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Professional wrestling legend Lou Albano -- a WWF manager famous for his not only his fast-talking rants and rubber-band facial piercings, but also his collaboration with pop star Cyndi Lauper -- has died. He was 76.
Albano began his career in the ring as a tag-team wrestler, adopting a Mafioso persona with partner Tony Altimore. As legend has it, the act was so convincing that the Mafia itself reportedly warned them to tone down the act.
In the 1980s, he appeared in Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" video as the disapproving father.
The appearance was a major boon for the WWF (the predecessor to today's WWE), kicking off the Rock 'n Wrestling Connection that is widely credited for sparking the professional wrestling boom of the 1980s.
Albano also notably played the role of Nintendo's iconic video-game plumber in the live-action Super Mario Brothers children's television show.