Gary Dell'Abate

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Gary Dell'Abate

Born: March 14, 1961
Uniondale, Long Island, New York
Occupation: Radio Producer
Website: www.howardstern.com

Gary Patrick Dell'Abate (born March 14, 1961 in Uniondale, Long Island, New York) is the producer of The Howard Stern Show and co-host of The Wrap-Up Show.

Dell'Abate has worked on The Howard Stern Show since September 4, 1984: originally on 66 WNBC, then syndicated at K-Rock in New York, and now Sirius Satellite Radio.

His nickname is Baba Booey (sometimes mis-spelled Ba Ba Booey or other variants) and is frequently used on Stern's show, as well as sometimes shouted by fans when they call into other radio or television shows (generally to the irritation of other hosts - see below). Most recently, Howard Stern has considered changing his nickname to "Mac Hine," due to Gary's mispronunciation of "machine" during an alleged IQ test. Despite the seemingly relentless jokes, pranks and taunts at Dell'Abate's expense, Stern readily acknowledges Dell'Abate's intelligence, organizational abilities, excellent memory and strong work ethic.

In 1992, Dell'Abate married his current wife Mary. The couple live in Greenwich, Connecticut[1] with their two sons, Jackson and Lucas. Jackson has now made at least one appearance on Howard 100 News, where he indicated that his father can ski.

After Gary's brother Steven died of AIDS in January 1991, Dell'Abate became a supporter of LIFEbeat The Music Industry Fights AIDS and serves on the charity's Board of Directors.

Contents

[edit] Anecdotes

Gary and Mary on their Wedding Day.
Enlarge
Gary and Mary on their Wedding Day.

Dell'Abate is mocked on the Stern Show for having large teeth, big lips and bad breath. A related point of ridicule is the speech pattern in which he turns "s" into "f". Fans also mock Dell'Abate - one fan used to wear a gorilla mask to Gary's public appearances as well as make his own animation cels featuring Baba Booey. Elliot Offen, a regular Stern Show guest and Wack Packer known for running through the streets of New York in full drag and high heels, often fights with Gary, calling him names such as "scum of the earth", "chipmunk", "mongrel", "mongoloid" and "horse face". In particular, fellow Stern Show staff member Sal the Stockbroker has routinely mocked and tortured Gary with prank calls, various song parodies, and an infinite number of jokes. Gary was often also forced to wear a bee-keeper's mask while holding the microphone for Stern show guests.

Gary is also often mocked for his yo-yo dieting. His bouts with weight gain have been attributed to his love of chocolate. He is also an on-again, off-again cigarette smoker.

A fan created a likeness of Gary, the "Gary Puppet", which is now stationed in the Howard Stern Show studio and equipped with a mechanism to cause its massive mouth to move whenever Gary speaks to Howard through the studio intercom. The puppet seems to be one of Stern's most prized possessions, possibly due to his fondness for Gary.

[edit] Baba Booey

Previously nicknamed "Boy Gary", Dell'Abate's "Baba Booey" moniker originated on the Howard Stern Show in 1989, after telling a story of his prized collection of animation cels. In the course of discussing a Quick Draw McGraw cel he might purchase, he misstated the name of McGraw's sidekick "Baba Looey" as "Baba Booey" (In actuality, Gary was not entirely wrong when he referred to "Baba Booey". Quickdraw McGraw frequently referred to Baba Looey as "Baba Boy", which tended to sound like "Baba Booey" and could easily be misunderstood). As is typical of the show, the rest of the cast "goofed" on his mistake, becoming especially merciless since he was mulling the purchase of a cel of a character without even knowing the character's correct name. Dell'Abate said something to the effect that they would forget the name by the next day, yet after nearly two decades it is still his nickname.

Dell'Abate has often recounted that people unfamiliar with the Stern show think "Baba Booey" is his real name. A frequent guest on the TV game show The Hollywood Squares, Dell'Abate was sometimes just called "Bob" or "Baba" by unknowing contestants.

"Baba Booey" as a term has become a mantra for fans of the Howard Stern Show and is often used as a tag for crank calls to live network television or radio broadcasts. For example, during the OJ Simpson low-speed chase, "Baba Booey" was spoken at the end of a prank phone call to signal the host that he had been fooled. The oblivious host Peter Jennings had to be told it was a phony call by fellow broadcaster and Monday Night Football host Al Michaels. The moniker was used on Dell'Abate while he vacationed in Las Vegas when members of The Wack Pack asked that Mr. Bob a'Bui be paged to the front desk.

[edit] Baba Booey Variations

Depending on the context, variations of Gary's nickname are used (i.e. if Gary makes a mistake, he is likely to be called "Rara Retard", if the discussion is about dental procedures, "Tata Toothy"). The following list is by no means comprehensive; if the first syllable of the nickname is repeated twice, the person under discussion is inevitably Gary.

