Gary Dell'Abate

Gary Patrick Dell'Abate (born March 14, 1961 in Uniondale, New York) is the producer of the Howard Stern radio show. His nickname "Baba Booey", frequently used on Stern's show, originated in 1987 when Dell'Abate (at that time called "Boy Gary") was telling the story of his prized collection of Quick Draw McGraw animation cells, and mispronounced "Baba Looey", the name of McGraw's sidekick. As typical on the show, the rest of the cast "goofed" on his mistake. Dell'Abate said something to the effect that they would forget the name by the next day, yet nearly two decades have passed and it is still his nickname. The sound bite of him saying Baba Booey from that 1987 broadcast is still used frequently on the show to this day, often whenever Dell'Abate is mentioned.

Related Topics:
March 14 - 1961 - Uniondale, New York - Producer - Howard Stern - Radio - 1987 - Quick Draw McGraw - Animation - Sidekick - Sound bite

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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 is sometimes just called "Bob" or "Baba" by unsuspecting contestants. He has also recalled being addressed as "Baba Booey", "Ma-ma Monkey", "Sta-Sta Stinky", and "Ra-Ra Retard" by people on the street.

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"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 broadcasts. For example, during the OJ Simpson low-speed chase, "Baba Booey" was spoken at the end of the call to signal the host that they had been fooled. In the case of OJ Simpson, Peter Jennings had been duped. It's 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 Babui to be paged to the front desk.

Related Topics:
Mantra - Crank calls - OJ Simpson - Peter Jennings - Las Vegas - Casino - The Wack Pack

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Dell'Abate is mocked on the show for having large teeth and a related topic of ridicule is his yo-yo dieting. His bouts with weight-gain have been attributed to his love of chocolate. Dell'Abate is also well-known for sending an apology video tape to a former girlfriend, seven months after they had broken up. Gary 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?

Related Topics:
Teeth - Yo-yo dieting - Chocolate - Sampled - Bloodhound Gang

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Since 1992, Gary has been married to Mary Dell'Abate. The couple have two sons, Jackson and Lucas.

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