Wrestling's 'Captain' Lou Albano Dies at 76

Wednesday October 14, 2009 01:50 PM EDT

"Captain" Lou Albano

Bobby Bank/WireImage

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Beloved pro-wrestling figure "Captain" Lou Albano died at his home Wednesday morning, reports the Los Angeles Times. He was 76.

Best known to the '80s mainstream as the man who played Cyndi Lauper's dad in the video for "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," Albano was instantly recognizable for his unkempt beard, rubber-band accessories, garish outfits and boisterous personality in and out of the ring. His wrestling persona was of a loudmouthed manager who proved a popular villain at the height of Hulkamania (though he was one of the "faces," or good guys, in the Saturday-morning cartoon Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling.

Albano was sent home from a hospital earlier this week. He suffered, and recovered from, a heart attack in 2005.
– Michael Y. Park