Gary Dell'Abate
| Gary Dell'Abate | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Gary Dell'Abate March 14, 1961 Uniondale, New York, U.S. |
| Other names | Baba Booey |
| Occupation | Radio producer |
| Years active | 1984–Present |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Dell'Abate |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | www.bababooey.com |
Gary Dell'Abate (born March 14, 1961), also known as Baba Booey, is an American radio producer, and has been the executive producer of The Howard Stern Show since 1984. His autobiography, They Call Me Baba Booey, was released on November 2, 2010.
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. Dell'Abate 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.
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 (approximately $1,000 today) 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 26, 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. Speaking to Howard at 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."
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