through repetition, you can get toddlers to do anything you want. So we taught him to "Do the Mario!" which basically consisted of him lurching forward in a weird, wider stance, arms wide, and kind of letting his right foot slip a little bit at the end, like the good Captain did at the end of every episode's credits, as seen at the 39 second mark of this clip. posted by m0nm0n at 2:40 PM on October 14 [6 favorites]
as mediocre said, it's sad to see the Captain gone, but it's kind of refreshing to see a wrestler who's lived a full life. I'll miss the Captain, because who else is going to tell me "Whatcha gonna do with your life?" posted by Ghidorah at 2:48 PM on October 14
When I was a young lad growing up in Pittsburgh, I hit the Captain with a well-thrown tennis ball I had smuggled into the Civic Arena. posted by Shike at 2:49 PM on October 14 [1 favorite]
I just bought a burrito, and it was depressing to see the AP headline. Apparently, starring in "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" was his claim to fame. BAH! posted by mrgrimm at 2:51 PM on October 14
Bookhouse--
Body Smasher is the book you are thinking of. There were a couple of sequels, as well.
"I hope he's up there with George the Animal Steele having a grand ole time."
Umm, The Animal is still alive and well. Here's a cute short film he did recently with Greg "The Hammer" Valentine.
SHIT! I meant Andre the Giant. Sorry, George!! posted by spicynuts at 4:16 PM on October 14
When I was a kid, I was absolutely positive I saw Lou Albano looking at lamps in a Boscov's in Reading PA. I ran to get my brother but by the time we got back to the lamp department he was gone. That was one of the saddest moments of my life.
Lou's role as Frank the Fixer in Wise Guys also deserves a mention. posted by maurice at 4:16 PM on October 14
Long live the Rock and Wrestling Connection. posted by bondcliff at 4:17 PM on October 14
In '86 or '87 I watched the man eat two large pizzas and down one pitcher of beer in roughly 15 minutes. The young kuuju was impressed.
(and another source of fond 80's memories for me fades away....) posted by Dr-Baa at 4:43 PM on October 14
Another one bites the dust. posted by Mike Mongo at 4:54 PM on October 14
Wow. Albano was from my hometown. I have a photo somewhere with him at a local bowling alley, with me wearing my Nintendo Power sweatshirt. He signing autographs to promote something, but I can’t remember what. posted by Garak at 5:19 PM on October 14
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Seriously! I'm not being snarky. It's not like I had some absurd connection with the man, but really the guy was just so much fun.
I had lunch with Lou back in the 1980s while he was filming "Wise Guys" in Atlantic City. He played Frank the Fixer, best role in the movie, but I'd be astonished if he actually memorized any lines. The ONLY thing he was interested in that day was clearing the buffet.
Great guy, funny as hell and one of the few autographs I ever saved. posted by sixpack at 5:35 PM on October 14
I can't believe the fawning praise being heaped onto this man who so often resorted to underhanded, illegal tactics when helping his charges win matches. posted by The Gooch at 5:36 PM on October 14 [7 favorites]
The Captain eventually moved to a town just outside my childhood home's. I watched the Super Mario super show, I watched a bit of wrestling, but I saw Captain Lou the most doing commercials for local business. They featured him, the most exuberant man I had ever seen talking about accounting firms and auto body shops. The commercials never strayed from this format:
x = company
y = service provided by company
"Do you need Y? When ever I need Y I go to X. X is the best at Y. I am Captain Lou and I always go to X. WOOOO!"
When there was only one set of footprints, that is when the rubber bands carried you Lou.
I haven't been a devotee of wrestling for at least 25 years, but I'll tell you, the very first time that I realized that I could grow a substantive amount of hair on my chin, I attached a rubber band.
Thanks, Captain Lou, we'll miss you. posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 5:19 AM on October 15
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posted by not_on_display at 2:07 PM on October 14