Early life and career

Dell'Abate was born and raised in Uniondale, New York, on Long Island. He comes from a large Italian-American family. His father, Salvatore Dell'Abate, was an ice cream salesman, while his mother sold cooking items such as frying pans at the local supermarket. Gary attended Adelphi University, receiving the Richard F. Clemo Award his senior year, and he interned at several radio stations including WLIR. While interning with Roz Frank, a traffic reporter on WNBC, he came into contact with Howard Stern.

The Howard Stern Show

Dell'Abate has worked on The Howard Stern Show since September 4, 1984: originally on 66 WNBC, then syndicated through K-Rock in New York City, and later broadcast on Sirius XM Radio. Dell'Abate was originally hired for $350 a week, with duties including getting Stern's lunch and scheduling guests for the show.

Previously nicknamed "Boy Gary" (Howard called his college roommate Dr. Lew Weinstein "boy" when giving an order; preceded by "Boy" Lee Davis at WNBC), Dell'Abate's "Baba Booey" moniker originated on The Howard Stern Show on July 6, 1990, 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. 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. Toward the end of the show, Dell'Abate said, "I think we've taken this as far as it will go." Howard Stern replied, "Gary, we've only scratched the surface of this." Dell'Abate remains Baba Booey to this day. Eventually he titled his autobiography They Call Me Baba Booey. Dell'Abate later recalled that when he watched the cartoon as a child, Quick Draw would often call Baba Looey "Baba Boy," usually in frantic moments ("Help me, Baba Boy!"). Quick Draw's drawn-out pronunciation of "boy" often sounded like "booey," which led Dell'Abate to think that the character's name was actually "Baba Booey."

"Baba Booey" as a term has become a mantra for fans of The Howard Stern Show and is often used during crank calls to live network television or radio broadcasts. For example, a call made to ABC News during the low-speed police chase of O. J. Simpson's Ford Bronco through the streets of Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, signed off with "And Baba Booey to y'all!" Sportscaster Al Michaels explained to anchor Peter Jennings the significance of the phrase. More recently, Freestyle wrestler Jake Herbert yelled "Baba Booey" as the camera panned over Team USA during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games. Beginning in 2013, there have been hundreds of instances on the PGA Tour in which spectators have shouted "Baba Booey!" as soon as a golfer has completed his swing.

Personal life

Dell'Abate has been married since 1992 to the former Mary Caracciolo. They have two sons, Lucas and Jackson. After Dell'Abate's brother Steven died of AIDS in January 1991, Dell'Abate became a supporter of LIFEbeat The Music Industry Fights AIDS and serves as the charity's president.

He was featured in the May 2007 issue of Sound and Vision magazine where his home theater was profiled. In the article, he revealed that his favorite album is Aja by Steely Dan.

Dell'Abate is an avid New York Mets fan, and, on May 9, 2009 he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Mets game. The pitch is ranked on many lists as the worst throw ever, "the most embarrasing ceremonial first pitch in baseball history.", as it landed down the third-base line and hit an umpire. Dell'Abate is also a fan of the New York Islanders hockey team, and was interviewed for the 2012 book, Dynasty: The Oral History of the New York Islanders, 1972-1984, by author Greg Prato. Dell'Abate's thoughts and memories of following the Islanders (he also interned for the television station that broadcast the team's games at the time, SportsChannel) are featured throughout the book, as well as several photos of Dell'Abate with Islanders players at a Stanley Cup victory parade in 1980.

On Monday, March 14, 2011, Dell'Abate was appointed to the Greenwich, CT Board of Parks and Recreation on a 119-64 vote margin.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]