Before Charles Martinet made Mario sound like an eccentric Italian ESL student from the land stereotypical accents, our 8-bit hero had another voice: Captain Lou Albano.

Captain Lou Albano, a former professional wrestler and actor (though never a sea captain), recently passed away at the age of 76 of natural causes. In the wake of his death, searches surged on the man and his unique body of work.

Lou Albano was a professional wrestling, a manager, an actor and more, but in 1989 most young gamers knew him only for his role as Mario on the Super Mario Bros Super Show. In contrast with Martinet's performance, Albano's Mario was a little more.. "Brooklyn" in accent. The show only lasted in syndication for one season, and although it was followed by a "Super Mario Bros. 3" show and a "New Super Mario World" cartoon, neither of these shows featured Mr. Albano.

Those of us who grew up with the show know it was cheesy and full of bad puns - but many still stick by Captain Lou Albano as the first, best, and true voice of Mario.

Wrestling fans know him as the WWE Hall of Famer who managed more than 50 wrestlers in his day, with more than two dozen championships won by athletes taken under his wing. 80's music fans might remember him from his appearances in many Cyndi Lauper music videos, including "Girls Just Want To Have Fun", "She Bop", "Time After Time" and "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough." As gamers, we of course remember him as the best live-action Mario of all time. That's not saying much when your chief competition is Bob Hoskins, but at least he was Italian. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! might have only run a grand total of 52 episodes, but that was more than enough to cement Captain Lou's place in gaming history.

Louis Vincent Albano was an American professional wrestler, manager and actor. With an over-the-top personality and a penchant for boisterous declarations, "Captain" Lou Albano was the epitome of the antagonistic manager that raised the ire of wrestlers and incited the anger of spectators. Throughout his 42-year career, Albano guided 15 different tag teams and four singles competitors to championship gold.A unique showman, with an elongated beard, rubber band facial piercings, and loud outfits, he was the forefather of the 1980s Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection. Collaborating with Cyndi Lauper, Albano helped usher in wrestling's crossover success with a mainstream audience. Capitalizing on his success, he later ventured into Hollywood with various television, film, and music projects.

Albano's personal life :

During the 1990s, Albano shed 150 pounds (70 kg) following a health scare. In May 2005,Albano suffered a heart attack, but later recovered.

In 2008 he released his autobiography, "Often Imitated, Never Duplicated"with the foreword written by Cyndi Lauper.

Albano was one of five children born to Dr. Carmen Louis and Eleanor Albano, both deceased. The other Albano siblings are Vincent, George, Eleanor, and Carl.

Albano's brother, Carl, taught health for 32 years at Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, NJ, and was head of the Ridgewood High health department from 1974 until 2001.Carl Albano's students have noted that he used his brother Lou as an example of the difference between crazy and unique.

Albano began his wrestling career in 1953 and rose to international fame, mostly as a manager, with the then-World Wrestling Federation, now called World Wrestling Entertainment.

He appeared in the first Wrestlemania at Madison Square Garden in 1985 and was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1996.

"World Wrestling Entertainment was saddened to learn of the passing of one of the company's most popular and charismatic legends," a statement on the WWE Web site read.

Some nostalgic Fact:

There's a scene in the film "The Wrestler" where Mickey Rourke's character, Randy "The Ram" Robinson, cuts his forehead during a wrestling match to ramp up the gory effects.

George Albano drew parallels to the film Wednesday, recalling how his iconic older brother, Louis Albano, cut his head with a razor hundreds of times to earn a "few extra bucks" as a professional wrestler.

In memories :

"He loved wrestling, but it was the most abusive profession you could imagine," said George Albano, principal at Lincoln Elementary School in Mount Vernon. "It's a hard way to make a living."

"I remember the kinder and gentler side of him," he said. "My dad died when I was 13, so Lou became my second father. He was someone who would never, never not help someone."

Albano died at 3:30 a.m on Wednesday of "natural causes" under hospice care in his Carmel home surrounded by his wife of 56 years, Geraldine, and his family. He was 76.

He suffered a series of health ailments over the years, including heart valve replacement and more recently a stroke following hip replacement surgery, his son, Louis Albano said."A lot of his complications were from wrestling," his son said.

He is survived by his wife Geri, 4 children, and 14 grandchildren.

The team of 13above.com would like to send our condolences to the family, friends and fans of Captain Lou.

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1. The O.J. Simpson Trails : Never has a professional athlete fallen from such heights to such depths as O.J. Simpson has. Simpson, a former Heisman Trophy winner, a longtime NFL star running back and a member of the Professional Football Hall of Fame. In 1973, he became the first running back to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a single season. After his career was over, he became a football analyst, an actor and a commercial spokesman. Then, shockingly, he was arrested in 1994 and charged with the murder of former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman. The trial was one of the most publicized legal proceedings ever. Simpson was acquitted of the murder charges but was later found criminally liable for Goldman’s death by a civil jury. He and a co-defendant were also recently found guilty of multiple felony counts, including kidnapping and armed robbery. The former football star now faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.

Of course, by no stretch of the imagination could we include all of the major scandals to ever cast a pall over professional sports. Among those that were close, but just couldn’t make the cut, include the fixed fight between Jake LaMotta and Billy Fox in 1947, the Minnesota Viking’s Party Boat incident in 2005, the 2007 Formula One espionage scandal and, of course, the New England Patriots’ Spygate scandal. Any other notable sporting scandals you think should have been included on our list? Post your comments below and let us know about them!

