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.
Gary Dell'Abate | |
|---|---|
| File:Gary ex hss.jpg | |
| Born | March 14, 1961 |
| Occupation | Radio producer |
| Website | www.howardstern.com |
Dell'Abate has worked on the Howard Stern Show since September 4, 1984. Dell'Abate has worked with the Stern show originally on 66 WNBC, and then on to syndication at K-Rock in New York, and finally on Sirius Satellite Radio.
His nickname "Baba Booey" (sometimes mis-spelled "Ba Ba Booey" or other variants) is frequently used on Stern's show, and is sometimes shouted by Stern's fans when they call into other radio or television shows, generally to the irritation of the other show's host (see below).
Despite the seemingly relentless jokes, pranks and taunts at Dell'Abate's expense, Stern readily acknowledges his intelligence, organizational abilities, excellent memory, and strong work ethic.
Since 1992, Dell'Abate has been married to Mary Dell'Abate. 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 his 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.
Anecdotes
Dell'Abate is mocked on the Stern show for having large teeth, big lips and bad breath. A related point of ridicule is his speech pattern that turns "s" into "f." Even though the Stern Show crew members are always up to the task of goofing on Gary, some of the most memorable jabs at Baba Booey have been made by Stern Show fans. For example, one fan used to wear a gorilla mask and go to places where Gary would appear, and would also make his own animation cels featuring Baba Booey. Elliot Offen, a regular Stern Show guest well known for running through the streets of New York wearing full drag and high heels, often fights with Gary calling him such names as "scum of the earth," "chipmunk," "mongrel," "mongoloid" and "horse face". However, the most famous of all Baba Booey pranksters is Sal the Stockbroker, who has routinely mocked and tortured Gary with prank calls, various song parodies and an infinite number of jokes at Gary's expense.
Another topic of "goofing" on Gary is his yo-yo dieting. His bouts with weight-gain have been attributed to his love of chocolate.
He has also been immortalized in the form of the "Gary Puppet," which is equipped with a mechanism to cause its massive mouth to move whenever Gary speaks to Howard through the studio intercom. The Gary Puppet appears to be one of Stern's most prized possessions, possibly due to his fondness for Gary.
Baba Booey
Dell'Abate's nickname originated in 1989 (he was previously called "Boy Gary"). Dell'Abate was telling the story of his prized collection of animation cels, and in the course of discussing a Quick Draw McGraw cel he was considering buying, he mis-stated "Baba Looey", the name of McGraw's sidekick, as "Baba Booey" thinking that was the character's name. As is typical of the show, the rest of the cast "goofed" on his mistake, becoming especially merciless since Gary was considering purchasing 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 unsuspecting 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 they had been fooled. The host, Peter Jennings, did not get it and had to be told it was a phoney call by fellow broadcaster and Monday Night Football icon, Al Michaels. It has also been used on Dell'Abate himself when a Las Vegas casino at which he was vacationing was called by members of The Wack Pack who asked for Mr. Bob a'Bui to be paged to the front desk.
Baba Booey Variations
- Fafa Flo Fly
- Fafa Fohai
- Fafa Fooey
- Fafa Feeho
- Fafa Flunky
- Fafa Flowy
- Fo Foohey
- Mama Monkey
- Rara Retard
- Tata Toothy
- Lala Loosey
- Lala Loser
- Sasa Stupid
- Sasa Smelly
- Baba Bobo Fooey
- Baba Yenta (coined once by Fred Norris)
- Baba Bad News (coined first by David Spade)
- Bucky Beaver (coined by Riley Martin)
- Fafa Foodey (coined once by Robin Quivers)
- Fafa Felon (coined during the 'Get John's Job Contest' 4-29-04; by Lee Mroszak aka Crazy Cabbie)
- Baba Bad Breath (coined by Stahl MacIntyre aka the 'King of Canada')
The fact is, Gary was not entirely wrong when he referred to "Baba Booey." Quickdraw McGraw frequently referred to Baba Looey as "Baba Boy." In Quickdraw's voice, it did tend to sound like Baba Booey.
Song parodies
- The Flinstones Theme
- Starwars Theme
- Imperial March from Star Wars
- CHiPs Theme
- Entertainment Tonight Theme
- I Dream Of Jeannie Theme
- Boy with Horse Teeth by America
- The Munsters Theme
- The Downeaster Alexia by Billy Joel
- Gold Digger by Kayne West
- Take On Me by a-ha
- Party Up (Up In Here) by DMX
- Just a Friend by Biz Markie
- Holla Back by Gwen Stefani
- Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty
- Baba O'Reily by The Who
- Dont Stop Till You Get Enough by Michael Jackson
- White Room by Cream
- Supertwink song (from cock hudsons Gay bar)- that song beat with the words "baba booey"
- Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake
Trivia
- Made a videotaped bid to win back an ex-girlfriend in 1988, which came to light in the late 90s when a former boyfriend of the woman called into Howard's show and said he had a copy of the tape. On it, Gary frequently refers to his ex as "man" (e.g. "I miss you, man"), states that his professional life is at a 9 while his personal life is at a 2, and says that, 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 was 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 and he has been abused with its clips and song parodies ever since.
- He made an appearance by way of the 1987 "Baba Booey" sound bite sampled in the Bloodhound Gang's song Why's Everybody Always Picking On Me?
- His son Jackson was born in 1994, and son Lucas was born in 1997.
- Was once videotaped picking his nose during a Stern rally, and the incident 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.
- Has often sung songs on the show written by Fred Norris, ridiculing 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 ordered massage girls to come up to their hotel room, but the girls ended up ripping the two off and leaving them staring at each other in their underwear. His original contribution was retracted and Booey was roundly criticized for replacing it with a sub-par revelation.
- Played On Rock And Roll Jeopardy On VH1
- On June 28th, 2006, he admited during an on-air ad that his favorite type of porn is "teen anal".
- 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 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") where 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." Finally, the call 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 passed away on August 8, 2006.
- Gary once worked in a store on Long Island, NY where his boss required him to ring a buzzer when black customers entered.
- On the Jerky Boys album The Jerky Tapes, Gary is the subject of a humorous call which involves Jonny Brennan calling a hair salon pretending to be his mother. It is revealed within the call that Gary hated his haircut so bad that he had vomited all over himself the night after he had gotten his haircut and that he was too scared to leave the house because he felt that he looked stupid.
- Was once portrayed by Adam Sandler in a sketch on Saturday Night Live.
Footnotes
- ^ article in Greenwich Time by Neil Vigdor, January 22, 2006, "... Dell'Abate, 44, a married father of two from Greenwich ..."