Luigi actor Danny Wells dies at 72

The actor who portrayed Luigi in the live-action and animated television series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Danny Wells, died last month in Toronto, Ont., according to an obituary posted at the Montreal Gazette.

Wells, whose real name was Jack Westelman, portrayed Luigi in the show’s live-action segments and voiced the character in animated segments. His onscreen brother, Mario, was portrayed by “Captain Lou” Albano, who died in 2009 at the age of 76.

The original run of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, which consisted of 65 episodes, aired between September and December 1989. The show featured Wells and Albano appearing in live-action segments before and after cartoons based on Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. Each episode, the Mario Bros. were joined by guest stars, including Magic Johnson, Sgt. Slaughter, Cyndi Lauper, Vanna White, Rowdy Roddy Piper and more.

Episodes of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! are available on DVD and instant video. Netflix offers 24 episodes for instant streaming.

In addition to Wells’ appearances as Luigi, the actor had roles in a number of memorable ’80s television shows, including The A-Team and The Jeffersons. Wells also did voice work in the games Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Wizardry 8 and Descent 3, according to his IMDB filmography.