Dell'Abate was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn and raised in Uniondale, New York, on Long Island. He comes from a large Italian-American family. His father, Salvatore Dell'Abate, was a salesman for Häagen-Dazs ice cream, while his mother, Ellen was a food demonstrator at Macy's in New York City and Fortunoff on Long Island. Dell'Abate attended Adelphi University, receiving the Richard F. Clemo Award his senior year, and he interned at several radio stations including WLIR. While working 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 $150 a week, with duties including getting Stern's lunch and scheduling guests for the show. Previously nicknamed "Boy Gary", 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 sidekickBaba 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. 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 prank calls to live network television or radio broadcasts; for example, a call made by a prank caller nicknamed Maury From Brooklyn 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. In the 2012 Olympics, Freestyle wrestler Jake Herbert yelled "Baba Booey" as the camera panned over Team USA during the opening ceremony. Since then it has become a trend in sporting events where concentration and silence are expected, for spectators to shout "Baba Booey!" as in the case of the PGA Tour as soon as a golfer has completed his swing.
Personal life
Dell'Abate has been married since 1992 to Mary Dell'Abate. 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 served as the charity's president. Dell'Abate wrote a biography titled They Call Me Baba Booey which was a New York Times best seller. It debuted at #6 on the NY TimesBest Seller list in November 2010. In the book, Dell'Abate tells the story of his brother's death from AIDS, his mother's struggle with depression as well as his rise to executive producer of The Howard Stern Show. He was featured in the May 2007 issue of Sound and Vision magazine where his home theater was profiled. 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 did not go well, as it landed down the third-base line and hit an umpire. He later attended the 2015 World Series with fellow Howard Stern Show co-worker Richard Christy. Dell'Abate is also a fan of the New York Islandershockey 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 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, ConnecticutBoard of Parks and Recreation on a 119–64 vote margin.