2. MLB And Steroid Scandals : From BALCO to the Mitchell Report and everything in between, baseball and steroid scandals have become inexorably linked. Several players, such as former stars Jose Canseco and Ken Caminiti as well as Yankees DH Jason Giambi, admitted to using steroids during their careers. Several others, including Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Miguel Tejada, were named in the Mitchell Report, filed by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell following a lengthy investigation. 500-home run hitter Rafael Palmeiro tested positive for steroids, while unsubstantiated allegations continue to surround all-time home run king Barry Bonds. There is no doubt that few scandals have has as much on a impact on a sport, both in perception as well as in reality, as the steroid scandal that has touched Major League Baseball.

3. The Black Sox Scandals : The subject of the excellent book and movie Eight Men Out, the Black Sox Scandal involves the involvement of several members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox in a conspiracy to fix the World Series. As the legend goes, it was Sox first baseman Arnold Gandil who first came up with the idea to throw the Series, and used his underworld connections to set things up. He played on his teammates’ mutual distaste for Chicago owner Charles Comiskey. Gandil and seven other players (Eddie Cicotte, Oscar Felsch, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Fred McMullen, “Buck” Weaver, Charles Risberg and Claude “Lefty” Williams) were banned from baseball for their part in the fix, which led baseball owners to create the new office of Commissioner of Baseball to oversee league activities.


4. Tour de France Doping Charge : Doping scandals at the Tour de France date back to the early 1900s, but it was in 1998 that the first major doping scandal erupted, complete with hotel-room raids by French police and a sit-down strike by riders on the 17th stage. Stricter drug testing requirements followed, as well as the formation of the World Anti-Doping Agency. Nonetheless, doping allegations remain a constant at the Tour de France, with seven-time former champion Lance Armstrong being a favorite target. Despite relentless accusations, Armstrong has never been found guilty of using illegal performance enhancers, although several others have, including Jan Ullrich and Floyd Landis in 2006 and Alexander Vinokourov and Cristian Moreni in 2007.

5. Tim Donaghy : Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy set off a firestorm of controversy in 2007. That summer, an FBI investigation found that Donaghy had placed tens of thousands of dollars worth of bets on games that he officiated. Worse yet, he admitted that he made calls that affected the outcome of the game, so that he could manipulate the point spread and win his wagers. Donaghy also went on to say that he was not the only NBA referee involved in such behavior, and that the league themselves sometimes ordered officials to extend playoff series to help increase TV ratings and ticket sales. Commissioner David Stern has denied this charge, and while the furor surrounding this scandal has died down in recent months, it nonetheless called into question the integrity of an entire sports league.

6.The Kobe Bryant Sexual Assault Case : During the summer of 2003, Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a 19-year-old Colorado woman. Bryant had been staying at a hotel in the Eagle, Colorado area in preparation for knee surgery when the incident took place. Charges were dropped after the accuser refused to testify, and a civil lawsuit was settled out of court. Bryant would later admit that he had indeed had sexual relations with the woman, but claimed that it was a consensual affair. As a result, Bryant lost several of his endorsement deals, including a lucrative one with fast food giant McDonalds. The Bryant case was voted the top sports story of 2003 by the Associated Press.

7. Pete Rose Bets on Baseball : It was in 1989 that baseball first questioned then Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose about rumors he had bet on baseball. He denied the charges in February, but new commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti hired a lawyer by the name of John Dowd to investigate Rose and the accusations against him. Dowd uncovered information that claimed Rose had bet on more than 50 Reds games in 1987 alone. Rose denied the allegations until August 1989, when he agreed to an indefinite ban from baseball. He has since admitted to betting on baseball and specifically on the Reds, and has applied for reinstatement to Major League Baseball, but remains banned from the game to this day. As it is, Rose is ineligible for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, a controversial situation in and of itself that many fans and sports journalists feel should be rectified.

8. Mike Tyson Rape Conviction : Mike Tyson has been at the center of many, many controversies during his career. After all, this is a man who once said he wanted to eat Lennox Lewis’s children and bit the ear off of Evander Holyfield. However, no incident was as serious as Tyson’s 1992 conviction for the rape of Rhode Island native Desiree Washington. Washington accused Tyson of raping her in an Indianapolis hotel room in 1991, and after a lengthy trial, Tyson was found guilty and sentenced to six years in prison. He would serve only three before being released and returning to the boxing ring.

9. NFL Players Gone Wild : When it comes to professional football scandals, there are simply too many to choose from. There’s former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and his dogfighting ring. There’s Pacman Jones and multiple off-the-field incidents. There’s the Cincinnati Bengals and the fact that members of the team were arrested 13 times between December 2005 and June 2007. There’s Tank Johnson and his weapon charges and DUI allegations, as well as Cedric Benson’s alcohol-related incidents. Is there any wonder why NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wanted to institute a personal conduct policy?

10. Operation Slap Shot : In February 2006, professional hockey was rocked when New Jersey law enforcement officials uncovered a multi-million gambling ring involving former NHL player and then Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet, as well as Janet Jones, the wife of the legendary Wayne Gretzky. Tocchet was one of three men accused of organizing a betting operation centering around NCAA football and the Super Bowl, but reportedly not hockey itself. In May 2007, Tocchet reached a plea bargain and was placed on two years of probation, and despite rumors to the contrary, no other NHL personnel were ever connected to the investigation, not even Gretzky.

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