  • Fafa Flo Fly
  • Fafa Fohai
  • Fafa Fooey
  • Fafa Feeho
  • Fafa Flunky
  • Fafa Flowy
  • Fo Foohey
  • Mama Monkey
  • Mama Mo-Hi
  • Rara Retard
  • Tata Toothy
  • Dada Dummy
  • Pa Pa Puppet
  • Lala Loosey
  • Lala Loser
  • Sasa Stupid
  • Sasa Smelly
  • Baba Bobo Fooey
  • Blaba Booey (coined by Fred Norris)
  • Baba Yenta (coined by Fred Norris)
  • Baba Buzz Kill (coined by Howard Stern)
  • Baba Bad News (coined by David Spade)
  • Bucky Beaver (coined by Riley Martin)
  • Fafa Foodey (coined by Robin Quivers)
  • Fafa Felon (coined by Lee Mroszak aka Crazy Cabbie during the 'Get John's Job Contest' on April 29, 2004)
  • Baba Bad Breath (coined by Stahl MacIntyre aka King of Canada)
  • Mac-Hine (pronounced "Mack Hine" - was created after Gary failed an on-air word game challenge where a caller asked what "m-a-c (pause) h-i-n-e" spelled on November 7, 2006)
  • Bla Bla Blooey (coined by Fred Norris, who blames him for revealing the secret of Fred changing his name to "Eric", on November 13, 2006)
  • Bla Bla Blabbermouth (coined when Dell'Abate forgot what Fred had initially called him [Bla Bla Booey] & inadvertently coined an even better nickname)

[edit] Song parodies

[edit] Trivia

  • Made a videotaped bid to win back an ex-girlfriend in 1988, which came to light in the late 1990s when an ex-boyfriend of the woman called Howard's show claiming to have a copy of the tape. On the tape, Gary frequently refers to his ex as "man" (e.g., "I miss you, man"), states that his professional life is a 9 (pronounced like "noin") while his personal life is at a 2, and since their split, she has gained a lover and a best friend while he has gained a couple of lovers but has no friends. He also points out that his hair had grown longer during their time apart and that he is wearing his favorite t-shirt, one he often wore while they were together. Such proclamations invited much ridicule from Stern fans and regulars, and snippets of the audio from the tape became oft-used soundbites on the show. While his bid to win back his lady love proved successful, they ultimately broke up for good the following year. He was paid over $25,000 by members of Stern's audience and staff to hand over the tape.
  • Made an appearance by way of the 1989 "Baba Booey" sound bite sampled in the Bloodhound Gang's song Why's Everybody Always Picking On Me?
  • Son Jackson was born in 1994, and son Lucas was born in 1997.
  • Was once videotaped picking his nose during a Stern rally, which was aired several times on Howard's Channel 9 show. He was also taped in December 1993 with a visible erection in his pants while walking on the stage where Howard's New Year's Eve pay-per-view special New Year's Rotten Eve was to be held.
  • Is a devotee of 1980s music, and usually beats his competitors in "Stump the Booey", an Eighties music trivia game.
  • Is sometimes introduced in song by a cartoon barber shop quartet.
  • Has sung songs on the show written by Fred Norris, in which he ridicules himself for his work habits, eating habits, bad breath and large teeth.
  • His contribution to The Revelations Game, announced on January 16, 2006, was that he and a friend of his once paid massage girls to their hotel room, but that the girls ended up ripping the two off and leaving them staring at each other in their underwear. The Stern Show staff roundly criticized Dell'Abate for this sub-par revelation.
  • Played as a contestant on VH1's Rock & Roll Jeopardy!
  • Admitted during a radio ad that his favorite type of porn is "teen anal" on June 28, 2006
  • Is known for his uncanny ability to recall past shows.
  • Was once punched in the face for calling a black man a "nigger".
  • Gave himself an enema in the bathroom the day of the final weigh-in for a staff weight loss contest.
  • During CBS News coverage of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, prank caller Captain Janks told Dan Rather that they had found Baba Booey's teeth in the wreckage.
  • On their final album, The Jerky Boys featured a prank call (titled "Bright") wherein Johnny Brennan — using his Sol Rosenberg voice — called a hair salon claiming to be "Gary Dell'Abate's mom". The call featured Brennan growing increasingly hysterical and accusing the stylists of ruining Gary's haircut "just to make fools of him" and that "he has enough problems with that mouth of his" as well as "his face and his fat ass." The phone call finally ended when Brennan threatened to find Bright (the eponymous stylist of the call) and "kick [her] in the cunt" for what she had done to "my beautiful, horse-faced boy".
  • Gary's father, Sal Dell'Abate served with distinction in World War II and received the Bronze Star Medal for bravery. He died on August 8, 2006.
  • Once worked in a store on Long Island, New York where his boss required him to ring a buzzer when black customers entered.
  • Was once portrayed by Adam Sandler in a sketch on Saturday Night Live.
  • Was accidentally punched in the face by A.J. Benza during a hallway fight with Stuttering John Melendez.
  • After Stern (and crew) left for Sirius Satellite Radio, Artie Lange revealed that CBS Radio had offered Gary and Artie multi-million-dollar positions to co-host a show filling Stern's old timeslot. Both declined out of loyalty to Stern.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ article in Greenwich Time by Neil Vigdor, January 22, 2006, "... Dell'Abate, 44, a married father of two from Greenwich ..."

[edit] External links

The Howard Stern Show
Cast Howard Stern • Robin Quivers • Artie Lange • Fred Norris • Gary Dell'Abate • Benjy Bronk • Richard Christy • Sal the Stockbroker • J. D. Harmeyer • Scott Salem • Will Murray • George Takei
Former Cast Billy West • Jackie Martling • Stuttering John • K. C. Armstrong • Tom Chiusano • A. J. Benza
The Wack Pack Beetlejuice • Eric the Midget • Miss Howard Stern • High Pitch Eric • Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf • Riley Martin • Siobhan Meow • Jeff the Drunk • More...
Howard Channels Bubba the Love Sponge Show • Scott Ferrall • The Wrap-Up Show • Howard 100 News • Superfan Roundtable • More...
See Also Show Celebrity Guests • Show Games and Bits • Sirius Satellite Radio • Sirius Canada • Ronnie Mund
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