Lou Albano

"I'm a legend in my own mind," Captain Lou Albano said in a 2007 interview. But he was also indelible in the minds of others. As the put-upon father in Cyndi Lauper's iconic music video for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," Albano, who died Oct. 14 at 76, lingers in the memory of anyone who lived through the 1980s.

A wrestler and manager for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Albano had an outsize personality that helped lead the sport to cultural prominence. Blustery and manic, he wore rubber bands as earrings--as well as hair ties on his epic gray goatee--and was forever hitching up his too baggy pants. This unforgettable appearance made him a perfect point man for a WWF marketing venture dubbed the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection, a cross-promotion in which Albano popped up in several Lauper music videos, while the pink-haired singer in turn graced numerous WWF broadcasts. The effort is credited with propelling the WWF (now the WWE) to widespread popularity.

In the latter part of the '80s, Albano assumed his biggest nonwrestling role, as one-half of the titular duo on the animated and live-action Saturday-morning cartoon The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! But even when he no longer had his trademark beard, it was impossible to mistake him for anyone else. He was, as he regularly quipped, "Often imitated, never duplicated."